PICK OF THE WEEK: Andorra (Pyrenees)
Main places:
Andorra la Vella, Escaldes-Engordany, San Julia de Loria, La Massana, Ordino, Encamp, Canillo, Pas de la Casa
EASTER EVENTS
St George’s Church, Andorra. (In English)
From Good Friday to Easter Sunday
v Friday, 7th April at 12h in Sispony Church, La Massana. Good Friday meditation led by Revd Deborah Chapman.
v Easter Sunday, 9th April at 7h15. Outdoors. Easter Sunrise Service at the Col de la Botella, Pal. (Above Pal, when you come to the roundabout, turn right, away from the ski station and towards Spain. A kilometre or so further on, park by the ski lift that goes to Arinsal and we will be a few yards further on, on the right, looking East across the deep valley to the French Pyrenees. Glorious experience – especially when you can see the sun! ) Bring folding chairs and blankets.
9h. Easter Breakfast at the Hotel Coma, Ordino. Don’t forget to make your Reservations on Tel +376, 736 100.
11h. Easter Sunday Service with Holy Communion led by Revd Deborah Chapman, in Sispony church.
Catholic Easter Programme, 2023 Sant Julià de Lòria Church of Sant Julià and Sant Germà with Mn. Pepe.
v Good Friday, 7th April: at 9h, office of readings, Way of the Cross through the streets with the “Cornetes and Drums” of La Seu d’Urgell. 11h30. Meditation on the seven last words of Jesus on the Cross 17h. Celebration of the Passion of the Lord and, at 22h Procession of Silence through the streets of the parish.
MUSIC v Sunday, 9th April from 12h to 15h in the Poble d’Ordino, Ordino
Singing of Caramelles* in the streets of Ordino and Segudet. *Caramelles are popular songs typical of Catalonia and Andorra, sung at Easter to celebrate the good news of the resurrection of Christ, but which also have a secular character. The singers (called caramellaires) are groups who, a bit like carol singers in the UK or those trick-or-treating in the States, go out to sing in the streets and below the balconies of houses around Easter Sunday. Traditionally, they carry a long pole with a basket tied to the top which they raise up to the balconies where folk are listening and who then put offerings, usually of food, into the baskets. These are later consumed together by the singers. As far as I know, in Andorra, this tradition is now only maintained in Ordino.
FINAL DAY OF 10th ANDORRA SAX FEST Saturday, April 8th from 16h – 19h
PYRÉNÉES WALKING STREET MUSIC The Broken Brothers
Av. Meritxell Andorra la Vella. The route with stopping places.
1. Centre Cultural la Llacuna, Carrer Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer 4
2. Centre de Congressos d’Andorra la Vella, Plaça del poble
3. Teatre Comunal d’Andorra la Vella Antic Carrer Major, 24
4. Farmàcia Internacional Av. Meritxell, 16
5. Plaça de la Rotonda
6. FNAC Pyrénées Andorra, Av. Meritxell, 11
7. Arthotel 8. Prat de la Creu, 15-25
9. Restaurant Kökosnøt Prat de la Creu, 29
10. Restaurant Mama-Maria Av. Meritxell, 27… v Saturday, 8th April at 21h30 at the Hotel Sant Gothard, La Massana. Vibrant in Clave de Soul in concert. Friday live music in Arinsal! The band will perform your favorite songs by artists such as Sting, Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Bruno Mars among many others in an amazing way.
Come recharge your batteries to the rhythm of funk, soul, reggae, swing, jazz and soul with us! v Saturday, 8th April at 21h30 at IQOS Lounge, Andorra la Vella. Tech-house session with John Holt.. v Saturday, 8th April at 22h at the Motorcycle Museum, Canillo. (Registrations: [email protected] [email protected] 753 637.) Concert BSO Show. BSO Show offers a great live show reviewing the best and most recognized soundtracks in film history.
CONFERENCES All conferences are in Catalan unless otherwise stated…
v Thursday, 13th April at 19h in the Event Hall of the Cultural Centre La Llacuna, Andorra la Vella. Presentation of the book
“Andorra and the Spanish Civil War” by Pau Chica Fernández.
Find out what effects the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) had on the Principality of Andorra at a political, economic, social and cultural level. We will discover what Andorra was like in 1936, immersed in a process of transformation that would be affected by the outbreak of war south of the border. 17,000 refugees from the war made Andorra a land of passage and welcome.
(The event is part of the parallel activities of the exhibition “Refugees. Andorra, host country”, an exhibition that can be seen at Cal Pal, La Cortinada until to January 7, 2024.)
