Traditional Saragüells costume for the men... Fallas (in Spanish) or Falles (in Valencian) are a Valencian tradition which celebrates Saint Joseph's Day (19 March) in Valencia, Spain. The term Fallas refers to both the celebration and the mounuments created during the celebration. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...
Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia (in the latter with the name of Valencian), and in the city of LAlguer in the Italian island of...
Download high resolution version (695x939, 90 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Catalan grammar is the grammar of the Catalan language. ...
// Diachronical Phonological Features in Relation to Latin Several characteristic features of Catalan as a Romance language: Like Occitan, loss of Latin final unstressed vowels, except -a; and then after some of the resulting consonantic groups a support vowel appears, e. ...
The Institut dEstudis Catalans (IEC) is an academic institution. ...
The Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (Valencian Academy of Language) is an institution created on September 16, 1998, which depends on the Presidency of the Generalitat Valenciana. ...
The territory that now constitutes the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain, and the adjoining Catalan region of France, was first settled during the Middle Palaeolithic. ...
History of Spain series Prehistoric Spain Roman Spain Medieval Spain - Visigoths - Al-Andalus - Age of Reconquest Age of Expansion Age of Enlightenment Reaction and Revolution First Spanish Republic The Restoration Second Spanish Republic Spanish Civil War The Dictatorship Transition to Democracy Modern Spain Topics Economic History Military History Social History...
Coat of arms of the King of Aragon, 15th century. ...
// The origins of the military force in Catalonia, soar to the 13th century, with the Sagramental, the fraternity among several villages to guarantee their own security, made through oath, due to this so called. ...
// Origin: The Corts of Barcelona The Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the Corts of Barcelona (corts being the Catalan for courts). ...
Furs of Valencia (Furs de València, in Catalan) were the laws of the Kingdom of Valencia during most of Middle Ages and Early modern Europe. ...
The Treaty of the Pyrenees was a treaty signed in 1659 to end the war between France and Spain that had begun in 1635 during the Thirty Years War. ...
The Nueva Planta decrees (Spanish:Decretos de Nueva Planta, Catalan: Decrets de Nova Planta) were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V—the first Bourbon king of Spain—shortly after the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. ...
The terms Catalan Countries (Catalan: Països Catalans) or Catalanofonia (quite similar, in the linguistic sense, to the French Francophonie, the Portuguese Lusofonia or the Spanish Hispanophone) includes all the territories where the Catalan language is spoken. ...
Anthem: Capital Barcelona Official language(s) Catalan,Spanish and Aranese. ...
Capital Valencia Official language(s) Valencian and Spanish Area – Total – % of Spain Ranked 8th 23,255 km² 4. ...
Capital Palma de Mallorca Official language(s) Spanish and Catalan Area – Total – % of Spain Ranked 17th 4,992 km² 1. ...
Northern Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya Nord; Spanish: Cataluña del Norte o Cataluña Transpirenaica; French: Catalogne Nord or Pays Catalan) is the name mainly used by the Catalan-speaking community to refer to the part of the historic Principality of Catalonia that came under French governance through the signing of...
Language distribution in Aragon Map of Catalan Countries with current political borders Franja de Ponent (IPA: ; Catalan for Western Strip), Francha de Lebán (Aragonese for Eastern Strip), Franja de Aragón, or simply La Franja, refers to four comarques in the east of the Autonomous Community of Aragon, which...
Alghero (LAlguer in Catalan and SAlighèra in Sardinian), is a town of about 35,000 inhabitants (down from 54,300 inhabitants since early 20th century) in Italy. ...
Carxe is a city in Spain. ...
The Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia ) is the institution in which the self-government of Catalonia is politically organised. ...
Capital Valencia Official languages Valencian (Catalan) and Spanish (Castilian) Area – total – % of Spain Ranked 8th 23 255 km² 4,6% Population – Total (2003) – % of Spain – Density Ranked 4th 4 326 708 10,3% 186,05/km² Demonym – English – Valencian – Spanish Valencian valenci...
National motto: Virtus Unita Fortior (Latin: Virtue united is stronger) Official language: Catalan Capital: - Population: - Coordinates: Andorra la Vella 22,035 (1990 est. ...
