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FIESTAS IN HONOUR OF JESUS NAZARENO

26/4/2014

Celebration of the May Crosses

25th APRIL – 4th May 2014

A reminder that the festivities of Jesus Nazareno in the old town of Javea started this Friday, 25th April and will finish on 4th May.

The fiesta started in the early 19th century. We recommend the procession on the evening of 1st May at 21:00 which some Amics will be attending. It visits the colourful displays of floral crosses in the streets of the historic old town serenaded by the Xabia Tuna.

THE MAY CROSSES
A brief history by Xàbia librarian Catalina Cardona

The ''Festival of Crosses" also known as "The May Cross", is celebrated on 3 May.
From a religious point of view, it seems the festival had its origins in the discovery by St. Helena of the “True Cross” that on which Christ died, but in truth it probably has its roots in an earlier Roman festival.
The story, as in many legends, tells how the Roman Emperor Constantine I, ( the Great), encountered the Barbarians in a battle where their overwhelming force made a Roman victory seem impossible. Constantine saw a vision of the cross of Christ shining in the sky, above which were written the words "''In hoc signo vincis''" (''with this sign you will win). The emperor had a cross made, which then travelled in front of his forces, and they overcame the superior force of the enemy without difficulty. He immediately sent his mother, St Helena, to Jerusalem to find the True Cross. From that time on worship of the True Cross began, as St Helena, on her deathbed, requested that the symbol of the cross should be venerated, to commemorate the day she found the True Cross in Jerusalem
The festival of the Holy Cross is celebrated in many places in Spain and Latin America

LAS FIESTAS DEL NAZARENO - THE FESTIVAL OF JESUS OF NAZARETH

At the beginning of XIV century the Brotherhood of the Cross, or the Calvary, was formed in Xàbia and the brothers built a hermitage at the top of a hill, in the exact place where legend says a cross appeared when Christian forces overcame the Muslim inhabitants at the time of the reconquest of Spain.
The first descent of a statue goes back to 1834. In those days a disease called cólera morbo, originating in Asia, ravaged all the towns of the kingdom.
Threatened by such a frightening illness the people of our town turned to faith, and called for help to Jesus of Nazareth. They wanted their protection to be nearer to them so they brought down the venerated effigy from its sanctuary on the hill, into the parish, and placed it by the alter of the Church of St. Bartolomé, where people offered their daily prayers.
From 3 May 1834 until January 1835 this statue, the Nazareno, remained permanently in the parish and the fatal cholera epidemic gradually disappeared from the countryside. It turned out that in Xàbia there was not one single victim.
Religious faith was ignited and the people of Xàbia wanted to express their gratitude for their deliverance by offering festivities dedicated to the Nazareno, offerings as great as the favour they had received.

A paper from the year 1856 describes the fiestas which Xàbia offered to JESUS NAZARENO on the occasion of the blessing of the present Hermita chapel, whose construction began on 4 February 1849. In this year the fiestas began on 27 April and on 29 April the chapel built at the top of the Calvary hill was blessed.
That was the most an ardent demonstration of love and gratitude to the Nazareno which had taken place in Xàbia since the blessing of the effigy and his enthroning on a platform on 15 October 1767. This image had been given to the town by the wife of the Duke of Medinaceli, Dña Teresa de Moncada, to celebrate the birth of her first child.
Since then the effigy has been solemnly moved up and down and this accent and descent form a cycle of activities of thanks to the Nazareno. Year after year we continue the same rites and remember the first festivals which our ancestors offered in gratitude for being spared from the cholera epidemic.
statue is returned in a solemn procession to the Hermita of Calvaria.
On the third Sunday of Lent the penitential procession in Xàbia brings the Nazareno to the parish church of San Bartolomé, where it remains until 3 May, on which day thE statue is returned in a solemn procession to the Hermita of Calvaria.

