Sitges , Catalonia , Spain is a small city about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona renowned worldwide for its Film Festival and Carnival. Between the hills and the sea, it is known for its much-frequented beaches, nightspots, and historical sites.
Today, Sitges can be considered a dynamic cultural oasis, basing its economy on tourism and culture offering more than 4,500 hotel beds, half of them in four-star hotels. The firm commitment for quality infrastructures has converted Sitges into a first-class destination in terms of tourism of congresses, conferences, seminars and company meetings in the Mediterranean area.
It is also a gay tourist town - in July and August gay men and lesbians visit Sitges as "one of the most popular gay holiday spots in Europe".
For over a century, Sitges has been celebrating nonstop ¿ between the months of February and March, according to the liturgical calendar ¿ Carnestoltes, or Carnival.
The festivities begin on Dijous Gras, or Fat Thursday, with the arribo, King Carnestoltes¿ spectacular arrival. From the moment this character appears until the burial of the sardine ¿ late afternoon on Ash Wednesday ¿ you could well say that life in Sitges moves to a new beat.
Here there is even room for youngsters to step into the limelight with children¿s "ruas", or Carnival parades, on Sunday and Tuesday afternoon.
Folk dances and xatonades (traditional local salad served with assorted omelets) are also characteristic carnival elements. The two most important moments are the Rua de la Disbauxa, or the Debauchery Parade, on Sunday night and the Rua de l'Extermini, or Extermination Parade, on Tuesday night. Some forty-odd floats with more than 2,000 participants fill Sitges .
Museums
- Cau Ferrat Museum : Cau Ferrat was the house-cum-studio of artist and writer Santiago Rusiñol ( b. Barcelona 1861; d. Aranjuez 1931 ), one of the leading figures of Catalan Modernisme.
- Maricel Museum : The American Charles Deering (1852-1927) had the Palau Maricel built to house his art collection in an attempt to copy the precedent set by Cau Ferrat. In 1921 Deering returned to the U.S. and the palace was emptied. In 1969 however, the building regained the use to which it had seemed destined since its creation, by welcoming a major private collection, a donation by Dr. Pérez Rosales, mostly dedicated to medieval art
- Museu Romàntic "Can Llopis": The Museu Romàntic "Can Llopis" is a perfectly preserved 19th century house which allows us to take a closer look at the lifestyle of a family of Catalan householders who lived their splendour during the years of Romanticism. It was built at the end of the 18th century in a neo-classical style with sober, elegant lines and very little decoration. Faithful to the Mediterranean tradition, the house has a central patio with a staircase leading to the main living quarters. The interior design shows how tastes changed from the time the building was built - when they were strongly influence by aristocratic styles - to the triumph of the forms of bourgeois Romanticism.
Sitges has 17 sand beaches. Four of them are in the East: the first one called Les Botigues at the beginning of the coast, next to the beachs of Castelldefels and the othe
[Send to friends]
[Link to this page]
Show me these vacation rentals
