AN EVENT WITH A HISTORY AND A FUTURE

Times have changed and nowadays our surroundings are totally different from those in which the memorable events of 1507 took place. Surely no one who lived through those years of dire poverty could have imagined that 500 years afterwards the people of Alcúdia would still remember and celebrate with great solemnity the miracle of the Sant Crist of Alcúdia.

All this is proof that Alcúdia has a very rich history that we have successfully understood and respected and that it also has a present full of controversies. A present that can not shed the deep roots that bound us to our land and history. We also want Alcúdia to have a future full of hope based on respect and peaceful coexistence.

As citizen of Alcúdia and Mayor I would like to give the starting signal for the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Triennial that will reach its crescendo in 2007. The celebrations include events that we will announce when confirmed. I hope everyone gets involved in the events to bring together the largest number of people in the history of Alcúdia.

Miquel Ferrer i Viver
Mayor of Alcúdia

WHY EVERY THREE YEARS?

If we had to sum up the most meaningful events for the people of Alcúdia, the Triennial Festival would be without a doubt the main event in the heart of our people. As we all know, every three years since the Sant Crist was moved to its chapel on 28 July 1607, the people of Alcúdia have remained faithful to this century-old devotion. The worship of the sculpture of the Sant Crist began on 24 February 1507, when the people of Alcúdia and Mallorca were suffering and starving. According to the documents of the notaries Aixartell and Seguí the sculpture of the Sant Crist sweat blood and water. The Sant Crist granted the townspeople help to obtain a good harvest and food to survive the famine.

It was one of the best harvests ever remembered and from that year on pilgrimages were organized to the Cave of Sant Martí, where the miracle had taken place, from Palma, Inca, Muro, Sa Pobla, Santa Margalida, Felanitx, Artà and Sineu. The pilgrimages continued during the 17th-19th centuries.

The pilgrims carried the Sant Crist to the cave and prayed for abundant harvests or gave thanks to the saint. To avoid the constant parading of the sculpture the parish rector established that the Sant Crist would only be paraded every three years. Instead of taking place on 28 July, it was decided that the sculpture should be paraded on 26 July, coinciding with Santa Anna Day and the day after Sant Jaume Day.

Spine belonging to the extraordinary registry of the University, where the notary records of the religious events that occurred in Alcúdia in 1507 are kept.	Text of the records by the notary Seguí (Sheets XIV,v-XV,r)