Today is a public holiday in Sevilla, one of the few places in Spain that celebrates Corpus Cristi. And as usual the Sevillanos do it up big time. Arches are built in the town hall square, altars are constructed, balconies and shop windows are decorated (there’s even a competion for this) and the night before the procession route is strewn with sprigs of rosemary and rose petals.
All for one rather boring procession that lasts about an hour.
However, what is lovely is to get up early and walk the route before the procession starts. The rosemary is still fresh on the ground, there aren’t many people about and you can see all the displays and decorations before going for a fab brekky once the procession has started and the crowds have moved from the bars to the streets.
We got out a bit late this morning and the procession had already started, but we got ahead of it and managed to take some photos, which you can see below. The window display ones are a bit wonky because of the reflections – and you can usually make out Nog and me as ghostly shadows in amongst the holy relics, loaves of bread and bunches of grapes. I just wish there was a way to transport the gorgeous fragrance of freshly crushed rosemary in the cool morning air . . .
casa azahar 
Impressing, but yet sad… As firm atheist I can´t help think of the ages of brainwashing that are the roots of this theatre…
Bread and circus… keep the masses calm…
-q
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Nog is an atheist too. I’m more of an aztheist. 😉
But we just enjoy the spectacle rather than dwell on the religious aspect. Which to be honest, I think most Sevillanos do as well. They love a good show and especially love nothing better than an excuse to put on their best clothes and mill about in huge crowds in the street.
I think older people here are more into the whole religious thang, and on Corpus you do see a larger representation of senior citizens out and about than on other religious holidays.
Yeah, the bread and wine – body and blood of Christ – thing is rather odd if you’re not a Catholic. But another very typical Corpus decoration is to drape one’s balconies with beautiful embroidered silk shawls – there are a few examples of that in the Fotki photos.
I once had a copy of a poem written about Seville by an artist acquaintance of mine who talked about ‘the silken balconies’, referring to this holiday. I’ll try to find it and post it here with a translation.
az
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I shall crush some rosemary forthwith, while I watch daft pigeons crash-landing on a frozen birdbath. (All the other birds are smart enough to stay away from it.)
Are the saints especially lop-sided this year?
Who was it who said, ‘I can’t take Communion – I’m a vegetarian’? I wish I could remember. Once upon a time I upset a Catholic partner of mine by referring to it as ‘the half-time snack’… Considering that by the tenets of his own faith he was blaspheming by joining in the wine-and-nibbles session, I’m still bothered by his reaction.
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"Are the saints especially lop-sided this year?"
Well natch! Especially Santa Justa y Santa Rufina. I think they got into the communion wine long before the ceremony. Check 'em out.
http://public.fotki.com/azahar/stuff/lopsidedvirgins.html
az
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Is that Rufina on the right? She looks like she’s regretting the last drink.
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Btw, that was a funny joke – the communion/vegetarian one. Have you remembered who said it?
Yeah, a bit hypocritical of your ex. And as for nibbles, you can buy the leftover bits of wafer stuff (is there a name for the stuff that’s leftover after the wafers are cut out?) as snack food here. They sell them in plastic bags, like crisps, and kids love ’em. I don’t recall ever seeing that in Canada or the UK.
az
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Nope, can’t remember who said it, which is a pity.
As for leftover bits of wafer – I’d be inclined to call it ‘floor-sweepings’. Then again, if the wafers are the body of this Christ bloke, the leftovers might be God’s Toenails.
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When I was a kid I used to love those communion wafers – the melt on yer tongue quality of them, as well as the taste.
So it’s not surprising that kids eat the ‘toenails’ here as snack food.
az
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Ah, so *that’s* how they get the young hooked on going to the Sunday shows…
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Serious lop-sided saints story.
Today is a public holiday in Sevilla – to celebrate La Virgen de los Reyes.
Fine. Usually I remember this being a holiday when the cathedral bells start annoyingly ringing around 7am (after having been rung for nine evenings previously – the Novena – at 8pm).
When I say ‘ring’ I mean that they clang-clang-clang like crazy for about ten minutes so you can’t even hear yourself think.
Today this started happening much earlier than I remembered, first bells clanging away at 6.30am, then hearing the hum of humanity, crowds and crowds of people making their way to the square in front of the cathedral.
By 8am it was total madness with an entire procession going down our street, under our balconies, replete with noisy marching bands and what I presume were bishops (they wear purple, right?) singing hymns between the band tunes. And one ‘paso’ (float) of the Virgin. Rather a small one, compared to the very large and ornate ones that are the norm during Semana Santa.
FINALLY got up to have a peek at all this and there were literally thousands of people lining my street and the ones next to it … like, what? Most of those people could not have seen anything at all.
And, as I say, I don’t remember this massive production ever happening on this holiday previously – and Nog doesn’t remember it happening last year.
Very odd.
Anyhow, took some photos, standing out on the balcony in my nightdress with seriously scary morning hair but have to recharge my camera battery before I can upload them.
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If they’re in purple, they’re either bishops or drag queens with poor taste. Or possibly both.
What, exactly, is ‘The Kings’ Virgin’? That doesn’t sound particularly morally uplifting.
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