In the imagination of the most skeptical of Cupid's arts there is always the hackneyed phrase "Look at those who They look like the lovers of Teruel, she is stupid and he is stupid”. But what many still overlook is that the legend of the lovers of Teruel had a very deep draft in our history, to such an extent that it has been considered the story of the Spanish Romeo and Juliet, though Shakespeare came much later.
And although historians do not agree on the truth of the facts, something happened in the middle ages so that eight centuries later, they continue to be on everyone's lips.
The lovers of Teruel.
HISTORY OR LEGEND?
The Lovers of Teruel have their own Foundation in the mausoleum where the famous and legendary lovers supposedly lie, in the same city of Teruel. This organization was created in 1998 by various institutions such as the Government of Aragon and the Archbishopric of Teruel and Albarracín in order to preserve the historical tradition and the diffusion of this ill-fated couple that became a symbol for Teruel.
There we discover the story, which supposedly took place in the thirteenth century, of the love born between Don Diego de Marcilla and Doña Isabel de Segura. Diego and Isabel had grown up together in two wealthy families, and her love had been seen with good eyes by the father of the latter if it were not for a plague of locusts that devastated the Hacienda de los Marcilla.
To recover the "lost lineage", the solution was to leave Don Diego to the Crusades for five years in order to return with money and glory and thus be able to consummate the nuptial wishes of the young couple. Throughout those years, no news of Don Diego was received, and those that were received assured that In the last battle no one was left alive. It was even believed that it was Doña Isabel's own family that fed those gossips in order to prevent the marriage.
Mausoleum of the lovers of Teruel.
At the end of five years Doña Isabel had to accept her father's suitor, also Lord of Albarracín (beautiful interests had her father). And precisely on the same day of the wedding, Don Diego appeared, loaded with honors and power. Upon learning of the wedding of his beloved he decided to claim the promised last kiss, climbing the balcony where the new marriage slept. But faithful to marriage, Elizabeth rejected him, falling dead Don Diego.
At her funeral, she could not bear not having been able to save the life of her beloved and, turning a deaf ear to what her evil tongues might say, she snuck into the funeral and kissed Diego, falling dead dead In the instant. And such was the impact of the event, that she decided to give them burial together.
The lovers of Teruel.
And that grave is inside this museum, in a spectacular alabaster sculpture by Juan de Ávalos from the 1950s, showing lovers holding hands. The bodies that rest inside were discovered in a chapel of the Church of San Pedro and generated some controversy since there are some historians who say that correspond to a mother with her son, but this has not been demonstrated. The entrance to the mausoleum is not free, but it allows a circuit through the museum and the beautiful Mudejar church of San Pedro, essential in your getaway to Teruel.
THE WEDDINGS OF ISABEL SEGURA
The history of the lovers of Teruel It has such a deep influence among its inhabitants that every year they celebrate a party in which the story of the ill-fated Isabel and Diego is recreated. declared as Festival of National Tourist Interest, It has existed since 1997 and has only been interrupted in 2021 due to COVID. But this year they are celebrated again, and despite the fact that they are always celebrated in mid-February, at the last moment the celebration has been moved to the month of March.
We have walked the streets of Teruel hand in hand with Rachel Stephen, the architect of Isabel Segura's weddings being held in Teruel for 25 years. “When I was a girl, the truth is that lovers were nothing. The mausoleum was a sad place that frightened us children. 25 years ago we assembled everything and we were four cats. But there something happened, because everyone was moved by the staging of the weddings, they began to notice something very much their own, a hallmark of identity,” says Esteban.
Festival of the Lovers of Teruel.
Raquel tells us about other times, explaining that the post-war period was very sad because it was said that the people buried in the mausoleum were the mummies of two civil guards. “During the Civil War, the mummies They hid in the convent of the Poor Clare nuns among rats and debris. When carbon 14 tests were done, they found that the real date of the mummies was from the beginning of the 14th century, which fits the margin of the Lovers' story."
Enjoying the Weddings of Isabel Segura is an experience that must be live at least once in a lifetime. The streets of the city become true chapters of the Lovers' story, transforming into a small medieval town where different passages from the story of Diego and Isabel, spread over several days.
The party starts on Thursday. This year they will summarize what happened in the previous year which, due to the pandemic, the celebrations were virtual and the passages of the Lovers of Teruel were filmed. The four stages are set up in the old town, around the cathedral square, each one having its own significance.
The wedding is celebrated on Friday. The moment in which Isabel Segura marries the man proposed by her father since Don Diego has not returned is staged.
Saturday is the day of the celebration of the nuptial bull, symbol of fertility and fecundity. On that same evening, the Medieval tournament in honor of Jaime I of Aragon, that for the time of lovers was just a child. It is at this moment that Don Diego's arrival is expected.
In last year's film version, Don Diego met a witch. It is suggested that Isabel marries under a spell, Well, her sister-in-law hires some witches to put a spell on Isabel and forget about Diego. This spell would last until the March moon passed. It is at this moment when Diego arrives, he goes up to the balcony and asks for the kiss, falling dead
Funerals are held in the city on Sunday. That is when Isabel, repentant, kisses Diego and dies instantly on his body. The parades begin and the end of the festivities is prepared, where music and food are not lacking. For Raquel there is also a very emotional moment at this point: “You have to put yourself in the skin of the actors. Diego is dead for almost two hours parading through the streets of Teruel, and that's a lot of work. It is very remarkable the effort that he has to make, because both he and Isabel almost fall into a trance. There is a wonderful moment when the whole parade ends and they wake up before appearing on the balcony as actors. That final moment, when they go from characters to actors, it's very exciting, it's like they've really lived the character and something powerful is perceived in the environment” narrates Esteban.
Poster Isabel's Wedding, Teruel.
And don't forget the medieval market that rises in Teruel on the occasion of the festivities and that houses around 250 positions of the most varied. Crafts, food, taverns, medieval clothing and even vintage footwear for those who want to go further. In addition, in the taverns you have to ask for the wonderful Teruel ham and sausages with village bread , mead, broths flavored with herbs and lots of beer. That's how it tastes
BONUS TRACK FOR THE CURIOUS
The actor who plays Don Diego spends a lot of time “dead”. Inside the team they have a secret code in case the actor needs something as simple as, for example, his nose itching, he needs to be scratched and also prevent the television cameras from noticing.
People say that the lovers of Teruel are the Romeo and Juliet Spanish people . But the fact is that Shakespeare, who wrote his tragedy at the end of the 16th century, had Bocaccio as his source of inspiration. Bocaccio, in turn, wrote the Decameron in the mid-fourteenth century, probably echoing what was told in the Court of Naples where there was a certain Spanish influence.
In the fourth book of the Decameron we talk about the story of the Lovers Girolamo and Salvestra, a story exactly the same as that of the Lovers of Teruel. In fact, the names are anagrams of Marcilla and Segura. Lots of coincidence, right? We believe that Teruel arrived first.