Portugal

Magusto: a Portuguese Autumn celebration

Magusto is a popular festivity in Portugal, especially on Saint Simon’s Day (29th September), All Saint’s Day (1st November) and Saint Martin’s Day (11th November). People sing and play during these evenings celebrating the crops and the life in the countryside. Galiza (Spain) celebrates it too, and they call it “magosto”.

Groups of friends and family, especially in the countryside, get together near a fogueira (bonfire) to eat baked castanhas (chestnuts) and drink jeropiga and água-pé, two traditional Portuguese alcoholic beverages. If the first one is sweeter and more alcoholic than usual wine because we make it with aguardente (“fiery water”, a kind of young brandy), the second one isn’t so alcoholic because it’s done with water. Either the water or the fiery water are added to the residual pomace from wine making. (more…)

From our contributors: week of October 25th

We continue with our bi-weekly roundup of articles written by some members of our contributors team on their personal blogs.

Sandra, our contributor from Portugal, published a series of posts where she pairs a Dutch flower with a Portuguese song. A fun and entertaining way to enjoy beautiful flowers and great music.

Jenna, our contributor from Poland, describes her backpacking journey across Poland, visiting the towns where her ancestors came from and how those places have shaped the person she is today.

“And I’m even more dumbfounded by the history of seemingly coincidental connections that shaped my family past and who I am. Each of my great-grandparents moved from these very similar places in Poland to America – alone. As far as I know, they all met and married in America. Yet, their home villages were all so much alike – places that have probably retained these similar characteristics for over a century.”

Marta, our contributor from Spain, writes about 48H Open House BCN, an event during which more than 160 buildings open their doors to the public.

“48H Open House BCN means the chance to visit more than 160 amazing buildings in Barcelona, next weekend, and completely for free. I think it’s a really interesting activity, as many of the buildings are not usually open to the public for a guided visit.”

Mike, our contributor from Japan, brings us photo essay about old staircases in Okinawa.

“On the outer islands of Okinawa, Japan there are many old caves and sacred wells. Some of them are pretty cool and they make great subjects for photography.”

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From our contributors: week of October 11
Italian food lover in California
Ethiopian art and culture

Fátima: the most famous Portuguese centre of Christian pilgrimage

October is Virgin Mary’s month. In Portugal, it’s time to pay a special visit to Our Lady of Fátima sanctuary, in Cova de Iria (Leiria). There, especially on the 13, we will find Catholics from all over the world celebrating the last appearance of the Virgin Mary in October 1917.

The Three Shepherd Children

According to the Catholic Church, Nossa Senhora de Fátima (Our Lady of Fatima) appeared to three shepherd children on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May,13 and ending on October,13. The three children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto.

Jacinta died in 1920 and Francisco in 1919. The siblings were victims of the great influenza epidemic that swept through Europe in 1918. Sister Lúcia, born in 1907, became a Carmelite nun in a monastery in Coimbra and died six years ago. (more…)

5 interesting facts about Portugal

Here are five little known facts about Portugal sent in by Sandra, our Portuguese contributor. Take five minutes to learn more about this country located in the Iberian Peninsula.

1. The Portuguese Gorreana Tea is Europe’s oldest remaining tea company,dating from 1883.

2. The Portuguese Princess, Catarina de Bragança (25 November 1638 – 31 December 1705), queen consort of Charles II of England (1662-1685), introduced the habit of drinking tea in Britain.

3. The oldest bookstore in the world (1732) is Bertrand in Lisbon (Chiado district).

4. Portugal is the oldest country in Europe with defined frontiers (Alcanizes Treaty,1297) and also the oldest nation-state, since the 5th October 1143.

5. Portugal and England signed the oldest, and still active, diplomatic alliance in the world, (Windsor Treaty, 1386).

 

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Poetry and Music, a Portuguese Liaison
Crowns, flowers and 30 loaves: Festa dos Tabuleiros in Portugal
The man who saved 30,000 refugees

Poetry and music: a Portuguese liaison

Portuguese, also called A Língua de Camões in honour of our greatest poet Luiz Vaz de Camões -author of the famous epic Os Lusíadas (The Lusiads) about the great Portuguese discoveries in the 16th century-, is a language of poets celebrated through music since medieval times.

Modern Portuguese dates from the 16th century and has its origins in Galaico-Português, or Old Portuguese, a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the northwest area of the Iberian Peninsula. Our strong connection between poetry and music dates from the final years of the 12th century until the middle of the 14th century, when Galaico- Português was used for literary purposes in the cantigas d’ amor (male-voiced love lyric), the cantigas d’ amigo (female-voiced love lyric), and the cantigas d’ escarnho e de mal dizer (including a variety of genres from personal invective to social satire, poetic parody and literary debate). The video below is an example of a cantiga d’amigo.

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Crowns, flowers and 30 loaves: Festa dos Tabuleiros in Portugal

The Festa dos Tabuleiros (Festival of the Trays) is one of the most important celebrations in Portugal. It takes place every four years, during the months of June or July, in Tomar, the city of the Templars, located in the centre of Portugal. These celebrations are also known as the Festa do Espírito Santo (Holy Spirit Celebration). I was there for the first and only time in 2007, four months before I came to live in The Netherlands.

Streets of Tomar, decorated for the festival

The festival takes its name from the trays carried during the final procession. It originated during the rule of the Farmer King, Dom Dinis and his wife, Queen Saint Isabel. During their reign the Portuguese borders were defined with Tratado de Alcanices (1297), Portuguese language became the State official language (in 1290), the first Portuguese University was founded and agriculture, culture, the arts and poor people were well protected.

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