Way of the dragon
The Legend of St George permeates Catalonia’s cultural heritage, says Neil Geraghty
It’s St George’s Day in Barcelona, a popular festival held in honour of Catalonia’s patron saint, and a few of the locals are really getting into the swing of things. On the bustling Paseo de Gracia, Barcelona’s elegant main shopping street, a woman dressed as a dragon waits at a pedestrian crossing. The lights turn green and as she crosses the road, cars start honking their horns in appreciation. Flattered by their attention, she twirls around, blows kisses to her new admirers and sashays across the road with her tail thumping up and down.
In contrast to other Spanish festivals, St George’s Day in Catalonia is neither a solemn display of religion nor a cacophany of hedonistic partying. Surprisingly it’s one of the world’s largest literary festivals where over 1.5 million books are bought and given as presents. Traditionally wives buy books for their husbands and husbands buy red roses, the flower of St George, for their wives but today the tradition has widened to include friends and work colleagues. During the festival Barcelona is transformed into an outdoor book fair with book launches, readings and signings taking place on stalls decorated with garlands of roses. It’s also a golden opportunity for charities to raise money and their exquisite bouquets of roses designed by top florists are a highlight of the festival.
The legend of St George runs deep within Catalan culture and Barcelona’s world famous Modernista buildings built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries by visionary architects such as Gaudi are full of heraldic motifs borrowed from the legend. In the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter I stop for a coffee at the historic 4 Cats Cafe which in the 1890s was a popular meeting place for intellectuals and artists including Picasso. The carvings on the walls are a riot of whimsical neo-gothic ornamentation and in amongst the coats of arms and medieval knights, lanterns hang from the tails of bronze dragons. The latest Modernista building to open its doors to the public is the imposing Casa de las Punxes which rises above the roaring traffic of Avenida Diagonal like a fairytale castle from a Disney film. Between two towers, a giant ceramic panel features St George in an orange grove slaying the dragon. Inside, an exhibition takes guests on an enjoyable cinematic romp through the legend of St George borrowing heavily from Game of Thrones.
From Barcelona I head into the mountainous hinterland to visit one of Catalonia’s greatest medieval treasures, the Cistercian Abbey
of Poblet. In the late Middle Ages, Catalonia enjoyed a Golden Age of art and architecture which drew heavily on the high Gothic style and courtly traditions of France. The most spectacular examples of this style are the alabaster tombs of the Kings and Queens of Aragon that are laid out on arches between the pillars of the abbey’s nave. The intricately carved crowns, swords and serene expressions of the Kings encapsulate all the chivalry of the medieval world and the most delightful additions are lions and dogs placed at the monarchs’ feet who stare down at visitors with mournful expressions. The monastery contains one of Catalonia’s most important libraries and as I wander around I spot a book of mythical beasts laid out on one of the tables. It seems Catalans have dungeons and dragons in their blood.
In Catalan folklore it was in nearby Montblanc that St George slayed the dragon and each year the town stages a week long festival during which the legend is re-enacted and aspects of medieval life are celebrated. Montblanc is one of Catalonia’s best preserved historic towns and its
surrounded by crenellated walls that provide an imposing backdrop to the festivities. I arrive just before a display of medieval pageantry and on the lawn beneath the walls, children in medieval costumes run around fighting with wooden swords. With a trumpet call the festivities begin and a band of teenage drummers dressed in brightly coloured jerkins marches down the hill hammering their drums. They’re followed by an equally enthusiastic band of trumpeters, somersaulting court jesters, the lords and ladies of the court, and finally St George himself resplendent on a snow white steed.
I leave the festivities and wander along the walls to St George’s Gate where a red rose bush marks the spot where St George is said to have killed the dragon. I clamber up the walls to enjoy a timeless view of church towers and battlements that has hardly changed since medieval times. In the distance I spot something circling over the distant hills. It’s probably an eagle but I can easily imagine a child in the Middle Ages running back to town with news of a dragon in the skies. ■ For more on Catalonia visit the Catalonian Tourist Board’s official website, www.catalunya.com
Casa de las Punxes rises above Avenida Diagonal like a fairytale castle from a Disney film