LET’S TALK ABOUT FANDANGO DANCE IN PORTUGAL

What is the Fandango?

Fandango is a traditional dance from farmers.

Nowadays, there are thirty-five different Fandango samples' that are danced in the western part of Portugal. Leiria's District (the place where we leave) is included on fandango area.

How old is the Fandango dance?

The Fandango dance has its origins on the 18th century and was already appreciated from the nobility to the people.

Does Fandango have other names?

Yes, there are other names for Fandango, such as:  “Fandango da Ronda”, “Pátio do Fandango” (in Montelavar town) and the “Fandango da Lezíria”.

Authoresses

Filipa Lopes, Nº10;

Inês Jesus, Nº11

Alcobaça's Monastery

Alcobaça is a city and a county in Leiria's District.

The legend says that king Afonso Henriques donated most of the lands from the region of Alcobaça to a French monk named Bernard. The king wanted him, and his religious brothers, to build a monastery there. He did that to accomplish a promise he had done while walked to the conquer of Santarém*.

In fact, king Afonso Henriques was in a hurry to put an end to the mixture of races and beliefs among the populations who lived in that region half christian, half islamic. And this was necessary in order to unite the nation!

At the same time, the king needed the Pope's support to consolidate his kingdom.

In that time, Bernard was an influent man inside Christian Church and also a controversial one. In one hand defended humility and, in other hand, supported violence, if necessary, to defend Christian faith! The religious order of Cister (XI^th century) resulted from Saint Benedict Order's reformation held by Bernard. And this man was king Afonso Henriques' relative. Due to Bernard's influence Alexander III, the Pope** who later canonized*** him, recognized Portugal as an independent nation and Afonso Henriques as king.

The Monastery has a church, a cloister and a chapter house. The current frontage is from the XVII century. The architecture of the monastery follows the gothic style, it is a decorative sculptural style and mobile art. In this monastery we can see the tombs of king Pedro and Inês de Castro, characters from one of the most known love stories of the Portuguese middle age.

* – Portuguese city.

** – Christian leader. 

*** – To recognize someone as a Saint.

National Sovereignty and Children’s Day

The Grand National Assembly founded in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey, on the 23^rd of April, 1920, during the Independence War. The founder of Turkish Republic, Ataturk, dedicated this day to Turkish children. April 23 has been celebrated as National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Turkey since that day. It was one of the biggest national festivals in Turkey. UNICEF has also decided to recognize this day as the International Children's Day.

April 23 is one of the national cornerstones in the history of Turkish Republic. It was on the 23^rd of April that Turkish intellectual people declared that Turkish people had always been independent and opened National Assembly. Ataturk dedicated this sovereignty day to the children as he thought that the protection of sovereignty and independence were in the hands of the youth and children.

Every year, the children in Turkey celebrate thisday as a national holiday. Students, governors and soldiers participate in ceremonies in schools and stadiums.  In theGrand National Assembly, children represent the president, the prime minister and other cabinet ministers for one day.

 During festival, the foreign children are housed in Turkey  and interact with Turkish children and learn about each other's cultures. The foreign children groups also participate in ceremonies. Through these activities, it is aimed to show the importance of international peace and brotherhood.

We have foreign guests from Holland and Croatia in our school for this year’s Children’s Day Festival nowadays. We are participating in a lot of activities together and share our cultures. They are also performing in our ceremonies (see the pictures).  We want to see you as well in Turkey next year to interact and SHARE!

Written by Turkish Students

Carnation Revolution

25^th of April 1974 is the date of a Portuguese revolution, known by “carnation revolution”, whose main responsibility belongs to the Portuguese people and military forces.
The Portuguese people were indignant with the dictatorship that Salazar* had imposed on their country, since the years of 1930, and that Marcelo Caetano* continued. Therefore, the population fought for democracy.
The end of the dictatorship regime began at 25^th of April's dawn, with the action and leadership of the “armed forces movement” (AFM or MFA, in Portuguese).
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho was the army man who coordinated the military preparation for it. Things were made easy because he had the Army support, around all the country, and the Air Force and Navy decided to stay neutral.
Besides that, the Government yielded peacefully to the Army’s desires and, since then, was created a democratic regime in Portugal.

* – Portuguese politicians.

Authors

Diogo Gomes

Diogo Fonseca

Carnival

Carnival is a traditional feast from eastern cultures (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy…) that has its roots in Christian traditions. It involves a public parade and street party where people wear dresses or masks, dance and have fun.

It is usually celebrated during three days just before Lent starts. In Christian tradition, Lent is a period of the liturgical year that starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for the annual commemoration of Jesus’ death and resurrection during the Holy Week. Therefore people pray and fast.

