Castles and Caves : Myths and Legends of Europe

THE CONFERENCE

All the partners, the Slovaks, the Turkish and the French stayed at school on Monday evening for the "myths and legend evening". The aim was to show the work everybody had done during the previous months. The parents were invited.

The evening opened with an excellent Provencal buffet which the school chef had prepared for us. We had some specific Provencal dips: Cauliflowers, carrots, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, fennels with some special Provencal sauces: tapenade, anchoïade...
	Then we ate different sorts of pizzas: pizzas with onions, tomatoes and olives. Then our guests tasted some French cheeses like brie, camembert, etc.. which we hope they enjoyed. And to finish we ate a delicious "Comenius" cake made by the school chef!
After our excellent dinner, the French presentation could begin.	It started with the presentation of some Provencal dances presented by the folk group "Lei Ginesto".

And we all danced together.

The first legend which was presented was the legend of Saint Martha. Adelie, Thibault, Arnaud, Henry, Julien, performed this legend for us thanks to shadow plays. But let's not forget Mia and Marie who had to hold the sheet during the whole legend. How courageous!

Then Julien, Elodie, Marie, Félicia, Mia and Estelle told us about this beautiful legend. Here it is:
THE LEGEND OF THE MAGPIE Every year, when the spring comes back, not only in province but all over the world a miracle takes place: The birds want to build their nests to lay their eggs. So one day, a brave little magpie flies to ask the great oak: "Great oak, please, let me build my nest on one of your branches this spring." "Sorry! But this year the place is taken, by the crow." "What? It's like a hotel!" "Yes! You should have made a reservation six months ago." "Asking the great oak, what was I thinking? I'm going to see the olive tree, symbol of love and peace. He can't say no to me." So, the magpie goes to see the olive tree and asks him: "Can I make my nest on your best branch?" "No it's over for me, I don't rent anymore. Last year's birds broke all my branches, left without paying for the rent and ate all my olives. When my boss came to harvest my olives he hurt me so I stopped letting."
	Spring comes and the little magpie still hasn't found a place where to build her nest. Suddenly she hears a little sprig of thyme saying: "You can build your nest on my sprig." "Your are kind but your are too small and your are on the ground, so if somebody came they would break my eggs so I'm afraid I can't accept." The problem isn't solved and the magpie sees a little farm girl on her way to town with eggs in a basket. "I'm going to ask the farm girl." "Please, kind girl, can I build my nest on the roof of your farm?" "I'm sorry but I have already given my roof to the swallow." "How about over there? In the old stable?" "No it's impossible; the stable is for the travelling birds." The magpie is about to cry when the farm girl has an excellent idea. She picks some hay from the basket, open her blouse and places it in her bosom. Then gently she picks up the magpie and places her in this brand new nest. Since that day, all over the world, every woman has a small bird singing in her heart.
Then, Marie started talking about the legend of the Couloubre.	Félicia told us about the cave of "la Foux".

After that Henry talked about the legend of Villecroze.	After it was Arnaud's turn with the Three Leaps of the Devil and Saint Martin.

He continued with the legend of the White Lady.	Adelie introduced the trip of Mary Magdalene.

Elodie explained everything about the typical Provencal biscuits called "navettes" and about "Santons".	And to finish we danced a French dance "le Madison".

Now the French presentation was finished. One last photo of the French team with Adelie, Henry, Arnaud, Tibault, Julien, Estelle, Mrs Elisabeth Jilliot, Mr Alain Ripart the headmaster, Mia, Félicia, Elodie, Mrs Sandrine Bart, Mrs Crystel Lerey and Marie.

But the show had to go on.
Here are the Slovak teachers introducing their presentation. They had the excellent idea of presenting their caves, castles and legends thanks to a Time Machine!
We can see Rachel and Klaudia speaking about Slovakia, and then Dobsinšká Ice Cave and its legend.

Then Zuzana arrived dressed as a princess! She introduced Bratislava Castle and its legend.

And Lívia came to talk about Trencin Castle and its legend.

Martina told us about the legend of Hedviga from Spiš Castle.

Then, Barbora taught us about the legend of the Red Cloister....	Lívia and Jerguš played the guitar and Zuzana sang a Slovak song.

see for yourself!
Jerguš stayed to talk Devín Castle and its legend.

To finish, Dominika talked about Ochtinská Aragonite Cave in the south of Slovakia.

The Slovak team with Dominika, Mrs Andrea Kozubíková, Martina, Mrs Denisa Slavkovská, Lívia, Zuzana, Barbora, Jerguš and Rachel.

Now the Slovak had finished and the Turkish started.	Enes and Çiçek gave some information about Turkey and Diyarbakιr

Ferhat talked about three legends:	THE LEGEND OF CREATION The tale of Diyarbakιr starts with a legend. Once upon a time there was a horrible fire-breathing dragon enchained where the city of Diyarbakιr now lies. He was spitting fire. All around it the stones became black, but when the flames cooled down, the city of Diyarbakιr emerged at the precise spot where the fire had burnt, hence Diyarbakιr's nickname: "Black Amid". THE DEVILS OF THE CITIES According to the legend, every city has its devil. The devil of Diyarbakιr made people hate each other. The people of Diyarbakιr were helpless but at last one of the saints caught the devil, turned it into iron and enchained it on the Inner Castle's gate. Thus, the city was saved and Diyarbakιr became the only city without a devil. The chain still stands on the gate of the Inner Castle of Diyarbakιr. People spit out and damn the chain as entering the city.

THE WATER OF IMMORTALITY Bιrkleyn cave is so deep that it is said nobody could see the end of the cave. In fact, it is said that the end of the cave reached out to the Cuff Mountain in Archaic Times. Some reliefs and inscriptions belonging to Assyrian Kings and dating back to 1100 and 850 BC can be seen in the cave. The Greek Scholar Plinius called this place "the cave where the world ends" and commented that it was the gate to enter the underground world of the dead. The water flowing in Bιrkleyn cave is called the water of immortality. A lot of legends were told about this magic water. The most notable one is about Alexander the Great. It is said that once upon a time Alexander the Great made his army wait in this cave for 6 months to reach immortality. He couldn't reach the fountain but he became the King of all Asia. He didn't but his name became immortal.
Mazlum presented the legend of Tigris and THE LEGEND OF EĞIL CASTLE:
	THE LEGEND OF THE TIGRIS According to the legend, Asian Nympha arrived on the banks of a very wide river while escaping Dionysus who had turned into a tiger. Yet Nympha had to resign to take refuge in Dionysus's strong arms to cross the river. Thereby the river Nympha and Dionysus crossed together is now called "the Tigris River".
Elif talked about THE LEGEND OF BENUSEN.	Çiçek introduced THE LEGEND OF KARAKADAĞ...

... performed by Mazlum as the ruler, Ruken as the mother, Ferhat as the son and Enes as the dragon.

While getting ready for their final appearance, they showed us a short film they had shot themselves in Turkey before coming: The legend of Ayn Zela. It was HILARIOUS!!!! See for yourself:
THE LEGEND OF AYN ZELA

To finish they played Turkish music. It was BRILLIANT!!!!!

This is the Turkish team with Mr Ozan Sezik (the music teacher), Mr Sekan Şimşek and Mrs Havin Baran the English teachers, Elif, Ferhat, Mazlum, Ruken, Çiçek and Enes (the dragon).

We had an excellent evening!