Sant Jordi´s Day – pure romance in the Catalan way!
While the most of the world celebrate love and romance at the Valentine’s Day, Catalonia has its own way to praise the most beautiful thing in the world. The occasion is called Sant Jordi’s Day (which is Spanish version of Saint George) and two symbols of this day are a rose and a book.
«A rose for love and a book forever» – what else could say more than this simple assertion? On this day all gentlemen give roses in different couours to ladies, and ladies give books to gentlemen. If you ask any florist on which occasion they do the most of the work, each of them would say on Sant Jordi’s Day, rather than Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day and Mother’s Day, which are right behind.
Eventhough Saint George is celebrated on 23rd of April in many countries, in Catalonia this celebration has a special meaning. Sant Jordi is the patron saint of Catalonia (along with the Virgin of Montserrat), and this date is considered as an official date of his death 303 AD. Sant Jordi is a hero and a symbol of Catalan identity. The legend says he saved the princess from the evil dragon and gave her a red rose which grew from the dragon’s shed blood.
Sant Jordi’s Day is also celebrated as World Book Day, so don’t forget that men also should have their presents! 23 April is a symbolic date for world literature, since 23 April 1616 was the date of death of Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. The tradition of World Book Day expanded from Catalonia, where in former time you could get a rose for every book purchased.
If you are a man, you should know that besideclassic red rose you can also give yellow rose, which symbolize friendship, white rose, which stands for innocence, orange rose, which means passion and desire (careful with that one!:) and pink, which symbolize happines. If you are a girl, the choice is very wide. Book with quotations from famous films, travel book or simply a good novel – with a personal message inside of a book you have a perfect and significant gift.
Now when you know all facts about this special celebration, there are only two things left: one is to carefully pick the present to your beloved, ant the other is to enjoy the festival of love and romance below the beautiful Catalan sky!
Your Luxury Team