Santa Cecilia and the Celtic Cross

Plaza photos courtesy of Fotógrafo Enrique

Mucha gente no se imagina que lo que era el mundo celta había llegado hasta la Península Ibérica. Un ejemplo fue precisamente hoy, después de la misa y chocolate con churros en Sonrisas. Un desfile de bandas de música celebrando la fiesta de Santa Cecilia, patrona de la música, iba precedida por Sartaina, una banda de gaitas. Los quince gaiteros y cuatro percusionistas me hicieron querer bailar un jig en mis ghillies.

Many people never dream that what was once the Celtic world reached down into the Iberian Peninsula. I was reminded of this just today after mass and customary chocolate con churros at the café Sonrisas.  Sartaina, a band of fifteen bag-pipers and four drummers preceeded the numerous bands celebrating Saint Cecilia, the patroness of music. Playing a jaunty reel in the plaza they made me want to pick up my ghillies and dance a jig.

Más tarde fue descubierta y su historia registrado que se ve en el cartel arriba y traducida aquí:

Then, yesterday, while walking the remote vineyards and village of Villadecanes in the Bierzo region of León we discovered this placard on the side of an obscure house in ruins. When it was originally being built stones were indiscriminately hauled down from the Astur (one of the Celtic peoples of northern Spain) settlement on the knoll you see below without much interest in the stones' historic past. 

Hillforts Asturs to the distant middle-left

Later this stone was discovered and the history recorded on the placard you see as the following: 
Fragment of a Celtic cross found in Castroventosa that according to ancient legend was raised at the crossroads where the Astures would put their sick that hadn’t been cured of their illnesses, 
so that if any traveler walking that road knew of their illness he could  grant them a remedy. 

En esta foto arriba se puede ver lo que la cruz se parecía en su totalidad. Beautiful!
Observe el círculo azul que muestra qué parte de la cruz que está viendo. Las piedras del antiguo castro ástur fueron reutilizados durante siglos para construir la ciudad de Villadecanes.
¿Te puedes imaginar dando un paseo en un lugar de poco interés y encontrando algo que Çtiene más de 1000 años

In this photo above you can see what the cross looked like in its entirety. ¡Hermoso!
Notice how the blue circle shows which part of the cross you are looking at. Stones from the ancient hillforts Asturs were reused below after the Roman conquest to build the town of Villadecanes.
Can you imagine taking a walk in an obscure place and coming across something well over a 1000 years old!

La Cruz Celta, también conocida como Cruz Irlandesa o Cruz de Iona combina la tradicional cruz con un anillo que rodea la intersección. Es el símbolo del cristianismo celta, aunque es más antigua, de origen precristiano. Tales cruces forman una parte importante del arte celta.
La historia exacta de esta cruz es un poco ambigua, pero se ha sugerido que el círculo interior representa la eternidad y la infinitud del amor de Dios. Además del círculo interior, el elemento que distingue la Cruz Celta de otras cruces es el intrincado trabajo del nudo tallado en la piedra. Tales como el nudo Common Trinity.

The Celtic cross, also known as the Irish Cross or Cross of Iona combines the traditional cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. It is the symbol of Celtic Christianity, though it has older, pre-Christian origins. Such crosses formed a major part of Celtic Art. 

The exact history of this cross is a bit ambiguous, but it has been suggested that the inner circle represents eternity and the endlessness of God's own love. 

Besides the inner circle, the element that distinguishes the Celtic cross from other crosses is the intricate knot work found carved into the stone. such as the common Trinity Knot.

Lead me to the cross.

Next Sunday I will post other crosses we saw on our walk. All beckoning us with their individual story and forgotten history. 
El próximo domingo pondré otras cruces que vimos en el paseo. Todas llamándonos con su historia individual y olvidada.