Sta. María de Narranco, San Miguel de Lillo, & the Night of San Juan


The excitement to get out of the classroom and explore Oviedo was evident all of Friday. As we were waiting for the bus, everyone was buzzing and ready to explore! The students had been learning about the history of Sta. María de Narranco in their culture class and so it was exciting for them to see it with their own eyes.

Sta. María de Narranco and San Miguel de Lillo are only a 30-minute bus ride outside of Oviedo. Sta. María was originally a small castle that the king used for parties and to show off his wealth. San Miguel was a large church but much of the structure fell over time, leaving what’s left in the pictures below.

The Night of San Juan celebrates the Solemnity of St. John the Baptist in the Catholic Church. Essentially, it’s a holiday celebrating Saint John and the arrival of summer. It's celebrated all throughout Europe but Spain has an especially rich tradition celebrating this holiday, with each region following its own special tradition. In Asturias, the festival also brings in notes of its mythological Celtic past. In addition to celebrating Saint John, in Asturias it is also said that the Xanas (magical nymphs) come out from their caves to woo shepherds, the cuélebre (Asturian dragon) loses its powers, and the trasgos (house elves) make sure to create even more ruckus than usual.


A picture is worth a 1000 words, so I’ll let them start talking.

The floor is lava!


Waiting for the bus

Andrés is so excited to get going!



















Sta. María de Narranco


























They just had to get a selfie with the cows!



Don Ramón explaining the Arch







Moisés our fearless Literature Instructor







San Miguel de Lillo









During "La Noche de San Juan"










The witches telling their story




The Dance of the Xanas (Shanas)


The Cuélebre coming out to light the fire!




It's tradition to write down either a wish or something bad you want fixed on a piece of paper and throw it into the fire
Robert, Colin, and Elizabeth joined in on the La Danza Prima!







The little boy in the back is Christian, the host brother of Quinn and Georgia

Comments

  1. Eli's momJune 25, 2017 at 1:09 PM

    Thanks for sharing, looks like everyone is having an amazing time!

    ReplyDelete

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