Wendy Werneth
Pilgrim
- Time of past OR future Camino
- 2020
If you're missing the sounds of the church bells along the Camino, I've got just the thing for you.
Xesús Álvarez Lozano, a folk musician cum bell ringer, has recorded the sounds of the bells in every town and village along the Camino Francés and Camino Primitivo within Galicia and uploaded them to a website called Badaladas.
In addition to the recordings, you'll also find lots of information (in Galego, Spanish and English) about the history of each bell, the smelters who forged them, and the inscriptions they carry. To me, the most fascinating part is the recordings of all the different chimes, with explanations of their meanings.
The ones you're probably most familiar with are the chimes used to call the congregation to mass, but there are many more. There's a chime to announce the local feast day procession, a chime to warn of fire, and a death knell that is rung when a member of the community has passed away (in fact there are two death knells -- one for men and another for women).
These are still used today as a means of communication, and Xesús Álvarez Lozano recounts how, while he was recording the chimes, on a number of occasions the local villagers approached him to ask who had died.
For those who understand Galego, here's an interview with Xesús broadcast on Radio Galega.
And here's the Badaladas website with all the chime recordings and the history of the bells. There's even an interactive map that shows where each bell is located.
Xesús Álvarez Lozano, a folk musician cum bell ringer, has recorded the sounds of the bells in every town and village along the Camino Francés and Camino Primitivo within Galicia and uploaded them to a website called Badaladas.
In addition to the recordings, you'll also find lots of information (in Galego, Spanish and English) about the history of each bell, the smelters who forged them, and the inscriptions they carry. To me, the most fascinating part is the recordings of all the different chimes, with explanations of their meanings.
The ones you're probably most familiar with are the chimes used to call the congregation to mass, but there are many more. There's a chime to announce the local feast day procession, a chime to warn of fire, and a death knell that is rung when a member of the community has passed away (in fact there are two death knells -- one for men and another for women).
These are still used today as a means of communication, and Xesús Álvarez Lozano recounts how, while he was recording the chimes, on a number of occasions the local villagers approached him to ask who had died.
For those who understand Galego, here's an interview with Xesús broadcast on Radio Galega.
And here's the Badaladas website with all the chime recordings and the history of the bells. There's even an interactive map that shows where each bell is located.