The living manger is a reproduction of the birth of Crist. It is a very important custom from Catalonia. In the living manger there are a lot of images from Nazareth; in this village was born Crist.

You can see a lot of thinks, some of there are: the announcement of the virgin, the shepherds near the fire, the masias announcement in the cave, the shepherds when they are going to adore Christ, the neighbours of Nazareth, the run away to Egypt, the arrival of the kings…  

INTRODUCTION:

STABLES OF A LIVING MANGER: 

ROMAN VILLAGE: in this stable there are people who represent the Roman life of this time. Especially the life of the army people. The Roman emperor : Juli Cèsar decided that all the people had to go to say their name in the city that they were born in.

ANNOUNCEMENT TO MARIA VIRGIN : One angel said to Maria virgin that she would have a son of God.

NATZARET VILLAGE: It simbolizes the life of the village of Natzaret.

MARKET: In this stable you will find the market of Natzaret: the ‘shops’, sellers, and the people who buy the things.

THE CARPENTRY: In this stable you can find the carpentry of Maria’s husband, Joseph.

THREE WISE MEN: they were Three old men. They observed the stars.

THE WAY: a lot of people didn’t live in the city that they were born in, and they had to move to another city.

AN ANGEL IN THE WAY OF THE PEOPLE: an angel said to the people that the son of the God would be born in a cave.

THE CAVE: in the cave there are: the Virgin, Joseph, Jesus, an ox and a mule. The people give presents to Jesus.

*the stables can change depending on the living manger and the place.

CERCS:

Many years ago the residents of this village participate in a living exibition of the manger where Jesus was born.

When people began, they made these in a public place in the village and they were only few persons. People of other villages didn’t know they were doing it.

With the pass of the years, people have been more interested in participating, for that reason today the manger has been moved to the main square of the village.

The manger is celebrated each 26th December and 5th January.

In the manger you can see:

• A little river, a bridge and a well.

• The shepherd with sheep.

• The place where Jesus was born.

You can eat: ‘‘Blat de moro escairat’’, sausages and bacon.

LA POBLA DE LILLET:

In 1.996, “La Pobla de Lillet” was represented the first living manger. This year, it is represented the 11th living manger. His route begins in the interior of a one farmer house. The name is ''Cal Xeró'', it is in the center of the village. The people walk into the old streets in the village.

The visitors enjoy the market, artisans jobs and biblical pictures, along this route . This year, they have represented 30th traditional and biblical pictures. The people in the living manger, wear old clothes. In the manger, there are a hundred of people. The representation of the peculiar and realist manger, is carried out on 25th of December and 6th of January. It will finish with a big fire, with toast bread, whit bacon and a little bit of wine.

CORBERA:

The Living Crib from Corvera is the first of Catalonia. Its spectacularity makes it very famous.

 

It’s track make 700 meters and it’s during is of 45 minutes. For the assembly use 20 tons of wood, 840 spotlights… a lot of material. There are 200 actors who make scenes like “The announce of the virgin”, “The announce of the shepherds”, “The birth”, “The escape to Egypt”, “The live in Nazareth”, “The adore”…

 

The first actuation was the night of Christmas (24 of December) of 1962, and this year (2006) is the 45 seasons. During the seasons the Living Crib of Corvera makes 1500 actuations ( 20 for year ) and 800.000 people visit it.

When Christmas come the families prepare manger. For the Catalan families is very important make a manger because is a Catalan tradition. The basic figures of manger are:

• Jesus.

• Joseph and Mary.

• Angel.

• Caganer.

• Pixaner.

• The Tree wise men

• The star.

Also they can put on different figures, for example: shepherds, more animals, a river, caves..

MANGERS IN THE FAMILIES:

-Jesus: It’s the most important figure of manger, he’s the baby that the kings visit and take presents for him. And is the soon of God. He stay in a barn with her parents and an ox and a mule.

-Joseph and Mary: they are the Jesus’ parents, and take care of his son. Joseph and Mary in a barn intended to accommodate farm animals.

-Angel: it’s the figure that announces the birth of the child Jesus to the shepherds.

-Caganer: it’s a comic figure, represents a Catalan farm worker that he’s shitting. The exact origin of the Caganer is lost, but the tradition has existed since the 17th Century. Originally, the Caganer was portrayed as a Catalna pesasant wearing a traditional hat called a Barretina. In addition to the traditional caganer design, you can easily find other characters assuming the caganer position.

-Pixaner: this figure is the same of the caganer but, this pisses.

-The Th

ree wise men: They are three wise persons who take three gifts for the child Jesus. This gifts are: gold, incense and myrrh.

-The star: it’s a star that guide the Reis Mags to come in a barn, where finds Jesus and her family.

The star

Mary

Jesus

Joseph

Three wise men

Pixaner

Caganer

Angel

THE COMPETITIONS OF MANGERS:

1973 began in the year the competitions of Mangers Miniature of Avià.

Evidently, the group of youths that began the competition of Mangers miniature of Avià in December of 1973 and those that organized it in the previous years, as those that have made it these last years, in a way more or less conscious, they tried to take advantage of that annual fact to express more contents than the purely artistic ones or religious.

This, like it will be seen later on, is reflected so much in the atmosphere of the local where the competition is developed, like in the parallel activities that are made. On the other hand, only the fact of being constituted like a group to lead any activity type was already a fact outstanding reason one kept in mind.

In the case of the mangers of Avià, the institution that helped was the parish that has continued welcoming every year the mangers, so much post-mortem to the general Franco (20November of 1975) like after the first democratic elections, and they still continue giving, as has always made it the local where they engage the works.

It is necessary also to know, once initiated the celebration of the competition, their off continuity would not have been possible if it had not been for the constant and disinterested effort of a high group of people, fundamentally of Vicenç Casafont during a lot of time, of Ramón Xandri and, later on, of the Group of Young of Avià.

This work was done by:

Maria Camps

Marçal Cirac

Montse Costa

Núria Gragés

Tanit Miró

Jordi Parera

Jordi Ragués