Saint George: Patron Saint of Aragon and Book Day
On April 23, one of our most significant holidays is celebrated in Saragossa. On St. George’s Day we celebrate Aragon Day and Book Day. This day we remember the legend of Saint George and the dragon, the eternal struggle between good and evil, we give and buy books and, naturally, we eat sandeel.
San Jorge continues to be an excellent excuse to read, give books and enjoy literature. But do you know who Saint George really was, what the legend of him is, and why we celebrate him every year?
Who was Saint George?
George of Cappadocia was a Roman soldier who lived in the 3rd century in modern-day Turkey. He was a martyr for his condition as a Christian and later one of the most revered saints in Christianity. There is not much objective data, but according to the legend that originated years after his death, he was the son of an officer in the Roman army and a Christian who educated him in this faith. When he came of age he enlisted in the army and rose quickly, but he refused to persecute Christians because of his own condition and was beheaded for it.
Why is Saint George the patron saint of Aragon?
The legend of Saint George grew enormously after his canonization and numerous stories about his miraculous apparitions spread throughout Europe. In 1096 the hosts of Sancho Ramírez of Aragón had the help of Saint George in the battle of Alcoraz, and later Pedro I conquered Huesca after invoking the help of the saint. Already in the 13th century, James I the Conqueror says that the saint appeared to him during the taking of Valencia and that during the conquest of Mallorca the Saracens fled in terror before the irruption of a white horseman whom they identified with Saint George.
It will be John II of Aragon and Navarra in the 15th century who names Saint George Patron of the Crown of Aragon, a holiday that was declared by the Cortes of Aragon in 1461.
What is the legend of Saint George and the Dragon?
And if all these stories were not enough to make Saint George an exceptional figure, in the 11th century a legend appears that will serve as a model for many of the subsequent fairy tales: The legend of Saint George and the dragon. The story varies quite a bit depending on the versions, but it is essentially the same. There is always a city besieged by a monstrous dragon that demands tribute. A virtuous and exemplary maiden must sacrifice herself for the good of her fellow citizens. And, naturally, the brave knight cannot remain impassive in the face of injustice and confronts the monster, defeating it in a display of courage and thus saving the helpless princess. A metaphor for the victory of good over evil and a glorification of valor and courage.
What is celebrated in San Jorge Saragossa?
April 23 celebrates Saint George, patron saint of Aragon, and Book Day.
How is San Jorge Aragón celebrated?
On Saint George’s Day, different institutional events are held throughout Aragon: The Aragón Prize, institutional events in Zaragoza, Huesca and Teruel, and all types of musical and cultural performances are held.
How is Saint George celebrated in Zaragoza?
Aragon Day is celebrated in a special way in Saragossa, which is the capital of the autonomous community of Aragon.
The Pignatelli Building in Saragossa, headquarters of the Government of Aragon, and the Aljafería Palace, headquarters of the Cortes of Aragon, open their doors to the public to celebrate Aragon Day with a cultural and leisure program for all audiences.
Pignatelli Building
Citizens will be able to enjoy workshops, musical performances, parades and other activities in six of the Pignatelli patios and two of its emblematic rooms: the Crown of Aragon Room and the Portrait Room.
Aljafería Palace
The Aragonese Parliament celebrates its open day with a wide range of activities, including guided and dramatized tours, both in the Aljafería palace and the chamber and in the moat and outdoor gardens.
In the Plaza Aragón in Saragossa in front of the statue of Juan de Lanuza, a floral flag of Aragon is made with the collaboration of the citizens.
In addition, parades, workshops, musical and dance performances are some of the attractions planned to celebrate this day such as traditional dances, jota gala, concerts, dance performances and classical music.
Also children’s workshops, the traditional food and craft market, and the Book Fair.
When is the Book Fair in Saragossa? April 23 International Book Day
The Saragossa Book Fair is celebrated on April 23.
The choice of April 23 as international book day could well be due to the sensational collection of stories associated with the saint and which make for more than one anthology. But the truth is that it has nothing to do with it. April 23 supposedly coincides with the date of death of Cervantes and Shakespeare. Cervantes actually died a day earlier, but he was buried on the 23rd. And regarding Shakespeare there is confusion due to the disparity of calendars.
Be that as it may, April 23 is a date of celebration for lovers of literature. The Book Day exhibition is organized by the Permanent Book Commission, COPELI, and sponsored by the Government of Aragon and the Saragossa City Council, and can be visited on Paseo de la Independencia.