Presented by the curator of the exhibition, Xavier Llovera, the historian Jordi Guillamet, and the historian and author of the book, Pau Chica, who will be accompanied by the UAB History Professor, Josep Mª Solé i Sabaté, and Albert Villaró, from Aloma Editors. v Thursday, 13th April at 19h30 at the Hotel Roc Blanc, Escaldes-Engordany. (Registrations: [email protected])
The future of Andorra’s mobility. (In Spanish) A discussion on how the increase in vehicles and travel affects mobility in the country. We will address how artificial intelligence can be a key element in decision-making, and we will discover the mobility models that are working in other countries that could be applied to Andorra.
People who act or intervene:
Mr. Jordi Serracanta, Councilor of Tourism of the Commune of Ordino . Sr. Oriol Esteban, co-founder of Camaleonic Mobility
EXHIBITIONS v Until 16th April at the Taranmana Art Gallery, Escaldes-Engordany, Passeig del Valira, 7, AD700 Escaldes-Engordany (Tel.: +376 336 253). Photographic exhibition, Ment Trucada by Alex Rispal. v Until Sunday, 23rd April at the MW Electricity Museum, Encamp. (Limited places. Prior reservation required: 376 739 111 or [email protected]) Photography exhibition: “A sustainable view”. What is sustainability for you? How would you capture it in a photograph?
If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, the photographs are the mirror of our emotions. Winners of A sustainable look photographic competition. The thirteen photographers participating in this exhibition have captured their vision of sustainability and the impact of human beings on the planet.
Each person has their own view on sustainability, but we strive to make it a more conscious view and with an intention to improve.
Nature returns its reflection to us depending on how we treat it. Let’s observe it and take care of it to look to the future with hope.
Opening Hours: From Tuesday to Saturday from 9h30 – 13h30 and from 315h – 18h30. Sunday from 10h – 14h. v Until Sunday, 23rd April at the MW Electricity Museum, Encamp. (Limited places. Prior reservation required: 376 739 111 or [email protected]) Photography exhibition: “A sustainable view”. What is sustainability for you? How would you capture it in a photograph?
If the eyes are the mirror of the soul, the photographs are the mirror of our emotions. Winners of A sustainable look photographic competition. The thirteen photographers participating in this exhibition have captured their vision of sustainability and the impact of human beings on the planet.
Each person has their own view on sustainability, but we strive to make it a more conscious view and with an intention to improve.
Nature returns its reflection to us depending on how we treat it. Let’s observe it and take care of it to look to the future with hope.
Opening Hours: From Tuesday to Saturday from 9h30 – 13h30 and from 315h – 18h30. Sunday from 10h – 14h.
v Until Thursday, 27th April at the Spanish Embassy in Andorra,
Andorra la Vella. Footprint in Andorra by Jorge Colomina.
Although Colomina’s artistic activity is close to the “Figurativo abstracto”, the artist is constantly looking for the definition of his own style, based on the mixture of warm, bright, vivid, moving colours and geometric shapes and fleeting lines that express their passion and emotions. The result, a work in which balance and coherence are two of its main attributes.
In his more than four decades of artistic production, Colomina has exhibited his works in different cities in Spain (Málaga, Girona, Platja d’Aro), France (Paris, Lyon, Cannes, Montpellier), China (Shanghai) , Luxembourg, Belgium (Brussels), Canada (Montreal) and Morocco.
Hours: Monday to Friday from 10h – 13h and 16h – 19h and 10h – 13h on Saturdays. Sundays closed.
‘Watercolor landscapes’, by Mireia Tarrés v Until Friday, 28th April from 9h at the Centre Cultural La Llacuna, Andorra la Vella. Colour in the Dark by Cecília Santañes Molina. Colour in the Dark is a personal story, an illustrated diary born from the need to share the ups and downs of going through breast cancer. An inner dialogue where monsters come to life and dots of colour mark the path in the gloom.
The people who accompany me in the process put these points of colour giving me the warmth and light necessary to not get lost on the way. v Until Sunday, 30th April at the Hotel Roc Blanc, Escaldes-Engordany. Andorran artist Mireia Tarrés exhibits in the lobby of the Hotel Roc Blanc. An exhibition focused on landscapes, both natural and urban, day and night, all made with the watercolour technique. The artist captures in her work the sensations she perceives when she contemplates the landscapes that surround her. She does not aim to copy reality but to embody the sensations that the environment reveals to her, she seeks to transmit the dynamism of the city, the light of a specific moment of the day, the sensation of a snowy winter day, or the beauty of an underwater world…. These are some of the themes that can be seen in this exhibition.
v Until 14th May at the Government Exhibition Hall, Jaume Riba. Walking. (In my opinion, Riba is Andorra’s premie photographer. To date I have five of his books of photographs and can recognise his work pretty much anywhere. CA) At the inauguration, the Minister of Culture, Sílvia Riva said, “After years of photographing landscapes, people, rivers, flowers, valleys and mountains, customs, experiences, territories and spaces, today we have the privilege of exhibiting in the Government Exhibition Hall the best and most representative of the work of Jaume Riba, in an exhibition that exudes the irreducible love for the country, nature and people.”