The General Council of the Valleys (in Catalan, Consell General de les Valls) is the unicameral parliament of Andorra. ...
This is the main article about the politic activity in Catalonia. ...
Catalan nationalism, or Catalanism, is a political movement that advocates for an increased political autonomy of Catalonia, if not independence itself, from Spain and France. ...
Blaverism (Valencian: blaverisme. ...
Castells are human towers that are traditionally built during festivals in many places in Catalonia, Spain. ...
Correfocs in Barcelona Catalonias festivals and traditions unify Catalan society and help to give it its particular character. ...
The sardana (Catalan plural sardanes) is a type of circle dance typical of Catalonia. ...
Parade of a Christian filà of Moros i Cristians festival in Alcoi (Alacant). ...
A traditional Catalan caganer from the back. ...
The Tió de Nadal (roughly Christmas log), also known as Tió or Tronca (log), is a mythological character in Catalan mythology relating to a Christmas tradition widespread in Catalonia. ...
Catalan myths and legends are the traditional myths and legends of the Catalan-speaking world, especially Catalonia itself, passed down for generations as part of that regions popular culture. ...
Catalan-language writers Gabriel Alomar Vicent Andrés Estellés Pere Calders Salvador Espriu i Castelló Joan Fuster Manuel de Pedrolo i Molina J.V. Foix Maria de la Pau Janer Joan Maragall i Gorina Miquel Martà i Pol Jesús Moncada Jesús Montcada i Estruga Quim Monzó Teresa...
Antoni Gaudà i Cornet (25 June 1852 – Barcelona, 10 June 1926) – sometimes referred to by the Spanish translation of his name, Antonio Gaudà – was an architect from Catalonia, who belonged to the Modernisme (Art Nouveau) movement and was famous for his unique style and highly individualistic designs. ...
Modernisme in Catalan, (not to be confused with modernism) is the Catalan variant of Art Nouveau. ...
The Renaixença was a late 19th century romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture. ...
Noucentisme (noucentista being its adjective) is a Catalan cultural movement of the early 20th century that originated largely as a reaction against Modernisme, both in art and ideology, and was, simultaneously, a perception of art almost opposite to that of avantgardists. ...
Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalà y Domènech, Marquis of Pubol (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989), was a Spanish (Catalan) surrealist painter. ...
Joan Miró photo taken by Carl Van Vechten, June, 1935 Joan Miró i Ferrà (April 20, 1893 – December 25, 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramist born in Catalonia, Spain. ...
Antoni TÃ pies (born in Barcelona, December 23, 1923) is a Catalan painter. ...
Traditional Xaraguell costume from Valencia, Spain. ...
Traditional Xaraguell costume from Valencia, Spain. ...
Valencian (valencià ) is the historical, traditional, and official name used in the Valencian Community (Spain) to refer to the language spoken therein, also known as Catalan (català ) in the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands; in the country of Andorra; in the southern French region of...
Saint Josephs Day, commonly called the Feast of St. ...
is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Location Coordinates : Time Zone : CET (GMT +1) - summer: CEST (GMT +2) General information Native name València (Valencian) Spanish name Valencia Founded 137 BC Postal code 46000-46080 Website http://www. ...
Each neighbourhood of the city has an organized group of people, the Casal faller, that works all year long holding fundraising parties and dinners, usually featuring the famous speciality paella, and of course much music and laughter. Each casal faller produces a construction known as a falla which is eventually burnt. A casal faller is also known as a comisión fallera. Valencian paella. ...
The name of the festival is thus the plural of falla. The word's derivation is as follows:
falla ← Vulgar Latin *facla ← Latin facula (diminutive) ← Latin fax, "torch". Vulgar Latin, as in this political graffito at Pompeii, was the speech of ordinary people of the Roman Empire — different from the classical Latin used by the Roman elite. ...
For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ...
