MOORS AND CHRISTIANS
History, legend, spectacle and battles…who can ask for more?
A historical play with more tan 5000 players
On the 21st of April every year Alcoy, a town in the province of Alicante, travels back in time to 1275, in the middle of the Reconquest period, when St. George supposedly helped defeat the Moorish forces led by Al Azraq. The historic battle is the perfect pretext for a 3 days long festival, where all the locals take part and join the Christian or the Moorish Army.
Accuracy is not the main objective of the festival, and some attires may even be a real slap in the face from a historic point of view -but the representations are heartfelt and the spectacle is truly… Well, spectacular!
The 22nd of April hosts the presentation of the two armies, with the Christians entering in the morning and the Moors in the afternoon, in a magical show, with many of the officers riding horses, camels or even elephants, and all of the participants wearing colorful middle age garments.
After speeches, parades, battles, and general amusement the final battle takes place on the 24th, the Day of the Alardo (mock battle), when the miraculous apparition of an infant St. George (San Jordiet, an eight-year-old boy dressed in Roman armour) helps the Christians win the city.
Probably the only kind of battle one would choose to be in…
