King Pedro II of Aragon delivered the Puebla Charter to Estercuel during the biennial performance that the town performs to commemorate the historic event that took place on March 15, 1209. This year, in addition to the characteristic medieval market, the celebration has been decorated with the recovery of the dance of Santa Maria del Olivar.
Estercuel celebrates its medieval festival this weekend within the framework of the VII Encounter with History. Period market and theatrical performances by volunteers take place through the streets and squares of the town to commemorate the privileges granted by Pedro II the Catholic, King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, to Miguel Sancho, the most influential person in the town in those times.
With other characters such as the Archbishop of Zaragoza at the time, who attested along with other notaries to Estercuel’s letter of independence, the staging of the vassalage took place around 11:00 a.m. in a church square that was beginning to register good environment Afterwards, there was a tour of the town to celebrate the agreement reached, under portals such as that of La Barrera, on which is the chapel of the Holy Martyrs, an important point also during the celebration of La Encamisada. The Olivar square was also toured, as well as the old priest’s house and other unique buildings such as the hermitage of Santo Toribio.
The town dresses in period
The medieval festival involves three days of traveling back in time through a participatory event in which the entire town is involved, both by decorating the public thoroughfare and by dressing up in period clothing.
“It is a biennial party that is held so that there is a bit of atmosphere in Estercuel and businesses can function, so that we all get together and have the best possible time,” explained the organizer, Ángel Terrén, who highlighted that theatrical performances involve 14 volunteers and another 25 in the chapter of medieval dances.
As a novelty, the Dance of Santa María del Olivar was recovered. “The manuscript was located and Jesús Rubio, who is a professor at the School of Music and Dance of Zaragoza and works on the subject of the recovery of traditional and ancient dances and music, has been concerned, together with Olga León, to study the steps and adapt them to our possibilities”, explained Terrén.
In addition, the play Constructing a new hermitage was represented, written by the Mercedarian friar Joaquín Millán, “which talks about the reconstruction of the hermitage of Santo Toribio, which was a previous hermitage dedicated to souls, then it was thrown away and later rebuilt”. . This staging enlivens the close relationship that the municipality has always had with the Olivar Monastery. “We have three hermitages (Santo Toribio, Nuestra Señora del Olivar and Santos Mártires chapel) from between the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, and this year we dedicate the performance to the time when these temples were most popular,” Terrén stressed. .
This Sunday the medieval market will continue until 5:00 p.m. and there will be a chocolate party at 11:00 a.m. The Grehiza Templar group accompanies throughout the weekend with their clothing. Stage a warrior’s bedroom and appoint knights. The party is decorated with parades, tastings, archery, brotherhood food, queimada and burning of witches.
