Festival of San Saturio

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We arrived in Soria at festival time! San Saturio is the Patron Saint of Soria and Soria celebrates the Festival of San Saturio every year on 2 October. This year there was also a music festival in Soria and the town was in holiday mode for several days.

San Saturio

Saturio (493-568) was a citizen of Soria who dedicated himself to a life of prayer and solitude. He cared for his parents in their old age and then gave away his inheritance and retreated to a cave in the Santa Ana hills, opposite the town. He was declared the Patron Saint of Soria in 1628 and officially recognised as a saint by the church in 1743.

His hermitage is sited outside the town overlooking the Duero River and on the site of his cave. There has apparently been a hermitage here for over 1,000 years, but today’s church dates from 1704. It is an easy walk along the river and on the list for September 2023.

Photograph exhibited in the Alameda de Cervantes of the hermitage in 1955
Photograph exhibited in the Alameda de Cervantes of the hermitage in 1955

The Parade of the Giants

On one of my brief outings to the nearby Plaza mayor and the Main Street of the town we happened on the Parade of the Giants and the Big Heads as part of the Festival of San Saturio. I can’t find out what these figures represent but perhaps on our return visit in 2023 we will know what to enquire about.


Nighttime festivities

There was also a music festival during our week in Soria and another little outing took me down to the nearby Plaza Mayor in the early evening.

Road down to the Plaza Mayor in Soria
Road down to the Plaza Mayor in Soria
Plaza Mayor during Festival in Soria
Music in the Plaza Mayor
Evening crowds on the Plaza Mayor in Soria
Evening crowds on the Plaza Mayor in Soria
Following the traditional music band
Following the traditional music band

Even on my brief outings Soria felt good and it was fun to see the events of the Festival.

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