Barcelona is a place filled with festivals, holidays and celebrations. Some days you find celebrated throughout all of Spain, some you find celebrated throughout all of Catalyuna and some you find celebrated only in Barcelona. La diada de Sant Jordi is a Catalan tradition, and by far my favorite holiday (almost beaten out by La noche de San Juan ). Sant Jordi is a day that is so special to me, it’s a day i celebrate no matter where I am.
Sant Jordi is a magical and beautiful day to walk through the city of Barcelona. Every major plaza and street is filled with stands of people selling roses and/or books. Everywhere you turn you see people walking carrying roses, it is so beautiful. You could see an old lady walking with friends carrying roses, a man on the metro with a rose for his sweetheart, and even little kids with roses to give to the people they care about. (some of the kids that I taught English to brought me roses). It is a day full of love, passion, happiness and books… all great things to be celebrated. Just another reason why I love Barcelona so so much.
So what is la diada de Sant Jordi?
La Diada de Sant Jordi, or the day of Saint George, popularly known as the day of lovers, on April 23rd is also known as El día de la Rosa (the day of the rose) or El día del Libre (the day of the book) is a holiday celebrated throughout all of Catalyuna. Sant Jordi (Saint George) is the patron saint of Catalonia and every year this day is celebrated by the locals, it’s almost like the Catalan version of Valentine’s Day (but personally I enjoy this day so much more).
The main traditions of Sant Jordi are giving a woman a rose and a man a book (although in modern times things have changed a bit). The tradition of giving a rose dates far far back in the history of Catalonia (approximately back to the 15th century), based on the tale of Saint Jordi and the princess. The book is relatively “new” tradition only starting in 1926, (with the death of Miguel de Cervantes happening on April 23rd… which is oddly enough the same day that Shakespeare died). However as with all traditions it has evolved, now it’s still a day full of roses and books, but there’s no longer the “rules” of books for men and flowers for women. It’s just a day where people express how they care for each other with a token of love either in the form of a flower or a book.
I don’t know if this figure is exact, but I was told by a neighbor that on La diada de Sant Jordi over 4 million roses are sold and almost 800,000 books (which is crazy!)
The tale of Saint Jordi is a very sweet tale about a knight and a princess. On the days leading up to Sant Jordi my students excitedly told me the tale (multiple times) . It goes something like this..
According to a Catalan legend there was a dragon living in the village of Montblac (which is slightly south of Barcelona). The dragon ate all the animals in the village and then the dragon began to eat people. To satisfy the dragon’s hunger each year the people of the village chose a person at random to be sacrificed to the dragon. One year the King’s daughter’s name was chosen, but just before she was to be eaten, a knight, now known as Sant Jordi, rode into town to save the princess. He killed the dragon with his sword and saved the princess’s life. The tale then goes on to say that after Sant Jordi killed the dragon a red rose grew up from the spot where the dragon’s blood was spilled and Sant Jordi gave the rose to the princess.
This by far was my most favorite day of the year in Barcelona. It made the most magical and beautiful city even more magical and more beautiful than I thought possible. It is a whole entire day dedicated to love, flowers and books (I mean what could be better than that?) Everywhere you walk in the city you are completely surrounded by love, and by people full of joy and happiness spreading that love. It is a feeling that is so incredibly contagious. I always found myself full of love on that day, love for the amazing people in my life, and love for Barcelona.
I love learning about different cultures. What a beautiful picture you paint!
thank you so much wendy! The catalan culture is truly something special!
Barcelona looks so beautiful and seems to have such neat traditions.
Barcelona is definitely an incredible place, filled with so much beauty, history & culture! Thank you Diana 🙂
Bellisima, mi amor. ❤️
The beauty is breathtaking! Your blog very much captures the traditions and the feel of the day! I want to go! :)) Thanks for sharing.
This is amazing, I hope one day I can get to Barcelona!
Barcelona is truly an amazing place, I hope one day you get the chance to experience the beauty & magic of this place!
Thanks for reading one of my post recently.
Love this post! So vibrant! My sister is going to Barcelona in less than a month and I will certainly recommend your site.
i’m glad you enjoyed my post! if you want to read more about barcelona (or share to your sister) be sure to check out: http://www.sbazzini.com/category/barcelona/
I spent 2 years in Barcelona and I couldn’t recommend it enough!
Amazing post – Barcelona is one of my all time favourite cities!!
A very useful collection of posts about Barcelona, thank you! We have only ever spent one day in Barcelona which was not enough, our daughter is working there at the moment for a few days and her photos inspire us to return. How about recommending an area for us to stay in so we are in the middle of restaurants, museums, with some good hotels? And, thanks for following our blog too.
Really? A holiday that celebrates with roses and books!!!! I love it!! Thanks for sharing!
What a lovely day to be in a lovely city! I don’t think I’ve ever seen photos of Jordi’s day before. 🙂 🙂
Simply beautiful!
Love this!
Thank you! 😊
Beautiful post! 💕
Thank you!!!
Great Post
One of my favourite destinations in Barcelona ! Definitely a great spot for a photo op 😉
Awesome Post
Barcelona really seems like the best to be. I’m loving the culture there. La Diada de Saint Jordi sounds just like the perfect day for any couple. So sweet…you were too lucky to experience such goodies.
One of my most fave places In Europe! The Sagrada Familia literally has my on my knees by its story and beauty. Not to mention Los Rambles has all the best food!
Beautiful! My girlfriend and I are looking for an interesting place to travel this summer and this might actually make the list. Sending to her now to see what she thinks 🙂
oh wow, that was a really nice story or legend. A rose grew from dragon’s blood. I’ve seen Casa Batallo, but with red roses, now that is really pretty.
Lovely post and great information about Barcelona and Santa Jordi. The pictures are lovely and this place looks beautiful.
Barcelona looks amazing. Sant Jordi ! What a romantic day! I love it when my partner brings me flowers
I love Barcelona. I visited the beautiful city many years ago and I would love to see visit it again with the kids.
These are really great pics and makes one want to visit the place – adding to mu bucketlist for sure
I just went to Barcelona last month and fell in love with it! Everything there was magical! Great post <3
Lovely post…
Barcelona is so amazing. I have seen some incredible pictures of it. I really do need to go with my daughter someday soon. I am sure it would be the trip of a lifetime.
Wow. What an awesome trip you had! I believe it when you said it was magical, the gorgeous photos shows the beauty of the place.
Enjoyed reading the dragon story a lot.. it’s Always refreshing to get to know different cultures and traditions.
I like the idea that the man gets something in return when offering flowers. On holidays such as Valentine Days, I feel women expect to receive something but forget to give back. I visited Barclelona twice and I am delighted to see it on St Jordi through your pictures.
Your pictures are stunning! The culture sounds incredible, great post!
thank you so much Kayla… believe it or not, photos don’t even do it justice!
Beautiful Pictures!
Barcelona is so beautiful =) I went many years ago and have been itching to go back. I wonder hows the political crisis is going now though?
I’ve never heard of La Diana de Sant Jordi. It sounds like a beautiful, dreamy holiday. I would love to experience it. Thank you for sharing! All of your photos are beautiful also.
I have nominated you for the 3 Days Quote Challenge on my blog. If you want to participate, you can check out the rules here, https://laurenbkent.com/2018/04/26/3-days-quote-challenge-day-1/. Sending you love and light! 🙂
Love all the flowers.
I love this! I never knew about this! What a wonderful place and time to visit Barcelona. My birthday is in April, another reason hahaha…