CATALONIABefore you get to enjoy all the nice pictures we've taken, here's a taste of Catalunya culture ...EL CAGANER ... While we were thinking of going to Catalonia at Xmas, we bought a travel guide which mentioned a strange Xmas custom concerning the creche. We searched for that little creature and here it is:
El Caganer, literally the "crapper", is a little clay figurine representing a shepherd taking a dump. While there are many explanations for the presence of this somewhat disarming figure in the otherwise solemn assembly of the Holy Navity, his origin is lost in the mists of time. The story most often told is that he represents the refertilisation of the ground in the winter, in the hope of fertility in the spring. Thus, he symbolizes fertility in general and hence good luck. Therefore when you buy this figure, as we did, you will be told that it's good luck. In our research, we learned that it is traditional to place him in the creche; we didn't believe it. However, when we had an opportunity to look at our first creche in Catalonia, in the cathedral in the center of town in Figueres, we couldn't find him at first. But, looking a little off the main scene, crouching behind a tree with his trousers down, there we saw the Caganer doing his job! Simply amazing!
What we have here is the most traditional kind of Caganer: a shepherd with a red cap and a pipe and a turd! But, in Catalonia, the Caganer is an art form: devils, nuns, tennis players, policemen, Roman centurions, Dali and Gala holding hands, Moses with the 10 commandments - all are shown in their most human vulnerability. Except it's not sacreligious because we didn't see the Holy Family as Caganers, although the 3 kings are. For more examples, check the following links: A creche isn't needed though, to get the luck from the Caganer. As we passed before a fancy interior decoration shop in Figueres, we were dumb-founded to see a 7-foot Santa, crouching with his red santa-suit pants around his knees, this bare arse hovering over a pie-size turd on the carpeted floor of the showroom window. Our amazement was so thorough that we had not the presence of mind to take a picture. However, if we go back to Figueres in the next week, we'll try to get it!
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BARCELONA Coming real soon! |
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FIGUERES Hometown of the famous surrealist painter Salvador Dali. It's a small town with a lot of character. View of the old town from the Rambla looking at the toy museum (to the left)
Priest play set, complete with full mass vestments and altar furnishings
Stairs leading to an 18th century church Art Nouveau Café overlooking the Rambla (promenade)
Renaissance-looking building on the Rambla
Collection box for Epiphany
The Dali Museum The Church of San Pere (St Peter)
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