The two hundred year anniversary of the coming of the NAZARENO to XÀBIA
1767-1967

The municipal council meeting of 2 October 1967 agreed to name Jesus of Nazareth the perpetual Mayor of the town of Xàbia.
For the Nazareno festival the streets are decorated with flowers and the crosses are covered with flowers, and, as the years passed it was agreed to hold a competition for the best cross. The first competition took place on 3 May 1962.
In the third article of the sixth contest of the artistic crosses held on 3 May 1967, it is written ” Taking into account that this offering of the crosses is intended as a spring song to the Nazareno, the predominant element must be natural flowers, although the use of auxiliary materials to make a supporting framework is not excluded, as long as they are complementary to the main element."
In the programme of 1981 the rules of the Contest of Crosses obliged the stewards to make the crosses using natural materials, preferably flowers, in their respective streets and to invite everyone to take part, especially schools, clubs etc.
Year after year we celebrate the fiestas of Nazareno, making crosses from natural materials as a spring offering and in recognition of our protector: EL NAZARENO.

Xàbia, 7 April 2009
Catalina Cardona

PROGRAMME

FIESTAS IN HONOUR OF JESÚS NAZARENO 2014
www.xabia.org

FRIDAY 25TH APRIL
18.45 h. Bull running at C/ Dr. Borrull.
22.00h Benefit Concert by “Banda de Música del Centre Artístic Musical de Xàbia” at San Bartolomé Church, in aid of “Cruz Roja”. Tickets sale: Cruz Roja, Cáritas and Tourist office.
23.00h Bull running and afterwards “bou embolat” (Bulls with fire on their horns) at Pl. del Convent and Ronda Colón.
23.00h Rock Night at Pl. de la Constitución with Why not Rock, The Mataos and The Stash.
SATURDAY 26TH APRIL
09.00h Collecting food by Cáritas and Cruz Roja Española at several supermarkets.
11.00h Bull running at Placeta del Convent and Ronda Colón.
18.45 h. Bull running at C/ Dr. Borrull.
23.00h Bull running and afterwards “bou embolat” (Bulls with fire on their horns) at Pl. del Convent and Ronda Colón.
00.30h Mobile disco with the dj´s Toni Bup, Toni Arribas and Roberto Sansixto at Pl. de la Constitución.

SUNDAY 27th APRIL
11.30h Professional Raspall match (traditional valencian game) at Trinquet of Xàbia.
18.45h Bull running and afterwards “bou embolat” (Bulls with fire on their horns) at Pl. del Convent and Ronda Colón.
22.30h Valencian theatre “Per la fam d´heretar” by "Group de Tot Rist (Duanes - Xàbia)" at Pl. de la Constitución.

MONDAY 28th APRIL
18.45h Bull running at Pl. del Convent and Ronda Colón.

TUESDAY 29TH APRIL
19.00h Storytelling at Pl. de la Constitución

WEDNESDAY 30TH APRIL
21.00h Poetry-Musical Recital "Amb un parell de sabates" at "Conservatori Professional de Música" played by Marta Espinós, Tere Erades, Silvia Ferrer and Hector Peris.
21.30h Parade by Colla Portitxol with “dolçaina i tabalet”
22.00h Traditional Valencian Dances with Grup de Danses Portitxol at Pl. de la Constitución.
23.30h Music with the band BRADMIS at Pl. de la Constitución, "Coca María and Mistela” will be distributed to all the assistants.
THURSDAY 1ST MAY CHILDREN’S DAY
08.50h Awakening with music around the Port with Grup de Danses Portitxol.
09.00h Awakening with music around the Old Town, where all the children from Xàbia are invited to walk round its streets. Afterwards, snacks will be offered by “MAS Y MAS”, Bar Chaflán and P-Nanos. Opening of the Playground for all children, as well as “Tiraset” carriages, installed at the Pl. de la Constitución.
10.00h Games for children prevention organized by Cruz Roja Juventud Xàbia.
21.00h Parade with “dolçaina i tabalet” and Xàbia’s Tuna to visit the flower crosses.
FRIDAY 2nd MAY
20.15h FLOWER OFFERING TO JESÚS NAZARENO at Pl. Marina Alta
22.00h Open air musical "recordant les festes al aire que solien fer-se en Xàbia"and afterwards Valencian theatre "Una bala perduda" played by "Grup de Teatre Montgó de Xàbia" at Pl. de la Constitución.
SATURDAY 3RD MAY- ASCENT OF JESÚS NAZARENO
08.00h Musical Awakening with the Centre Artístic Musical de Xàbia.
12.00h Solemn Mass and afterwards MASCLETÀ at Pl. de la Constitución.
19.00h Evening Mass Celebration, followed by a solemn procession with the image of “Jesus Nazareno”, to the chapel, accompanied by the Grup de danses Portitxol and Band of the Musical Arts Center of Javea, concluding with a FIREWORK DISPLAY at Pl. de la Constitución.