According to some experts, the name Carnival comes from the Latin expression carne vale, which means farewell to meat, signifying that those were the last days when one could eat meat before Lent.

Other scholars think that the name Carnival existed before Lent's creation. In there opinion the word would come from carrus navalis, wich is navy car, referring to the spring festivities where adorned wooden boats were used in parades.

Carnival is a feast of fun that we enjoy a lot!

On the picture you can see a mask made at school this year and pubblished by school library's blog.

Authoresses
Mariana Maximiano
Mariana Talefe

Turkish Flag

Turkish flag includes the holy symbols of Turkish nation, moon and star. It is a red  flag with a white moon and star in centre. It is referred to the red banner in the Turkish national anthem. For present-day Turkish Republic, it symbolises the national  independence war. The red colour symbolises the blood of Turkish soldiers died in the war and the star with moon symbolises the independence of the nation. The flag is very important and respectful for Turkish nation. Every Turkish citizen respect the flag and it is protected by law.

The flag was also used in ancient Turkish states and the Ottoman Empire. The Moon and star symbolize the ancient Turkish beliefs. According to those beliefs, four colours are associated with cardinal directions; blue east, white west, red South and black North. Red and white colour of the flag respresent the South-western branch of Turks (Oghuzes), the founders of present Turkey. 

Turkish Students

Portuguese National Flag

There were already 10 nationals flags across Portuguese History.

Nowadays, our flag has two colours – red and green – related to the Republican ideals.

The green symbolizes hope, freedom and means the change to republican governation occurred in 1910.

The red symbolizes the courage and blood of the Portuguese killed in combat and represents life.

Between the colours there is a yellow circle which is the armillary sphere, it represents the world that Portuguese navigators discovered in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and the people with whom they exchanged ideas and trade.

Inside the sphere we can find other symbols:

- the seven castles symbolizing the fortified locations that king Afonso Henriques conquered from the Moors;

- the five machines symbolizing the five Moorish Kings defeated by king Afonso Henriques in the Battle of Ourique;

- the five white points within each machine, representing the five wounds of Christ.

Authors

João Ferreira
Luis Marques

Ramadan Feast

Ramadan Feast starts after Ramadan month (a month in Islamic calender) and lasts three days. It is one of the two important feasts for Muslims.

Ramadan is the holy month of fasting. In this month, Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. They avoid doing bad behaviours and they try not to commit any sin. It is all about patience and spirituality for the sake of God. For Muslim, Ramadan is the month of humility and spiritual purity. Muslims say ‘Ramadan is the Sultan of eleven months!”.

During Ramadan month, streets and mosques are adorned with various decorations. Scripts that include messages about goodness and kindness are hung on the minarets of mosques. In the evenings, city halls give dinner called ‘iftar’ and organize special shows where people have fun together.

After this fasting month, Muslims celebrate it for three days and called these days ‘Ramadan Feast’. During feast, they visit their grandparents and other relatives. In greetings, landlords give candies and banquets to their guests. Children also visit their neighbours and take candies.

In Ramadan Feast, people wear smart clothes and behave kindly. They help poor people and visit cemeteries for their relatives who passed away.

Ramadan Feast is also a public holiday. Government buildings, offices, banks and schools are closed for three days.

Written by Turkish Students

Christmas feast

Christmas is a special time of the year, a time when we celebrate Jesus' birth.

In ancient times, Christmas was celebrated in many different dates.

It was in the fourth century A.D. that the 25th December was established as the official date for Christmas in western Christianity. In ancient Rome, 25th December was a date in which Romans celebrated the beginning of winter. Therefore, we believe that there can be a relationship between this fact and Christmas official celebrating date.

The ancient celebrations of Christmas usually lasted 12 days, because it was the time that the Three Wise Men took, to arrive to the city of Bethlehem, to offer their presents – gold, myrrh and incense – to the baby Jesus.

Nowadays, people decorate a tree (usually a pine tree) and their homes with Christmas decorations in the beginning of December and remove them 12 days after Christmas.

Christmas is a very important date in almost all the world, due to Christian influence everywhere. Families join together and celebrate it exchanging gifts and joy. It is, nowadays, an historical, social and religious event.

Authoresses

Carolina Monteiro
Tânia Pires

Introducing Ourselves

Portugal@Turkey is a cyberspace place where Portuguese and Turkish young students (from Leiria and Istanbul respectively) will meet and present aspects of their own cultures.

Their teachers are convinced that each other's knowledge is essential to promote peace, which is one of this blog's main purposes.

We desire all visitors to enjoy the tour we all are about to start!