Seville City Hallthrough the Area of Citizen Participation, District Coordination and Digital Modernization, in collaboration with the Hogar Canario de Sevilla and the support of the Vice Ministry of Foreign Action of the Government of the Canary Islands, has installed the Popular Canarian Bethlehem in the Hall of the Apeadero of the Town Hall.
Donated in 1999 by the Island Council of Tenerife, the Canarian Popular Nativity Scene consists of several large Canarian buildings and a multitude of hand-modeled clay figures, which appear dressed in clothing worn in the north of the Island of Tenerife over the centuries. XVIII and XIX, as detailed by the City Council in a press release.
This nativity scene, inaugurated last Saturday and was attended by the delegate for Citizen Participation, District Coordination and Digital Modernization, Juan Tomás Aragón, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Action of the Government of the Canary Islands, Juan Rafael Zamora, and members of the Hogar Canario de Seville, does not intend to reproduce a certain Canarian town, but to show the island’s popular architecture.
“An architecture of clear Portuguese and English influence, which, to a lesser or greater extent, are common throughout the Archipelago, within a typically Canarian landscape, with volcanoes and ravines, along with the most common endemic species, such as the dragon tree, the Canarian palm or verodes, together with traditional agricultural products such as bananas, millo (corn) or ñameras that grow on the edge of the ravines”.
Likewise, traditions, trades and traditional festivals of the time and autochthonous sports are recreatedsuch as pottery, the sale of turkeys, basketry, the manufacture of nougat, the breeding of fighting cocks, the Canarian fight, the game of the stick or the shepherd’s jump, the pilgrimages, and notable anachronisms are included such as the box canteen register, the priest at the door of his church and foreign crops and animals, such as dromedaries or turkeys, of American origin.
“From the City Council, we want to thank the Hogar Canario for its contribution with a nativity scene of such artistic value to the Christmas agenda in Seville, a city project that has more than a hundred activities spread throughout all the districts of the city”, has prominent Aragon, who has encouraged the public to visit this unique nativity scene.
The Canarian Bethlehem, which joins others promoted by the City Council, such as the Mudejar that houses the Palace of the Marquises of La Algaba or the traditional Arquillo, can be visited from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and from 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and will remain closed on December 24, 25 and 31 and January 1.
