Braga Romana
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but Braga is an old Roman city. Founded during the reign of Caesar Augustus, Braga was originally called Bracara Augusta and was one of the three official Roman cities in Galicia, the area of northwest Spain and northern Portugal. And citizens of the city are called Bracaraugustanos.
Given that rich Roman history, it really shouldn’t surprise you that Braga has an annual festival to celebrate its Roman heritage - Braga Romana. It’s a 5-day affair that occupies a good portion of the old Roman city. Since last year’s celebration was interrupted (that’s a polite way to say “cancelled”) by COVID, we didn’t get to experience it, so I decided to head down there to check it out. I actually went downtown a couple of times, once on Thursday evening after work to scout things out, and again on Sunday morning to actually take my time and photograph.
The festival is spread out over probably a 10-block area, with venues at various squares and parks, and concessions and eating areas spread out on the major connecting streets and and another main park. Most of it is in the area not far from where Ann and I stayed when we first arrived, and is an area we enjoy walking around when we go downtown. Which means I was very familiar with the area and had no problems navigating the maze of streets, or returning to any location where I’d seen something and wanted to revisit.
On Sunday I decided to take the same route I took on Thursday evening, except backwards. As I approached the first of the stage areas I heard trumpeting horns. By the time I got there, the horns were put away and a slew of other instruments had been pulled out for a group of performers.
Much of the festival is dedicated to education (to include sessions for school field trips), and in that tradition this group would provide some explanation of how Roman music was structured and how that was/would be reflected in the music they were about to perform. At least that’s what I thought they were explaining from the words I could understand.
They obviously enjoyed performing and were very energetic and entertaining once they got going.
After a couple of songs I decided to head over to where I knew another stage was. In-between there were stands set up in the street. Parts of the city were dedicated to vendors of goods, other parts to sellers of fruits and vegetables and alcoholic beverages (bottles of wines etc), and other parts to selling food and drink to consume immediately. Given I went early on Sunday, nothing much was happening (other than fires getting stoked and meats being cooked) at the food areas I walked through. That was not the case on Thursday evening - those places were packed!
The nice thing about it was that the stands were not packed all into one small area. You’d find a row or cluster of stands, and then walk a bit more to find some more. Though not much of a shopper, but many of the items looked very well made and there were few “tourist” stands of mass-produced goods, and those mostly had things so little kids could dress up (and more plastic and wooden swords than you could possibly image). There was, of course, many stands with flower wreaths that a lot of children and women would wear on their heads as they wandered around. And no, I did not try one on.
There were also a lot of jewelry and other stands where it was evident that things were hand made, often with someone there making more to sell. The one place that did tempt me, though I resisted and kept walking, was a stand of hand-made books. There was some beautiful leather work plainly evident on the covers and you could see that a variety of binding techniques and different blank paper types was available.
Amongst the performing venues and a few “encampments” that I’ll get to later, you can also find areas where they try to highlight some aspect of Roman life. The area in the photograph below was all about medicines and various other health measures. Though, if you ask me, that’s a still and please don’t try to tell me drinking alcohol is purely for medicinal purposes.
Then I came across a couple of guys at the cathedral (Sé) stage. I found their music so enjoyable I must have stayed there for half an hour. They’re from Greece and the music was so simple, yet beautiful and at times almost haunting. And the fellow on the right had an amazing voice.
As for their stage backdrop, well it’s hard to beat the Braga Sé.
Something I came across on Thursday, and found just as strange on Sunday was a statue of Caesar Augustus. To me it just seemed a bit odd to have a statue of Caesar right next to the side-door entrance to the Sé.
What I’d found most interesting from my Thursday scouting trip were the encampments. One of them was set up to show what a typical village was like at the time Bracara Augusta was established.
There were leather workers, metal workers, wood workers and . . . a Shaman. I don’t think this one joined the attack on the Capitol.
The festival really is quite the event. I mean, when you build a Roman fort in the middle of town, somebody is taking it seriously
Like the village encampment, the fort had a lot on display, to include horses and some beautiful hunting birds.
And as you can tell by the armor, the place had a garrison and areas that showed what life was like for a legionnaire.
When I arrived, it was obvious that something was about to go on, so I hung out for awhile to find out. Sure enough, the troops marshaled out on the street and marched into the fort.
We were shown a legionnaire induction ceremony with three new recruits.
After they took their oaths, they were permitted to armor up,
and were then given what could be best described as their dog tags - an inscribed metal bar they wore around their necks.
The new recruits then joined the ranks as they marched out the front gate, while I took the back gate to meet them outside.
I wandered around some more, working my way over to yet another stage area. It too was busy. But I had to first pass a Romulus and Remus sculpture by a courtyard lined with shops. I’d say that the one in the National Gallery in DC is better.
On stage was a play with what can only be described as either a very bad or a very good actor. His manner of speaking and motions while acting were . . . way over the top. Almost annoyingly so. However, given by the laughter coming from the children in the audience, I suspect it was intentional and he was succeeding. However, the young woman who was very much in love with him (in the play), was not succeeding. She kept getting rebuffed to much laughter from the audience. Even worse, eventually he ran away.
I made my way back down to the Sé (via different streets) where I saw one of the falconers I’d seen at the fort standing by the stage with a beautiful bird in hand. As I walked along an upper wall I realized another fellow I’d seen at the fort standing not 5 feet away. He was putting on a bird glove and looking down towards the bird. Realizing what was about to happen (well, what I hoped was going to happen), I framed the camera on him and waited, and waited. I heard a couple of wing flaps and then a swoosh. When the bird landed on his arm I clicked the shutter.
I looked down and saw the first guy walking over to be in a more open area for the guy by me so I zoomed out to get both in the frame, and waited for the bird to take off.
And land on the other guy’s arm.
That was pretty cool to see.
As I approached the stage where I first arrived I heard a familiar sound. At least I thought it was a familiar sound. It was the sound of bagpipes. If you are like me the thought immediately enters your mind, “Did the Romans even have bagpipes? I thought they were from Scotland?” So in furtherance of the educational purpose of the Braga Romana festival, I checked in with our info stand-by - Google. Yes, the Romans indeed did have bagpipes. They appear in manuscripts and artwork related to the Romans and those sources record the use of bagpipes by the Romans throughout Europe. In fact, it is thought that it was the Romans who brought the bagpipe into the British Isles.
The things you can learn about your home town!
Well, that was my short trip to check out Braga Romana. By the time I left, it had started to get crowded and I was not quite ready to face the masses. I suspect that next year we’ll spend a bit more time checking it out and enjoying the festivities.
Until then, maybe Ann and I should plan on making costumes to wear! Gladiator?