19 June 2022

Sunday Stamps | The Week of Bearded Men

In my region's tradition, la setmana dels barbuts (='the week of bearded men') is the one that includes the days 15 and 17 of January, corresponding to the celebrations of St. Paul of Thebes (Sant Pau l'Ermità) and St. Maurus (Sant Maur l'Abat) the 15th, and St. Anthony the Great (Sant Antoni Abat) the 17th. Some other saints, less known, are also included in the week

This name comes from the fact these three saints are usually depicted wearing long, thick white beards, associated with snow and cold. 

There are a lot of celebrations around those days. The stamp below, issued in 2018, shows the celebrations on the town of Artà. As you can see, Sant Anthony festivals often include demons dancing...



And, as we are already there, let me show some recently received stamps. These do not depict bearded men, but they are related to the Balearic islands, where I used to live:

Flag and map of the Balearic islands
3 January 2011

Fornalutx
13 March 2018


Prairies of oceanic Posidonia (seagrass) - WHS by UNESCO
15 October 2001

Dijous Bo (annual fair)
4 November 2002

Rural Architecture: Possessió Raixa (16th century)
5 July 2018

This is post is for Sunday Stamps. The theme today is Beards/Moustaches... but it can be freely interpreted!

4 comments:

  1. That is a nice tradition to brighten up the short days of January.

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    Replies
    1. That's true in a literal sense: some January festivals include fire :)

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  2. There are so many interesting festivals in Spain. I love the story behind this one. And the tour of the islands :)

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Thank you for coming. All your comments make me extremely happy.