The hall is open from all day Tuesday to Sunday mornings, from 10h – 13h and from 15h30 – 20h. v Until Saturday, 8th July in the Comic Museum, La Massana. Fragments of the Pyrenees’ collects some comic pages of the Bulgarian artist, resident in Andorra, Spaska Peeva. The artist tells us his journey from Kyrgyzstan with fictitious stories, inspired by his own experiences along the way and the stories of the places he has visited, especially related to the areas of the Pyrenees.
v Until Sunday, 27th August, 2023 at the Casa d’Areny-Plandolit Museum, Ordino. (Admission: €2.50. Free on September 25th and 26th. The last access to the room will be 30 mins. before closing.) Abracadabra: Illusionism and magic in Cal Plandolit. Discover one of the least known facets of the iconic Areny-Plandolit family – the connection between some of its members within the world of magic, where they stood out prominently on the Spanish and international scene during the first half of the twentieth century. v Until Saturday, 30th September, at the Bike Lab Andorra. Andorra Bicycle Museum, Andorra la Vella. The woman and the bicycle’ Temporary exhibition of the Bici Lab Andorra museum.
The temporary exhibition with which the museum opens, The woman and the bicycle’ explains how this invention was a symbol and also a battlefield to fight first for female emancipation and, nowadays, towards equality between women and men. Thirteen stories of women cyclists from all time illustrate small big moments of women’s relationship with two wheels from the end of the 19th century to the present day. And from using the bike as a tool to escape the control of husbands and fathers, to fight for equality in professional cycling. v Until Sunday, 7th January, 2024 at the Thyssen Museum, Escaldes-Engordany (Rates – with audio-guide included: General admission: €9. Reduced rate: from 18 to 30 years, +65 years and Crèdit Andorrà customers: €5 Free admission for those under 18 years) Khroma.
The emotional universe of colour’. The Carmen Thyssen Andorra Museum hosts its seventh exhibition, an exhibition that aims to delve into the particular importance of each colour and how this appreciation can vary from one person to another.
Colours have historically been associated with moods, as well as very specific situations. Beyond the purely artistic aspect, Khroma concentrates on the study of sensations and invites each visitor to become the key element of the emotional message that will be transmitted throughout the visit.
This chromatic journey, illustrating 34 works by 35 artists ranging from the 19th century to pop and contemporary art, focuses on six colour groups, each of which recreates a monochrome story, ultimately resulting in an overall polychrome that embodies the links between all the presented works. This year, the public will be able to admire one of the works of the famous Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky and, alongside him, many other creators from all over the world.
Opening hours; From Tuesday to Friday, from 10h – 18h. Saturdays from 10h – 19h. Sundays from 10h –14h. Mondays, closed NOTE: Last access to exhibition 30 min. before closing.
v Until 9th January, 2024 at Cal Pal, La Cortinada. Refugees. Andorra, host country”. Cal Pal presents a new exhibition that, under the title of Refugees. Andorra, host country, takes a tour through the history of refugees and those who offered refuge in our country, through an exhibition of archival and photographic material, war material and audio-visuals, and with proposals for various itinerant activities.
We discover how Andorra experienced the arrival of these thousands of refugees during the wars of the 20th century, especially during the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. Many of them took root in the country, having great importance in the economic evolution of Andorra. This human capital also caused a great social, political and cultural change, forever marking Andorran identity and character.
Refugees Andorra, host country also focuses on the current displaced people, inviting the visitor to reflect on the relationship we should have in the future towards those who are forced to leave their territory.