Falles & ninots
Formerly, much time would also be spent at the Casal Faller preparing the ninots (Valencian for puppets or dolls). During the week leading up to 19 March, each group takes its ninot out for a grand parade, and then mounts it, each on its own elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard and papier-mâché artistic monument in a street of the given neighborhood. This whole assembly is a falla. Valencian (valencià ) is the historical, traditional, and official name used in the Valencian Community (Spain) to refer to the language spoken therein, also known as Catalan (català ) in the Spanish Autonomous Communities of Catalonia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands; in the country of Andorra; in the southern French region of...
is the 78th day of the year (79th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
exploding firecracker A firecracker (also known as a cracker, noisemaker, or banger) is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. ...
Paperboard is a paper-like material, usually over ten mils (0. ...
Papier-mâché around a form such as a balloon to create a pig. ...
The ninots and their falles are developed according to an agreed upon theme that was, and continues to be a satirical jab at anything or anyone unlucky enough to draw the attention of the critical eyes of the fallers — the celebrants themselves. In modern times, the whole two week long festival has spawned a huge local industry, to the point that an entire suburban area has been designated the City of Falles — Ciutat fallera. Here, crews of artists and artisans, sculptors, painters, and many others all spend months producing elaborate constructions, richly absurd paper and wax, wood and styrofoam tableaux towering up to five stories, composed of fanciful figures in outrageous poses arranged in gravity-defying architecture, each produced at the direction of the many individual neighbourhood Casals faller who vie with each to attract the best artists, and then to create the most outrageous monument to their target. There are more than 500 different falles in Valencia, including those of other towns in the Land of Valencia. Capital Valencia Official languages Valencian (Catalan) and Castilian (Spanish) Area – total – % of Spain Ranked 8th 23,255 km² 4. ...
During Falles, many people from their casal faller dress in the regional costumes from different eras of Valencia's history — the fife and drum are frequently heard, as most of the different casals fallers have their own traditional bands. Fife from the American Civil War A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. ...
Bass drum made from wood, rope, and cowskin A drum is a musical instrument in the percussion group that can be large, technically classified as a membranophone. ...
Although the Falles are a very traditional event and many participants dress in mediaeval clothing, the ninots for 2005 included such modern characters as Shrek and George W. Bush. This article contains a plot summary that is overly long or excessively detailed compared to the rest of the article. ...
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...
Events During Fallas
 La despertà: a brass band marches through a small street in the early morning.
 Falleres in their dresses march with the band. The days and nights in Valencia are one running party during the two weeks of Falles. There are processions galore — historical processions, religious processions, and hysterical processions. The restaurants spill out to the streets. Explosions can be heard all day long and sporadically through the night. Foreigners may be surprised to see everyone from small children to elderly gentlemen throwing fireworks and bangers in the streets, which are littered with pyrotechnical débris. Download high resolution version (1045x746, 148 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Download high resolution version (1045x746, 148 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (829x809, 165 KB) Falleres. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (829x809, 165 KB) Falleres. ...
La Desperta Each day of falles begins at 8am with la despertà ("the wake-up call"). Brass bands will appear from the casals and begin to march down every road playing lively music. Close behind them are the fallers throwing large firecrackers in the street as they go (large enough to set off nearby car alarms, which will add their sirens to the bedlam!). Image File history File links The crowd gathers in the main square waiting for Mascleta, March 2004, Valencia, Spain. ...
Image File history File links The crowd gathers in the main square waiting for Mascleta, March 2004, Valencia, Spain. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 139 KB)Smoke rises as crowds watch the Mascleta, March 2004, Valencia, Spain. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (768x1024, 139 KB)Smoke rises as crowds watch the Mascleta, March 2004, Valencia, Spain. ...
