Every 3rd of May, one of the most popular festivals in Andalusia is celebrated in Granada.
Every 3rd of May Granada celebrates one of the most popular festivities in Andalusia: The Day of the Cross.
On this day the streets, squares, patios and even shop windows of the city are decorated and filled with marvellous altars in honour of the Holy Cross.
It seems that the first celebrations in Granada of the Day of the Cross as we know it today date back to the 17th century.
In 1625 an alabaster cross was made in the neighbourhood of San Lázaro and all the people of Granada celebrated by singing and dancing around it.
Nowadays, the crosses are still decorated with symbolic elements such as the placement of a ‘but’ (this is how apples are called in Granada) with a pair of scissors stuck in it, so that no ‘but’ is placed on the cross. In this way, a warning is given that the decoration of the cross should not be criticised.
Copper pieces are also widely used for the decoration of crosses.
The origins of copper work in al-Andalus have their first important manifestations since the arrival of the Almoravids.
The copper pieces were lent by the locals who asked for the use of the cross so that they would not be left empty for the rest of the year, as the May cross is the feast before the grape harvest.
