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Dancing egg

Catalan tradition involving a chicken ovum suspended on a water jet

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The dancing egg (l'ou com balla in Catalan) is an old tradition that takes place in several towns in Catalonia, Spain, during the feast of Corpus Christi, when an egg is suspended in the vertical jet of a water fountain. The tradition probably started at the Cathedral of Barcelona.

01History

There is evidence from the 16th century that acolytes would place a dancing egg on the fountain of the Barcelona Cathedral's cloister. To accomplish this, the egg would have been emptied, with wax used to fill the hole and add some weight. When placed over a water jet from a fountain, the egg starts turning without falling, and thus "dances." Generally, fountains with a dancing egg are also decorated with seasonal flowers and fresh fruits, like cherries, which cover the bowl of the fountain, as well as weaver's broom and carnations.

From the Cathedral, the tradition also started at the patio of the neighboring Casa de l'Ardiaca (Archdeacon's House), and it spread to several other courtyards of the Barcelona city center beginning in the 1980s. More recently, other Catalan cities and towns assumed the tradition.

The dancing egg at the Archives of the Crown of Aragon, Barcelona
The dancing egg at the Archives of the Crown of Aragon, Barcelona

02Modern examples

In Barcelona a dancing egg is placed in several locations within the Gothic Quarter during Corpus Christi: Barcelona Cathedral the Casa de l'Ardiaca, in addition to the courtyards of the Ateneu Barcelonès, the General Archive of the Crown of Aragon (at the Palau del Lloctinent), the Royal Academy of Arts of Barcelona, Frederic Marès Museum, the cloister of the Monastery of Jonqueres (adjacent to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception), Centelles Palace, and the History Museum of Barcelona.

Patio of the Casa de l'Ardiaca
Patio of the Casa de l'Ardiaca
Watch videos about Dancing eggExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Dancing egg, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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