More Festivals – Moors and Christians

Filaes

The consolidation of the groups of revelers in ‘filaes’ began in 1786 due to the increasing number of participants at the party.  The Association of Sant Jordi was responsible for promoting the cult of the patron. They were also responsible for ensuring their temple and organizing annual festivals in Sant Jordi honor.

They also had certain autonomy. Thus “filaes’ were born for the Moors and Christians. The members of filaes have distinctive dresses and ‘rows’. The aim of these groups was to bring friends to participate together in the festival.
Over the centuries many “filaes” appeared and disappeared until they were set the way as we know them today.

From 1844 compulsory performance of captain and lieutenant positions became mandatory. Moreover, they are the key elements in the development of the Fiesta.

Women in the festival

Moorish band has 14 “filaes” and the Christian band also has 14 “filaes”.Within the “filaes” some members are registered at birth by their parents, the presence of women has always been vetoed. The women were even denied access due to local ‘line’. In this last half century, women participate more in the party.

Castle

The Moors and Christians festival is celebrated in other locations but the most famous is the Alcoy of Valencia due to its great tradition, organization and purity.

The castle appears on the party in the eighteenth century to give more brilliance to the representation of the struggle of Christians against the followers of Al-Azraq. The first castle that was built was small and moreover it was made of coarse cloth and pieces of wood. Next to it were built small houses to represent the town of Alcoy.

In 1799, Joaquin Verdú, mayor of Alcoy, got a note from the Devotees of San Jorge (the Association of Saint George) where they announced the construction of a castle at their own expense since they wanted the castle to be more realistic.

Fernando Cabrera designed the new castle built by the Aznar brothers. The castle, which was shown for the first time in 1895, is in usage even today. It weighs 25 tons. During the war it was stored and its metal structure was used for making to a bomb shelter in the Plaza Emilio Sala.

After the war, the metallurgical company Rodes Asociació Brothers gave Sant Jordi a new metal structure and raised the castle again in 1944.