Video: Viking ships on the Spanish coast: festival in Catoira
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Approaching the shore viking shipsand the impatient men of the battle are trying with a finger whether the axes are well pricked up … But the Spanish village of Catoira today will not be given over to fire and sword; there will be a much more peaceful sight - historical viking festival.
What are the Vikings doing on the coast of Spain, so far from their native fjords? This question should have been asked in the 9th century, when all of Europe, from the heel of the Italian boot to the cool walls of Novgorod, was trembling from the invasions of the formidable Normans. Viking ships on the horizon meant robbery, slavery and death. So why, then, are these bloodthirsty sea bandits still remembered in all countries where they once took their loot (remember at least the Scottish Aphelio festival)? Probably, the point is in their directness, honesty and poetry - and as for cruelty, not a single undertaking could do without bloodshed in the Middle Ages.
However, Viking ships arrive in Katoira every year on the first Sunday in August. Officially, this international festival is called "Romería Vikinga" - that is, "Viking pilgrimage". Celebrated since the 1960s. What is the best way to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the 10th century? Staging a battle, of course.
Festival guests grab the requisite plastic swords, chain mail, shields and rather horned helmets, split into two groups and begin to "press" each other - on the one hand, ruthless invaders on ships, on the other, local peasants with pitchforks. The number of "warriors" is measured in hundreds, and more or less active viewers - in tens of thousands! The goal of some of the participants in the "battle" is to capture the Western Towers (only two of the seven that defended Katoira in antiquity have survived), others - to hold the city.
But do not be alarmed - this, of course, is not blood, but good Spanish wine, which is customary to fill the Viking festival in Catoira. Maybe he lacks historicism, but more fun!
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