This month's World Heritage Site

The Mystery Play of Elche:
A Medieval Masterpiece, by Toni Dabbs

In 2001, UNESCO recognized that cultural heritage could be something other than a physical place. That year, the organization proclaimed its first Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

For many peoples, their intangible heritage is a vital, deeply rooted source of their historical identity. Philosophy, cultural values and ethical codes as well as thought processes that are transmitted through languages and oral traditions are at the very foundations of their ways of life. The ephemeral nature of this intangible heritage makes it particularly vulnerable.

UNESCO created this new heritage category to encourage preservation of:

* Forms of popular and traditional expression - such as languages, oral literature, music, dance, games, mythology, rituals, costumes, craft work, know-how, architecture.

* Cultural spaces - a place where popular and traditional cultural activities take place in a concentrated manner (sites for story-telling, rituals, marketplaces, festivals, etc.) or the time for a regularly occurring event (daily rituals, annual processions, regular performances).

Among the first masterpieces named to this category was Misteri d’Elx, the annual mystery play of Elche, Spain.

The mystery play of Elche is the last example of a tradition widespread in the Middle Ages, when the Virgin Mary was the object of religious devotion influenced by Byzantine rites. It is a sacred musical drama depicting the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin, performed on August 14 (the first act) and August 15 (the second act) in the Basilica of Santa Maria.

Although theatrical presentations inside Roman Catholic churches were forbidden by the Council of Trent (1545-1563), Elche received special permission from Pope Urban VIII in 1632 to continue its mystery play. Nonetheless, the play might not have survived into the 21st century were it not for the dedication of the townspeople.

Reflecting the cultural and linguistic identity of the Valencia region, the play requires about 300 volunteers each year and attracts the entire population. Written in the Valencian language, with several parts in Latin, it incorporates music of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.

For the play, the basilica stage is organized horizontally to represent earth and vertically to represent heaven, an arrangement typical of Medieval mysteries. A ramp is situated in the center of the transept, and a false sky covers the inside of the dome. The doors of the sky open, allowing first a messenger angel to descend and then a choir of angels to ascend with the Virgin Mary. After the Virgin is crowned, a rain of fine tinsel falls from above.

The mystery play of Elche was declared a National Monument by the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, protecting it by law. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the materials and know-how to maintain the scenery and stage devices and to preserve the Valencian language, which has been replaced largely by Castillan.

Since 1990, the City Council and the Ministry of Culture of Valencia have organized a festival of Medieval theater and music, which includes a research seminar. With the UNESCO designation, there are plans to restore the basilica and stage devices, to establish training institutions for actors and singers, and to develop a museum of mystery plays.

UNESCO has worked to protect the world’s natural and cultural heritage since it came into force in 1976. Oral and intangible masterpieces are in need of its attention because they are in constant evolution, threatened by cultural standardization, armed conflict, tourism, industrialization, rural exodus, migration and environmental deterioration.

In creating the category of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, UNESCO’s objectives are to:

* Raise awareness of oral and intangible heritage and the need to safeguard it;

* Evaluate and take stock of the world’s oral and intangible heritage;

* Encourage countries to provide legal and administrative measures for the protection of oral and intangible heritage;

* Promote the participation of traditional artists and local creators in revitalizing oral and intangible heritage.

In addition to the mystery play of Elche, some of the proclaimed masterpieces are: the language, dances and music of Gafuna in Belize; the Hudhud chants from Ifugao in the Philippines; the marionette opera in Italy; the cultural space of el-Fna Djamaa in Morocco; and the cultural space of Sosso Bala in Niagassola (Guinea).

British Columbia travel writer Toni Dabbs is a regular contributor to The Cultured Traveler.