La Mascletà Sometime around 2pm there is the mascletà (an explosive display of the concussive effects of co-ordinated firecracker and fireworks barrages) in each neighbourhood; the main attraction is the municipal Mascleta in the Plaça de l'Ajuntament where the great pyrotecnic masters compete for the honour of providing the final Mascleta of the fiestas (on March 19th). Huge crowds gather from all corners of the city to see this event (go early!). At 2pm the clock will chime and one of the lovely maidens (dressed in her fallera finery) will call from the balcony of the City Hall, Senyor pirotècnic, pot començar la mascleta! ("Mr. Pyrotechnic, you may commence the Mascleta!"). Suddenly the square rips with a pyrotechnic display of a power rarely seen outside the battlefield. Louder is better as far as Valencians are concerned, and the masters don't disappoint them. For six or seven minutes hundreds of kilograms of flash powder is gradually detonated. The crowd rocks with each explosion and great billowing clouds of smoke rise as it builds to the finale. The final crescendo of noise will leave you stunned and senseless for several seconds, at which point a huge cheer goes up from the crowd and the people run forward to applaud the pyrotecnic masters as they bow to their fans. Head injury is a trauma to the head, that may or may not include injury to the brain (see also brain injury). ...
For other uses, see Fireworks (disambiguation). ...
It has been suggested that Town Hall be merged into this article or section. ...
Flash powder is a mixture of oxidizer and metallic fuel which burns quickly and if confined will produce a loud report. ...
Mascleta is a very Valencian activity, hugely popular with the Valencian people and found in very few other places in the world. Smaller neighbourhoods often have their own mascleta for saint days, for weddings and for other celebrations as well. In Valencia, any reason is a good reason for a Mascleta.
La Plantà The Day of the 15th all of the fallas infantils are to be finished being constructed and later that night all of the fallas mayores are to be completed. If not, they face disqualification.
La Ofrenda Each casual falla takes an offering of flowers to the virgin. This occurs all day on their days of March 17th and March 18th. The virgin's body is then constructed with these flowers.
Los Castillos and La Nit de Foc The nights of the 15, 16, 17, and 18th there is a fireworks display in the old riverbed in Valencia. Each night is progressively grander and the last is called La Nit de Foc, the night of fire. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2884, 439 KB) Fallas 2002 (cremà ) - taken by me March 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Falles ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1920x2884, 439 KB) Fallas 2002 (cremà ) - taken by me March 2002 File links The following pages link to this file: Falles ...
La Cremà On the final night of Falles, around midnight on March 19th, these falles are burnt as huge bonfires. This is known as the cremada or cremà, i.e. "the burning", and this is of course the climax and point of the whole event, and the reason why the constructions are called falles ("torches"). Traditionally, the falla near the town hall is burned last.
Many neighbourhoods have a falla infantil (a children's falla, smaller and without satirical themes), which is a few metres away from the main one. This is burnt first, at 10pm. The main neighbourhood falles are burnt closer to midnight. The awesome falles in the city centre often take longer. For example, in 2005, the fire brigade delayed the burning of the Egyptian funeral falla in career del Convent de Jerusalem until 1.30am, when they were sure they had all safety concerns covered.
Each falla is adorned with fireworks which are lit first. The construction itself is lit either after or during these fireworks. Falles burn quite quickly, and the heat given off is felt by all around. The heat from the larger ones often drives the crowd back a couple of metres, even though they are already behind barriers that the fire brigade has set several metres away from the construction. In narrower streets, the heat scorches the surrounding buildings, and the firemen douse the façades, window blinds, street signs, etc. with their hoses in order to stop them catching fire or melting, from the beginning of the cremà until it cools down after several minutes.
Away from the falles, there are people going crazy through the streets, with the city resembling an open-air nightclub, except that instead of music there is the occasionally deafening sound of people throwing fireworks and bangers around randomly. There are stalls selling products such as the typical fried snacks porras, churros and buñuelos, as well as roast chestnuts or various trinkets.
History There are a few different theories regarding the origin of the Falles festival. One theory suggests that the Falles started in the Middle Ages, when artisans put out their broken artifacts and pieces of wood that they sorted during the winter then burnt them to celebrate the spring equinox. Valencian carpenters used planks of wood to hang their candles on. These planks were known as parots. During the winter, these were needed to provide light for the carpenters to work by. With the coming of the Spring, they were no longer necessary, so they were burned. With time, and the intervention of the Church, the date of the burning of these parots was made to coincide with the celebration of the festival of Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the carpenters. The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...
In astronomy, the vernal equinox (spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox) is the equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. ...
For other uses, see Saint Joseph (disambiguation). ...