Paseo Independencia and Plaza de Aragón will be filled with books. More than 350 authors and around 100 bookstores, publishers, associations and distributors take to the streets.
What is the St. George sandeel?
Lanzón is a delicious cake that celebrates Saint George’s Day. It is made of sponge cake, cream, nougat and yolk, of 100% Aragonese origin. The dessert emerged as an initiative of the Provincial Association of Confectionery and Pastry Entrepreneurs of Saragossa and was created by pastry chef Amadeo Babot in 1982.
Everything is in the books
Is there a better feeling than opening a new book? I love that smell of ink, glue and new paper, that rustle of the pages… But there is a better feeling, the feeling of opening an old book. A book that maybe one day you read. Sometimes you find memories in it. A bus ticket that you used to mark, a horrible stain from something you were eating, a few grains of sand from that beach where you read it or even the faint aroma of the perfume you were using at the time. If the book has belonged to other people, you can find in it the imprint of those who walked through its pages.
That night I had just entered Saucepolis. My turn had only just begun. An object caught my attention from the cafeteria. There was a book on one of the tables in the hotel cafeteria, My Favorite Room. I walked over and took a look at it. It was an old paperback edition of the adventures of C. Auguste Dupin, by E.A. Poe. A nice compilation of the detective’s three stories. Whoever was the owner of that book had already earned my sympathy. I love detective novels. And although I am a confessed admirer of Holmes, who even mocks Dupin’s techniques in a couple of stories in the Canon, it cannot be denied that Conan Doyle took Dupin as a model for Sherlock in the same way that Christie was inspired by both to create Sherlock. Poirot.
Reading a book in a cafe is a rarity these days. We live in fast times and are enslaved by technological devices. It is common to find forgotten chargers, phones or tablets, but finding a detective novel on a coffee table was too suggestive to be true.
I looked around, but there was no one in the cafeteria or the hotel lobby. No doubt someone forgot the book during the previous shift. I decided I had to find the owner of the book and get it to him. If I were to lose my volume of Dupin’s stories, I would greatly appreciate it if someone would do the same for me. So, imbued with the spirit of Holmes, I decided to look for clues that would suggest who that book belonged to.
I opened the book and my sympathies for the owner dropped dramatically. He had the ugly habit of marking the pages by folding the top corner. Apart from this, the book was in good condition. The pages had yellowed a little, and the paper was not of great quality. The softcovers were surprisingly preserved for a paperback edition. No doubt that volume had spent a good part of its thirty years on a shelf. There was no dust on the side. I had not been in an olive library. The edition, as I say, was from more than thirty years ago, from a publisher unknown to me based in Buenos Aires. There were no marks or annotations, no bookplates or library stamps. It was not going to be an easy task.
I thought the book had to belong to someone of a certain age. The publication date was a fact to take into account, and the book was too well cared for to have passed through several owners. I was thinking maybe it was a woman, the habit of folding the top corner is something I’ve seen on several women before. I was thinking about this when I found between the pages a long hair of an indescribable color, probably the result of dye. My suspicions were confirmed. So, we had a middle-aged woman, with long, dyed hair, a fan of detective novels and possibly Argentine.
The elevator opened on the ground floor and the vivid portrait of the fruit of my investigations emerged from it. An elegant lady of about fifty years old, with medium length mahogany hair and a strong Buenos Aires accent asked for tea to go up to the room. While she served it to him I commented:
-I think you left something in the cafeteria earlier, ma’am.
-I haven’t missed anything.
“Isn’t this book yours?” I said, showing her her copy.
-It’s the first time that I see it. I haven’t carried books with me in a while. My ebook is wonderful.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I said devastatedly as she served the tea.
The lady retired to her room leaving me confused. A boy in pajamas came down the stairs from the first floor.
-Excuse me sir, haven’t you seen a book in the cafeteria?
The boy was no more than twelve years old. He didn’t fit into my schemes at all. It had to be a mistake.
-Maybe, what book have you lost?
-An old edition of the adventures of Dupin.
-Well yes, I have it precisely here. Do you like detective novels?
-It’s the first one I read. You actually take a weight off my shoulders. I “borrowed” the book from my aunt’s library, I would have felt terrible losing it. But for now I’m loving it.
“I’ll only tell you two words for when you finish it, boy, Sherlock Holmes,” I said as I returned the book to the boy.
“Thank you,” he said, and ran up the stairs.
-Excuse me!- I said,
-Is your aunt from Argentina?-
-No, but she lived there for a while years ago, how does she know?
-Elementary, boy, elementary.
