Christmas in Alghero: the song of the Sibyl

Christmas in Alghero becomes magical. Every year on Christmas Eve in the cathedral of the city renews an old medieval tradition called “Song of the Sibyl“. The Song of the Sibyl, or Pythoness, was born in France at the turn of the ninth and tenth centuries AD. With the conquest of James I this custom thrives also in Mallorca and the Balearic Islands and to follow in Sardinia. Despite the Council of Trent orders to cancel the ceremony, the singing can only be preserved through the centuries in Majorca and Alghero.

The Christmas carol, in Catalan, narrated through the use of images the anger of Christ and the day of Judgement, which will be biblically in the valley of Jehoshaphat, the seat of the divine tribunal. In the tradition of Alghero the singing provides, during the choir performance, two altar boys who are challenging a sword as a symbol of divine justice, and the other a scepter, a sign of the authorities capitulate.

A song that prophesies the end of the world and demonstrates the close link between Sardinia and Catalonia. Christmas in Alghero is an important witness to the power and the beauty of the traditions. The Song of the Sibyl has been declared a Cultural and Intangible Heritage of the world by UNESCO.

Another reason to spend your Christmas holidays in Sardinia.

image: www.flickr.com/photos/oter/