One of the things we have enjoyed in our adventures in Spain is the culture. The Spanish tradition of the “abanico” is interesting. The use of the abanico (Fan ) is a long-standing tradition in Spain. The use of the fan in Spain began around the 13th century when fans from the Middle East were brought back by Crusaders.
The tradition of the fan was originally used for cooling a person in the heat of the Spanish weather. It is alleged that the fan was also used as a form of secret coded messages. The “secret” fan language was a means to deal with the restrictive social etiquette. In fact, one of our Spanish friends told us how her mother communicated with her father before they were married through the fan secret language.
The secret language is believed to be as follows:
Open fan over the chest showing the design “Yes”
Open fan over the chest showing the back “No”
Open fan covering one of the cheeks “I like you”
Wave fan very fast: “I really like you”
Wave fan very slowly: “I am not interested”
Open fan covering your nose “I want to see you”
Open fan covering your chin “I want to talk to you”
Closed fan near the heart: “I love you”
Open fan placed over lips: “Kiss me”
Close fan waving; “I am thinking about it”
Hit close fan against hand “Leave me alone”
Open and close the fan: “I am upset”
Open fan waving energetically on one side “Don´t come now, other people around”
The “abanico” is still very popular in Spain and it is not uncommon to see women waving the fan when they are hot. The abanicos are sold extensively throughout the country and it is not uncommon to see tourist buying a cheap fan as a souvenir.
Abanicos on display in Barcelona souvenir store for saleNumerous abanicos on sale at a local department store in Alicante
The abanicos range in price from $1 euro up into the hundreds of dollars. The handcrafted artisan style fans are very beautiful and a piece of art. We looked at some fans on display that were quite expensive and locked inside a display case.
Expensive abanicos on display in locked case at local department store
The style and diversity of the abanicos are truly amazing. There are some for women’s small hand purses, evening classic style and some are works of art used to accent a women’s clothing. We bought a fan to remind us of the tradition. Can you tell which secret Shelley is saying in fan language?
We have been resting and taking it easy since getting back to Spain. We have adjusted to the six-hour time change and are now back into our routines. Last night we decided to go to see a movie at the local theater. We walked to the Yelmo Cinema which is about ten minutes away and is located in the Puerta de Alicante Mall. We went to see the Movie “Star Trek Beyond” which was playing in Spanish.
Star Trek Beyond Movie Poster
I went to the lineup to purchase our tickets and asked the clerk in my best Spanish “Hola, dos billettes por la cine Star Trek Beyond, por favor” She looked at me like I was talking gibberish and asked me to repeat myself. This time, I spoke slower and repeated it again, then she said (in Spanish) oh you mean “Star Trek: Más allá”. Yup still working on the Spanish communication…
Line up for tickets and refreshments combined at Yelmo cinema
We bought our tickets for a grand total of $4.50 euros each and went to enter the cinema. The girl taking the tickets informed us that we had to wait until the other show was finished in about fifteen minutes. We decided to walk around the lobby of the theater and look around. As we were waiting we came across some info on the Yelmo fan card. It is a points card similar to the Scene card for Cineplex theaters in Canada. We decided we would join and get a Yelmo fan card. I went back up to the girl at the counter and asked her in my best Spanish, how do we get the Yelmo fan card. She explained the process and gave us two application forms. We filled out the forms and paid our $2.50 euro each for the membership. This provides us with one free movie each and discounts on everything from snacks to entry into the movies. We are now proud owners of a Yelmo Fan cinema card.
Yelmo Cinema Fan card
We watched the Star Trek movie in Spanish. It was very difficult for us to grasp what was being said in Spanish for several reasons. We have never studied scientific terms in Spanish and of course, they were talking very fast, which made it almost impossible to follow along. We sat there a little confused at times but still enjoyed the movie. It is fair to say we are going to watch this movie again, but this time in English.
