The Templars Night of Ponferrada

At the end of June, the Templars Night is celebrated in Ponferrada (León), a recreation of a medieval event, which is celebrated under the light of the first full moon of the summer. Fray Guido Garda, Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templar, one of the survivors of various battles in the Holy Land, returns to the city of the Iron Bridge to seal a pact of eternal friendship with it and give it custody of the symbols found in the holy land of Jerusalem: The Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail.

We remember that the Ark of the Covenant was the sacred cabinet where they kept the Tables of the Law, which included the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses, and was originally stored in Solomon’s Temple, in Israel, where the first Templars had their headquarters. The Holy Grail, refers to the chalice that Jesus Christ used in the “Last Supper”. The Templar entourage is received in the courtyard of the Temple by thousands of citizens of Ponferrada dressed in medieval clothing.

Prior to this, the monks will be received among multitudes in the
courtyard of the Temple, where they will recreate the imposition of the cloak to the knight that is there immortalized. Even more curious is that all the attendees will also be dressed in period dress. The spectacle will be accompanied by the sound of the drums, which will resonate with the setting of the templar moon. In this other act, the alderman of the village will give the keys of the castle to the prior of the order in front of the rest of the knights.

Once they have achieved their goal, they will be able to continue their way up to the fortress where will guard their jewels of the East and where they will make a trial judgement at the Templar Order. Over the 5 days, a good number of activities fill the development of this feast with life and attractiveness. Thus, we find chess tournaments, management of small squires and new Knights Templars, parades of the new knights, offering to the Knight Templar, appointment of the Honorary Grand Master and the famous “templar dinner “.

Parades, music, concerts, gastronomy, children’s workshops, templar camps, the templar craft market, and the pyrotechnics are other highlights of its programming. The Knights Templars settled in Ponferrada in 1178 thanks to King Ferdinand II of León. The site chosen was a small Roman fortress that loomed over the city and had been built on an ancient Celtic settlement. With regard to the Templar Castle that characterizes the image of Ponferrada, over the years the castle suffered various modifications, because at the end of the twelfth century the Templars were expelled from the city by Alfonso IX of León, and although they returned 15 years later, in the fourteenth century the Order was dissolved.