Opening hours:
Saturdays: 10h – 14h & 15h – 19h
Sundays: 10h – 14h
CHILDREN
v From Friday 7th to Saturday, 8th April from 10h – 14h and from 15h – 18h at the Museu Nacional de l’Automóbil, Encamp. In search of Easter eggs.
v From Friday 7th to Saturday, 8th April from 10h – 14h and from 15h – 18h at the Casa Rull Museum, La Massana. In search of Easter eggs.
v From Friday 7th to Saturday, 8th April from 10h – 14h and from 15h – 18h at the Casa d’Areny-Plandolit Museum, Ordino. In search of Easter eggs. v From Saturday 8th to Sunday, 9th April at the Thyssen Museum, Escaldes-Engordany. (Family activity from 4 years. All children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Registrations: +376 800 800 or [email protected]) Thyssen activities: Artistic Easter egg workshop. Families will be asked to design artistic Easter eggs, combining different painting techniques and styles. During the session, attendees will have to decorate Easter eggs following the pictorial style of such iconic artists as Van Gogh, Khalo or Wassily Kandinsky, one of the artists present at the Khrôma exhibition .
Sessions
Saturday: 11h30, 12h30, 16h and 17h
Sunday: 11h, 12h v Thursday, 13th April at 17h30 at the Massana Municipal Library, La Massana. (Prior registration mandatory at 838 910. Number of places: 16. Session aimed at children aged 4 to 7.) The magic of colours: storytelling session. The magic of colours tells the story of three children: Pau, Roc and Roger who lived in the only three countries that existed in the world: the blue chlorine country, the yellow country and the red country. Once the story is over, the narrator will do a workshop with coloured bottles.
CULTURE + v Saturday, 8th April at 18h30 at the IQOS Lounge, Andorra la Vella. Digital art with David Vivancos at IQOS. David Vivancos offers us an interactive figurative digital painting: taking advantage of the versatility of the iPad, we will transfer the feeling of traditional painting to the digital world by creating, like other artists who collaborate with IQOS, a unique figurative work. I bet again on the faces, which always transmit and connect with the public created during the live painting session, and in which visitors can participate, either contributing ideas or drawing directly on the iPad to reinforce the idea of participation, of intervention, to be part of the process.
v From Friday 7th to Sunday, 9th April from 9h30 to 17h30 (last visit at 17h) at the Mina de Llorts, Ordino. Take advantage of these days to enter the Llorts Iron Mine, it will allow you to discover the work of the steel industry in Andorra from the beginning of the 17th century to the end of the 19th century, when it was one of the most important economic activities in the Principality.
And on Sunday, at 12h and at 16h enjoy a guided tour of the sculptures of the Iron Route. Check the price of the activity here . v From Friday 14th to Sunday 16th April at 19h In various places in Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella. Fallas “from Valencia to Andorra la Vella”. Flames and firecrackers fill the streets.
v Friday, 14th April at 19h in the marquee of the Parc Central car park. (Registration: before 13h at the same venue.) All prepared pans can participate in the Pan Contest. The organization will make all the necessary utensils and ingredients available to the participants.) Do you want to learn how to prepare an authentic Valencian paella? The master paellers will teach you about it. And when finished, you can taste it. (Lots more events next Saturday and Sunday.) v Monday, 10th April at 18h at the IQOS Lounge, Andorra la Vella. Clàudia Vijitu at IQOS: Artisan chocolatier will delight us with her way of working live with chocolate to produce spectacular Easter cake figures . v Monday, 10th April at 12h at the Church of Sant Romà de les Bons, Encamp. (Registrations: 873 200) The Day of Sant Romà de les Bons.
The church of Sant Romà de les Bons opens its doors, as on every Easter Monday, to celebrate the traditional day of Sant Romà de les Bons, from 12 noon. The mass will be officiated by priest Antoni Elvira. Everyone is invited, and to celebrate the festival, after the solemn Mass in honour of Sant Romà de les Bons, there will be an aperitif for all and traditional sardana dancing.
Església Sant Romà de les Bons is one of the oldest churches in the Principality of Andorra. It is located in the Les Bons district in the municipality of Encamp. Due to its importance, the building has been protected as a cultural monument since 2003. The church, standing on a rock with a view of the medieval village, was mentioned for the first time in historical records on the occasion of its consecration on the 23rd January, 1164
The rectangular nave preserves the typical Lombard paintings in the Romanesque or pre-Gothic style, which can also be found in some other churches of this kind in the Principality. On the eastern side of the wall there is a rectangular bell tower with two semi-circular openings for the bells. The upper, open, porch-like extension with slate roof tyles was added later.
The murals inside the church are partly restored originals from the Middle Ages and also a reproduction from the12th century. The well-preserved original of the group of apostles Apòstols de Sant Romà de les Bons is now kept in the Romanesque collection at the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Culturally yours,
Clare.
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Look for about the author of the blog Clare Allcard
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Look here for the whole blog “Cultural events in Andorra with Clare Allcard
See also Andorra travel guide
See also Pyrenees travel guide
See also France travel guide
See also Spain travel guide
