St Vincent day in Valencia, Spain

23 of January- Holiday of the St.Vincent Martyr, the patron of Valencia. San Vicente Martír was born in Huesca in the 4th century, and studied religion in Zaragoza. In those days, Christianity was more like a cult, and the Roman emperors still in charge looked upon it disfavorably.

So disfavorably, in fact, that they issued edicts to wipe out any Christians they could round up. As such, Vicente was arrested and forced to walk in chains from Zaragoza to Valencia. Along the way, he astounded both his captors and peasants by performing miracles related to water. This is why the discovery of the well in his jail cell was such a big deal — well finding was precisely the type of miracle he worked.

Upon arrival in Valencia, Vicente was jailed, reviled at, and tortured. But he never renounced his faith. And legend has that he died with a beatific smile upon his face, as his torturers were dressing his wounds, in preparation for another round.

On the day (Saturday closest to Vincent’s day of birth) at 12pm head to join the procession around the city cathedral (through Pl. de la Reina, C/ Mar, C/ Avellanas, C/ Palau, and Pl. Almoina). Few hundred marchers — mostly religious leaders and older women, often dressed in mourning.

The procession goes right by the Jail of San Vicente Mártir. It’s a small room, as you might expect a jail to be, with just the column where the early Christian was bound and tortured, and a well that was discovered in 1777. You can join the prayer as well. We only went to see the glimpse of all the important people in the city who occupied the central position in the cathedral.

The most interesting part for me was to await all the people coming out from the cathedral. We had a best spot ever so I was able to lomograph everyone. Then it’s all over, wonder around the city and watch dress up inhabitants heading to parks or to grab some tapas.

작성자 neja 작성일 2010-06-24 카테고리 #장소 #religion #church #holiday #spain #costumes #location #valencia #january #procession #mirth #saint-vincent-feast #world-cup-spain-location