Feste de la Mercè
In September the most important festival of Barcelona takes place - La Mercè!
So come for your holidays to Barcelona and join the festivities. Book an apartment in Barcelona or a hotel in Barcelona and celebrate the whole night.
The holiday was officially introduced in 1871 and it is a kind of surrounding festival for the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Mercy (La Mare de Déu de la Mercè) on the 24th of September. This year the festivities start on the 23rd of September and end on September 27th.
Different events take place all over the city but most of them are in the city centre. The most common known events are:
Castellers - human towers
Correfoc - fireworks and dragons
Gigantes - a parade of giants
The story behind the holiday traces back into the 13th century. In the night of the 24th of September 1218 the Virgin of Mercy appeared simultaneously to King Jaume I, Sant Pere Nolasc and Sant Ramon de Penyafort. She told them to free the Christian monks, who were imprisoned by the Saracens. In the year 1687 the Virgin of Mercy prevented Barcelona from a plague of locusts and freed the city from the Black Death. Since then the Virgin of Mercy is the patron of Barcelona. Here portrait is kept at the Basilica La Mercè at Placa de la Mercè.
The Feste de la Mercè is the highlight of the Catalan festival calendar, so don't miss the opportunity to be a part of it!
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