Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
112.
Castellers (Several cities)
Castells
is a Catalonian word that means “castle,” but it
doesn't only refer to those made of stone; it also refers to
those made of people.
Catalonian human castles originated in the 18th century,
intheregionofTarragona, asaformofpopularcompeti-
tion. Today, the custom has spread all around Catalonia,
and the members of each castle are called
castellers
.
The bigger and tougher
castellers
must stand at the base
of the human building. Then, lighter members of the
team climb onto their shoulders. The process is repeated
several times, with each successive level composed of
smaller and fewer members.
The top can only be reached by a single child. The castle
remains complete for a few seconds and must be safely dismantled before its members get
too tired. Occasionally, the human building falls down, but
castellers
are trained to fall such
that they can usually avoid injury.
Image Credit:
Castellers
in front of the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona). Image by
Magdag
.
When It's Free
Castells
are open events. There is no fee to attend.
Castells
are usually performed on the
Sundays of local Catalan Festivals, generally celebrated from August to November. Check
out the schedules of the festivals for performance times.
Other Resources
·
Annual contest
, held in September. (
English Translation
)
·
Information
on Castells festival in Tarragona.
·
Information
on Castells festival in Barcelona.
·
Information
on Castells festival in Catalonia.
·
Video of the largest human castle in history
, with a height of 10 people.
·
UNESCO video
of Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity
