A Festival of Photos
Coimbra, always colorful, is especially vibrant during June and July. In addition to the annual feasts and fairs, just last week was the Festas de Rainha Santa Isabel, or Feast of Queen Saint Isabel, held every two years. It was truly extraordinary.
But first, the annual Costume Parade: neighborhoods, organizations, schools, and businesses spend months preparing costumes and floats. There is a fabric store with an entire room devoted to the very elaborate fabrics and ribbons needed to construct all of the costumes. Each group pauses before the Santa Cruz Cathedral to perform traditional songs and dances before continuing on through town. The community spirit is infectious. I love the boy in the first photo — somebody must have made a mistake!
Even the men dress up.
Every June welcomes a ten-day Craft and Wares Fair, set up along the beautiful Mondego river. The stalls spill over with gorgeous art and crafts, some a continuation of century-old traditions, some fresh art. One of our favorites was this woodworking booth. These bowls that seem struck by lightening are in fact made by applying 10,000 volts of electricity. The proprietor explained the process he had acquired over years of experimentation. Some of his bowls, vases, and platters do in fact take years to make, drying the wood, shaping it, and creating the patterns, which, he says, evolve as a surprise even to him.
Everything is handmade, intricate, and tempting.
Naturally, I gravitated to the booksellers. I found a wonderful bilingual book of T.S. Eliot poems, and the bookseller is keeping his eye out for a good Portuguese translation of Emily Dickinson! He also introduced me to Portuguese poets. I now own two volumes — that I can’t read. Yet.
Merchants frequently line the Rua Ferreira Borges and Largo da Portagem with food and flowers and, although these particular women aren’t smiling, good cheer! Their bread was delicious. They also treated us to shots of their homemade, can’t find it anywhere else, liquor.
Each summer there’s a Renaissance Fair. This year it was held at the base of Se Velha, or Old Cathedral, built in the 1200’s. Despite visitors in shorts and flip-flops, the participants truly capture Renaissance atmosphere. I could have done without the roasting of a whole pig . . .
Add to all this the World Cup! Many gathered to watch on a HUGE screen set up in the Praca do Comercio. I was there when Portugal beat Spain! And, sadly, when PT was beat by Uruguay. I live at the top of a hill a ten-minute walk away, but could hear crowds cheering during matches.
Festas de Rainha Santa Isabel is held every two years, with main events occurring over four days. On the first night, fireworks at midnight above the Mondego River. On the next, a Candlelight Procession from the Santa Clara Monastery across the Santa Clara bridge and through town to the Santa Cruz Cathedral. The procession attracts hundreds of pilgrims. Some walk barefoot. A few crawl. Many carry roses. Hundreds more spectators line the streets in every direction. Truly remarkable is the respectful silence. I have never heard such a throng so quiet. Eight men dressed in black and gold ceremonial robes men carry the statue, and pause on the Santa Clara bridge for prayers and fireworks. The legend of Santa Isabel helps to explain the adoration, and especially Coimbra’s:
As Queen, she was devoted to caring for the poor, but the cruel King was opposed. He threatened to imprison her if she continued. One winter day, as she was leaving with bread hidden in her skirts, he demanded to see what she was carrying. “Roses,” she said. Impossible. “Show me.” When she opened her skirts, roses fell, not bread. She continued her work and later founded the Santa Clara monastery here in Coimbra.
And so, roses surround the base of her statue, and many participants dressed as the queen carry them in the procession.
On the final night, more fireworks!
Things will seem quiet now, but there’s always more to explore. Tonight there’s a light show in the University courtyard. Later this week, music at the amphitheater. But first, back to that novel. Now, where was I?
