The Story of the Catalan Day of the Armenian Gift

In the Catalonian city of Tarragona every year in September, Santa Tecla, one of the largest and brightest holidays of the city, is celebrated. It is also called the day of the Armenian gift.

The history of the holiday has its roots in the distant past. When Paul the Apostle preached Christianity in Spain, he met a girl named Tecla (Thecla).

She was so fascinated by the sermon of the apostle that she escaped from her fiancé and followed Paul in his travels.

Reaching Tarragona, Paul and Tecla preached Christianity and achieved great success.

Then, Tecla went on an independent journey, preaching the world to Christianity. But she was pursued by enemies of the new religion. Eventually, Tecla was imprisoned and tortured.

Having withstood quite a lot, she ran off into a cave. When the soldiers were sent after Tecla to torture her again, she began to pray. Then, the cave collapsed, killing everyone inside.

Only a hand remained from Tecla. The followers of Christianity took the hand with them to the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia for worship.

The Christian relic was in the possession of Armenians until 1321. Precisely in that year, by the order of the Cilician king Levon V, the imperishable hand of Saint Tecla was taken to Tarragona.

Since that moment, on September 23, the day of the Armenian gift is celebrated. Saint Tecla is considered the patroness of Tarragona.

While earlier, the holiday had only religious significance, it has recently turned into one of the most entertaining and interesting holidays, attracting a large flow of tourists.

Despite the fact that the day of the holiday is set on September 23, it is celebrated for 10 days. Many events are held on the streets of the city during these days, including festivals, concerts, competitions, and many others. At the same time, the holiday does not lose its main, religious significance.