VilaWeb - Diari escola: Human Towers and Those who Build them

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divendres, 10 de maig de 2024

> Pillars, Towers and Castles

> Structure of the Castle

> Castle-Builders and 'Colles'

dijous, 2 de juny de 2005

The building of human towers is a Catalan tradition that goes back two hundred years. We shall be discussing the subject of human towers and those who build them below, now that a month has passed since the beginning of the human tower building season, which will continue until November.

The first thing that should be pointed out is that these human towers originated in the area known as Camp de Tarragona, which encompasses the districts of Alt Camp, Baix Camp and Tarragonès, and the Penedès region, which includes the districts of Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and Garraf.

In fact, the town considered to be the cradle of human towers is Valls, capital of the Alt Camp district, where in 1805 two rival groups were already making human towers, the farmers and the craftsmen, which eventually gave rise to the two groups known today as the Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls and the Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls.

The phenomenon of human towers has been kept alive since then, with periods of boom and others of decline, and over the last few decades it has consolidated and spread to such a degree that it has crossed the border of the Principality of Catalonia, with the creation of groups in the Balearic Islands and Northern Catalonia (under French sovereignty).

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Com: Castellers.

Pillars, Towers and Castles

+ The building of human towers is a Catalan tradition that goes back two hundred years.

These constructions of varying heights are known as 'castles' and each level can be made up of one or more people. If there is just one person for each level, it is known as a pillar; if there are two, it is a tower; and if there are three or more, it is technically a castle. The number of people and levels is what gives the castle its name, which is made up of two numbers, the first indicating the number of people per level, and the second indicating the number of levels (two of nine or tower of nine, three of ten, five of eight, etc.).

Structure of the Castle

+ The child that climbs to the top of the castle is called the 'enxaneta'.

When referring to the structure of a castle, three different elements can be distinguished: the base of the castle together with the first level; the trunk, made up of the middle levels (the second, third, fourth, fifth... 'floors'); and the 'top pommel', made up of the last three levels, built by the kids of the group. The child that climbs to the top of the castle is called the 'enxaneta'.

Castle-Builders and 'Colles'

+ 'Castellers' are grouped into around sixty 'colles'.

The individuals who create these human towers belong to groups known as 'colles', with a group leader. The groups generally wear white trousers, a long sash wrapped around the waist and a red kerchief, and one can tell them apart by the colour of their shirts. There are currently around ten thousand 'castellers', or individuals taking part in the building of human towers. They are grouped into around sixty 'colles', some of them very well known: Castellers de Vilafranca, Colla Vella dels Xiquets de Valls, Colla Joves Xiquets de Valls, Minyons de Terrassa, Capgrossos de Mataró...

MATERIALS

Coordinadora de Colles Castelleres de Catalunya
Format:Web
Web d'aquesta entitat, nada el 1989 amb el propòsit de vetllar pels interessos de les colles castelleres i de promoure el fet casteller.
Web Casteller
Format:Web
Pàgina íntegrament dedicada al fenomen casteller.
El fet casteller
Format:Web
Una altra pàgina de temàtica castellera. Des de la Fura, informatiu de l'Alt i el Baix Penedès.
Museu Casteller de Catalunya
Format:Web
Espai que esbossa les línies mestres del futur Museu Casteller de Catalunya, que s'erigirà a Valls. S'hi poden fer suggeriments sobre aquest projecte museístic.
Castellers
Format:Web
Programa radiofònic setmanal de Catalunya Cultura que segueix l'actualitat castellera.

QUE HO SABIES?

Raising the wing: that is what they call the gesture made by the 'enxaneta' to indicate that castle has been completed or 'loaded'. Once that is done, the job of dismantling it begins, and this is no easy task.
Castles can include a lining, in other words, a second base supported by the first base, and even a third base on top of the second. In this case, it is known as a castle with lining and bangles.
Two of the castles that are hardest to build are the 'three of ten with lining and bangles' and the 'four of ten with lining and bangles'.