We went to see the “Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia” which translates in english to “Metropolitan Cathedral–Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady of Valencia”. It is referred to as simply the Valencia Cathedral which is a lot easier to say. It is a beautiful gothic style church and is not overly ornate on the outside, but still impressive.
Iglesia Catedral-Basílica Metropolitana de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora de Valencia
Inside the church there are high ceilings with arches with a central dome that has eight windows around the base of the dome.
Central dome of Valencia Church with 8 windows surrounding the base
There is also a beautiful Star of David shaped stained glass window at one end wall of the church. The Two triangles represent the male and female of humanity. They are a balance between male and female and represent unity and balance.
Star of David stained glass window at Valencia Cathedral
We had the opportunity to see some impressive historic things at the Cathedral. We took our time and walked around looking at the chapels and at some of the ornamental features of the church. We came across an area called the Chapel of Resurrection which was gold coloured and behind metal bars.
Chapel of Resurrection Valencia Cathedral
Once we looked closer at the Chapel of Resurrection we could see a glass front ornate box that had something on display inside.
Ornate box with glass front
On closer look we could see inside the glass box and there was the severed mummified arm of Saint Vincent on display.
Mummified severed arm of Saint Vincent at Valencia Cathedral
The Catholic history states that Saint Vincent, deacon of Saragossa, was tortured in Valencia during the persecution of Diocletian in 304. The news of his faith spread across the Church and he was considered one of the main representative saints of Spain. Towards 1104, the Bishop of Valencia at that time went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and carried with him the left mummified arm of St. Vincent. As this ecclesiastic died suddenly in Bari (Italy), the relic was left there and was being passed on up to being in possession of Mr. Pietro Zampieri from Vigonovo (Venice). In 1970 he gave it to the Cathedral together with the bronze reliquary made in a Venecian style. (Ref. Valencia Cathedral)
Another impressive area was the high altar of the Cathedral. It has beautiful ornate features and a mural on the ceiling which is stunning.
View of high altar in Valencia CathedralView of the main high altar of Valencia Cathedral
Throughout the Cathedral there were some stunning oil paintings depicting religious scenes. A few of them are below.
Oil painting in Valencia CathedralFrancisco de Goya portrait in the St. Francis Borgia chapel.Oil paintings and stain glass window of Mary at Valencia CathedralOil Painting depicting the reconquest
One of the paintings depicts the reconquest against the Moors in October 1238.
We went to the Holy Chalice Chapel which is off in a section of the church away from the main chapels. The entrance and hallway to the chapel was unassuming.
Leading into the Holy Chalice Chapel at Valencia Cathedral
Inside the Holy Chalice Chapel there were rows of pews and a main altar area. The altar and back wall were quite ornate and the centre section contained the Holy Chalice.
Altar in the Holy Chalice Chapel at Valencia Cathedral
We came in and sat quietly in one of the pews looking at the altar and the Chalice. It was difficult to see the Chalice on display at first because of the bright light which was shinning on it. The Chalice is not overly large and we were not able to get too close because it was cordoned off approximately eight feet away.
View of the chalice from the front pew of ChapelZoomed in photo of the Chalice
The history of why this is the authenticated original Holy Chalice and how it ended up in Valencia Spain is a long complicated history. I won’t list the history here in the blog, but if you are interested this link will give you the info. http://www.catedraldevalencia.es/en/el-santo-caliz_historia.php
The Cathedral also has a bell tower know as the “Campanar de la Cathedral” which translates to “Bell tower of the cathedral”. We decided to not go up the tower and to just took at it from the outside. The tower was built beginning in approximately 1380 and over the years it was extended and finished.
The bell tower is a landmark and quite visible above the remainder of the buildings around it.
view of bell tower in fore grounds with the Valencia Cathedral in the backgroundView of Valencia Cathedral Bell tower in the distant horizon
We enjoyed the artifacts and the rich history of the Cathedral. It was very interesting and an impressive day for us.
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