SUNDAY 4TH MAY:
11.00h Liga de Palma (traditional valencian game) at C/Sor María Gallard.
20.00hConcert by Grup Polifónic Ars Nova and afterwards "Rondalles" by the Grup de Danses Portitxol de Xàbia in Convent de les Agustines, Pl. del Convent.

SATURDAY 10TH MAY:
21.30h Mass at the Calvario chapel. Farewell of the fiestas.

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Unique collection of castle plans donated to Museu de Xàbia

16/4/2014

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( Michael Stephenson (centre) with (L to R) Christine Betterton-Jones, Ximo Bolufer, Milagros Uriate and Josep Castelló studying the plans.)

A unique collection of detailed site plans of over 50 castles in the Comarca have been donated to Xàbia’s Museum Soler Blasco by long-time British resident Michael Stephenson. The Amics del Museu (AMUX) arranged the donation and are currently putting together a team to prepare the material for exhibition.

Joaquim Bolufer, municipal archaeologist and director of the Museum, is delighted by the donation. “Many of the plans are the most accurate in existence . They will provide material for a unique exhibition of interest, not only to Xàbia residents, but to people all over the Marina Alta and Baixa and El Comtat. The Museum is very grateful to Michael for his generous donation”.

For many years Michael, together with friends Anne Scott and Ted Adams, visited the ruined castles in our region. “I was always curious about the number of castles I spotted from the road when I drove to Valencia. This combined with my love of walking provided the stimulus for the project,” says Michael. “My friends and I took photographs to indicate the topography and carefully measured the layout of the walls and other structures so we could prepare accurate scale drawings.”.

Members of the AMUX have already volunteered to prepare the material for exhibition. These include local archaeologist Josep Castelló Marí and Christine Betterton-Jones, who has already uploaded some of the plans on to the AMUX blog together with articles by Michael published in the now defunct “Valencia Life” magazine http://amuxabia.weebly.com/castellscastilloscastles.html

Retired librarian Milagros Uriate has volunteered her expertise in cataloguing the material. She trained as a librarian at the Biblioteco Nacional and worked in the Biblioteca del Institute Geográfico Nacional and the Institute of Social Studies of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. “I realised that my training and experience in cataloguing would be very useful to the project”, commented Milagros, “and it would also be something that I would enjoy doing. I have just retired to Xàbia. It is an excellent opportunity to learn more about the history of our area.”

The AMUX group has started work on sorting the 12 archive boxes of material that Michael Stephenson donated and would welcome more assistance. No professional experience is necessary. For example, apart from cataloguing, people will be needed to take new photographs, research background information, write and translate the exhibition texts. Anyone interested in getting involved should email the AMUX at [email protected]

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FIESTAS IN HONOUR OF JESUS NAZARENO

Unique collection of castle plans donated to Museu de Xàbia

Amux members enjoy the view from the top of St Bartolomé

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