Sant Jordi a Barcelona the 24th of April

Like every year in Catalunya, and of course in Barcelona as well, the famous feast of Sant Jordi will be held on 23 and 24 of April. The city will be full of books and flowers. Tradition says that the men should give the women a rose and the woman a book to the men.

Some history:

Sant Jordi, knight and martyr, is the hero of a great history situated around the Montblanc.

A fierce and terrible monster was reacvhing the outskirts Montblanc, which had the powers to walk, fly and swing and to kill all breating beings.

The people thought that if they'd offer this monster each day a living person, it would not ruin right and left at will. Every day they picked at random a persom amongst all residents of the town, and that person would be delivered to the beast. This went on for a while and the monster was satisfied.

One day the fate wanted it to be the daugther of the king to be offered to the monster. There were citizens who volunteered to replace her, but the king was inexorable and severe, and with a heart full of grief he told his people that his daughter was also a resident of the town and would thus serve to offer to the beast. And so the princess was to be sacrified.

The girl was out the town and started walking toward the monster's lair. After some walking a young knight riding a white horse and golden armor presented himself to her. The princess told him to flee quickly since there was a fierce beast that wanted to eat all. The gentleman told her not to fea, as he had come for the purpose to fight the monster, kill him and liberate the princess -and all the citizens of Montblanc of this faith.

When the beast came, the princess was terrified though the knight felt stronger than ever, especially as he was defending this princess. The knight launced his spade and badly hurt the monster, bleeding him slowly and painfully to a miserable death. The knight, whos name was Jordi, tied the beast by the neck with a rope and returned with the princess and his prey to Montblanc. The king, so happy with the return of his daughter, offered the knight the hand of his daughter but Knight Jordi replied that he did not deserve such honor.

Then, Knight Jordi mysteriously disappeared, just he had appeared. Since then he lives in the heart of all Catalan people as Sant Jordi.