This tradition continued to change. The parot was given clothing so that it looked like a person. Features identifiable with some well-known person from the neighborhood were added as well. To collect these materials, children went from house to house asking for Una estoreta velleta (An old rug) to add to the parot. This became a popular song that the children sang to gather all sorts of old flammable furniture and utensils to burn in the bonfire with the parot. These parots were the first ninots. With time, people of the neighborhoods organized the process of the creation of the Falles and monuments including various figures were born.
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the Falles were tall boxes with three or four wax dolls dressed in cloth clothing. This changed when the creators began to use cardboard. The creation of the Falle continues to evolve in modern day, when largest monuments are made of polyurethane and soft cork easily molded with hot saws. These techniques have allowed Falles to be created in excess of 30 meters. A polyurethane is any polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links. ...
Sección Especial The Sección Especial is a group of the largest and most prestiguous fallas commissions in the city of Valencia. In 2007, the group consisted of 14 commissions. This class of fallas was first started in 1942 and originally included the fallas of Barcas, Reina-Paz and Plaza del Mercado. Currently, none of these are still in the group. The commission that has participated in this group most as of 2007, was Na Jordana with 54 times. Winning the first prize in the Sección Especial is the most prestiguous prize any falla can win. All other fallas fall into different classes that also award prizes with the exception of the one erected by the town hall.
See also List of Winners of Sección Especial of Falles List of Winners of Sección Especial 1975-2001. ...
Falles 2005 gallery - 18/3/2005
Falla Shrek.jpg Falla with Shrek. There are many such modern characters. | View down street Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| Falleres & fallers merrily beating drums Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| A paella being cooked on a wood fire in the middle of the road Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| Falla with old man holding young woman. Such risqué themes are typical. Download high resolution version (768x1024, 78 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| Falla with painter and fat woman. This was as high as a building. Download high resolution version (557x726, 37 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| Falla with poor man Download high resolution version (640x965, 56 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| Part of falla with Egyptian funeral procession. In calle del convento de Jerusalén. 2nd prize, special section, Falles 2005. Download high resolution version (943x707, 86 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| - 19/3/2005
The children's falla in calle Poeta Altet. Download high resolution version (668x611, 52 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| The same falla with fireworks going off. Download high resolution version (551x762, 63 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| The same falla blazing. Download high resolution version (659x618, 44 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
| The monumental Egyptian falla, just as the frame of its tallest tower collapses. Download high resolution version (1121x670, 85 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
|
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: - Official page for the Falles of Valencia, Spain: http://www.fallas.com (You may have trouble viewing this site in any browser other than Internet Explorer)
- Official page for the Falles of Valencia, Spain: http://www.fallasfromvalencia.com
- Fallas 2007 (in Spanish, Valencian, English, French and German): http://fallas.comunitatvalenciana.com
- History of Falles in English: http://www.fallas.com/historia/ingles.htm
- Fallas : http://www.ciberfallas.com/
- Very detailed insider guide to Fallas with galleries http://www.valenciavalencia.com/culture-guide/fallas/fallas.htm
- A complete guide, in English, to Fallas, including a daily timetable: http://www.thisisvalencia.com/fallas1.html
- A Fallas forum: http://www.falles.foro.st (in Spanish and Valencian)
- The first Fallas blog: http://malaltdefalles.blogspot.com (in Valencian)
- An English resource website all about Valencia with a section on Las Fallas: http://www.valenciatrader.com
- Fallas on Valencia search engine : http://www.trobat.com/
- Other web site http://www.fallas.es
- Falla Plaza del Pilar Official Site (Very complete, lots of pics, in Spanish) - http://www.falladelpilar.com
- Website of a Fallas artist, Xavier Herrero (in Spanish, Valencian and English): http://www.xavierdimensions.com
- Spanish caricaturist Vizcarra and the satiric magazine El Jueves designed one of the fallas that were burned during 2006. More information here: http://www.vizcarra.info/fallas
- Link to a short film showing one piece of a Falla - one ninot - from the forming of the scale model right through to the burning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ereHeXodAt8
- Fallas Forum: http://www.falles.foro.st
|
Feeds |
Contact