This whole week God has been faithfully filling me each and everyday. I know this break-up is necessary and it's comforting to be reassured by God.
Anyway, I wanted to share some fun facts about Sevilla for A Photo & A Story today.
1.) Sevilla is the capitol of Andalusia (south "state" of Spain, yellow below)
2.) Sevilla has a beautiful moto called NO8DO. It means "NO me ha dejaDO." Which means It (Sevilla) has not abandoned me. The 8 symbolizes a madeja, which is a spool of yarn, but when said a loud, sounds like me ha dejado. Clever, huh? It was said by King Ferdinand because Los Sevillanos (people of Sevilla) were faithful to him when he fought against his son for the throne. If you ever go to Sevilla you will see the moto EVERYWHERE. On bike racks, on street signs, and most importantly on Christopher Colombus' tomb in the Cathedral.
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| NO8DO on a park bench in Parque Maria Luisa |
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| Sevilla's flag |
3.) Sevilla is known for it's celebrations during Holy Week (Semana Santa) and Feria. I was lucky enough to be there for both of the celebrations, although during Holy Week I was in Morocco for some of the time and it rained in Sevilla for the majority of the week, halting the famous processions from walking the streets.
Semana Santa is a beautiful and deeply rooted celebration, especially in Sevilla. During the week several local churches march the streets on a path towards the Cathedral with ornate and expensive floats adorned with the Virgin Mary or Jesus. Most of them are made out of gold or expensive materials and are very, very, old (think more than 200 years old), so when the rain threatened this past year, they were hesitant about brining the floats out and many did not go out (a BIG deal to Sevillanos). Long story short: Semana Santa was not a success this year.
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| One of the floats dedicated to the Virgin Mary safe inside a local church |
Feria is another celebration Sevilla is famous for. There is a 1 week break between Semana Santa and Feria. Typically there is no school and limited work hours during Feria. Feria is basically the biggest classy fair I have ever seen (is there such a thing as a classy fair?!). The fair takes place on a HUGE piece of land in the Los Remedios neighborhood (where I lived!). There are thousands of white "casetas" (tents) sent up that belong to individual families and some public that belong to public companies or political parties. The casetas range from simple to elaborate. Most have bars and some look like a living room. You have to be invited to a private caseta, most of the time it's just families partying in their casetas.
Women wear flamenco dresses to Feria. Flamenco dresses cost a pretty penny (100-1000 euro) or some families make their own. Either way, they're all beautiful and flattering.
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| Typical Feria garb (via flickr) |
Feria is the best Spanish party there is. Families and friends drinking all day and all night, dancing the Sevillana, and having a good time. It's a blast.
This is a good video to sum up Feria with. Mine won't download : (
Anyway, hope you learned something new or interesting about Sevilla. It's a magical city.
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