Valencia Trader

Moors and Christians in Calpe

Between 21-25 October Calpe will be celebrating its patron saint fiestas with the Moors and Christians.

Although the patron saint of Calpe is the Virgen de las Nieves, the feast of the Santísimo Cristo del Sudor has been being celebrated with great solemnity since 13th March 1682 when the statue of Christ crucified, a gift from the then Archbishop of Valencia San Juan de Ribera, started to sweat and to shed tears before the astonished gaze of the townspeople, a miracle which led them to adopt Christ as their patron saint.

The feast used to be celebrated on the second Friday of March until halfway through the last century when this date was substituted for 22nd October to commemorate the facts that occurred in 1744 when, according to the legend, while all the menfolk of Calpe were busy working in the fields or in the sea, a young man called Jerónimo Ferrer in confronting the imminent attack of the Berber corsairs, managed to close the gates of the walls on his own, thus protecting the whole population of the town. Yet again the feat was attributed to a miracle performed by the Santísimo Cristo del Sudor, who, in such difficult times, had placed the young man in the right time and place to be able to help his sons. Centring round the Patron Saint's Day are the traditional religious celebrations. Celebrations such as the staging of the Miracle, the Offering of Candles to the Santísimo Cristo del Sudor in the  Parish Church of Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, the Open-Air Mass and the Solemn Religious Procession.

Recently the parades and the other festive elements of the Moors and the Christians, which with their groups or filaes - the Masked, Moors, Tuaregs, Berbers, Caliphs and Almoravids on the Moors side and the Marine Corsairs, Knights Templar, Crusaders, Almogavares, Smugglers and Mozarabs on the Christian side - have been incorporated into the festivities adding a touch of colour and carefreeness to the fiesta. Standing out due to their beauty and singularity are the battle and the disembarkation of the Moors which is staged on the beach of Arenal, the gala parade and the spectacular fireworks displays that are also set off from the beach.

Patron saint's festivals and Moors and Christians to honour the "Santísimo Cristo del Sudor".