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Offering of the Alfàbegues of Bétera

Bétera, El Camp de Túria, Valencia

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Offering of the Alfàbegues of Bétera

Curiosity · Bétera, El Camp de Túria, Valencia

Image of Bétera, not of the place itself.

A festive tradition of Bétera in which the largest basil plants (alfàbegues) are offered, carefully grown in the Hort de les Alfàbegues, one of the oldest surviving Mediterranean rituals. Declared Fiesta de Interés Turístico Autonómico (a regional festival of tourist interest designation) in 2007, it is linked to ancient Mediterranean fertility rites, and its cultivation in Bétera dates back to the 13th century. Growers sow the plants in late March and, come August, water them up to twenty times a day and remove the flower so they keep growing; in this way they achieve specimens up to 2.86 metres tall. The festival is held between 12 and 22 August and culminates on the 15th with the offering of the basil plants to the Virgin of the Assumption, carried in procession to the parish church of la Purísima by the so-called cosiers.

Photo: Viquipèdia (Public domain)

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