Barcellonetta, an Italian term meaning small and pretty Barcelona, is the nickname for the city of Alghero, on the Northern coast of Sardinia dating back to the 1372 conquest of the city by Catalans. In this pearl on the Coral Riviera, street names are still written in both Catalan and Italian and there is even a Catalan TV. That ancient domination has shaped the city architecture and has strongly influenced also music, songs, and religious traditions: the Setmana Santa de l’Alguer, Easter rites, and the Cant de la Sibil.la, a Christmas tradition. In Alghero, many buildings are in Catalan-gothic architecture which spread thanks to the religious constructions, like the Church of Saint Francis and the Holy Mary Cathedral. Unlike other architectural styles, in Alghero, the Catalan-gothic style lasted over many centuries.
The characteristics of the Catalan-gothic style are the verticality of buildings, the fragmentations of walls, the lancet arch, the flying buttress arch, and buttresses. Vertical accents enrich the building exterior: statues, portals, windows and rose windows, spires and friezes all contribute to the appeal of the structure.
Touristic street train Trenino Catalano, and ancient walls of sardinian city of Alghero, Italy. — Photo by joanbautista
The Catalan influence on religious buildings brings us straight to the Catalan influence on chants and music. Most famous is the Cant de la Sibil.la, the Song of the Sybil, or Senyal del Judici, a UNESCO Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. This song is a liturgical drama and a Gregorian chant, the lyrics of which compose a prophecy describing the Apocalypse and announces the return of Jesus Christ, King, Judge and Savior. In Alghero it is sung in Catalan during the Missa del Gall in the Christmas night. The language of this chant by an unknown author changed over time: first in Greek, then translated into Latin, and in Provencal or Oc language, which is almost identical to Catalan, so it was a short step to its final versions .
A strong Catalan imprint regards the Holy Week rites, which involve local and Catalan confraternities and believers who flock from Catalunya to Alghero. Celebrations start on Holy Tuesday with the Procession of Misteries with six statues representing the five sorrowful mysteries and the Sorrowful Mother. On Holy Thursday, the Las Cerques procession carries a small statue of the Mother of the Seven looking for her son and, later, the Arboramento procession takes the Crucifix Lo Sant Crist de la Misericordia, Holy Christ of Mercy, a seventeenth century wood sculpture, to the Cathedral where it is left .
On Holy Friday the “fugi-fugi” Mass is celebrated followed by the schiodamento , removal of nails: a procession carries the tools and two ladders which two of the four barons will use to depose Jesus Christ into the bressol, a gold covered coffin then taken through the streets where all the lights are covered by red clothes. On Easter Sunday, the statues of Resurrected Christ and the Glorious Holy Mother return to the Church of Mercy where the Holy Mass is celebrated in Catalan and blessed bread is distributed.
A panoramic of the Catalan influence in Alghero would not be complete without a few words about food. After all, we are what we eat, and in Alghero they eat Catalan style. First thing one notices when looking a Sardinian cookbook is that among local dishes is included Crema Catalana, Catalan cream, a dessert whose name speaks for itself. Although the world considers it a typical Spanish dessert, it is so deeply part of the local culture that Alghero people view it as a local dish. The Catalan influence in the Alghero cuisine is not limited to a dessert but touches above all the fish entrees displaying the word Catalan in their name like Catalan lobster, Catalan mussles, Catalan octopus, and catalan angler fish.
Catalan lobster — Photo by marcomayer
Aragosta alla catalana:
3 lb. lobster tail
4 roma tomatoes
2 medium white onions
Juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil
5 tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 glasses water
Salt and pepper
Mix the water and vinegar, soak the sliced onion in it. Boil the lobster for 5 to 7 minutes, Drain and cut into a half lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh, chop into ½ inch or so pieces and arrange in a serving bowl. Drain the onions and mix well with the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt and tomatoes, pour over the lobster, let it sit for about half an hour and serve.
insalata di polpo alla catalana
INGREDIENTS:
1 octopus ( 1kg)
1 red onion
200g cherry tomatoes
parsley
1 celery stalk
laurel leaves
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon
PREPARATION:
Clean the octopus, wash it and cook it in salted water with the celery stalk and the laurel leaves, let it cool down in the water where you cooked it. Clean and slice the onion and let it soak in lemon for a while. Clean the tomatoes and cut in four parts. Grind the parsley. Remove the octopus skin and cut it in small pieces and put in a salad bowl, add onion, lemon juice tomatoes, parsley and add salt, pepper, oil and refrigerate until you are ready to serve it.
Menjar Blanc
500 g flour
125 g butter
1 egg
160 g sugar
1 l milk
110 g starch
Lemon rind
PREPARATION:
Set a pot on the stove, pour and mix starch and milk, add sugar, lemon rind and, on a moderate temperature, bring to a boil. Once you reach the right thickness, let the cream cool.
With flour, egg, 1spoon of sugar, softened butter and lukewarm water prepare a shortcut pastry, roll out the dough to form two discs; with one of them cover the bottom and sides f a non-stick pie dish.
Fill the dough with the cream, cover with the other dough disc and make little holes so that no vapor gets trapped inside. Sprinkle some white sugar on top and cook in the oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.
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