''La Coupo Santo'' (The Holy Cup), in full ''La Cansoun de la Coupo'' (The song of the Cup) in original modern (or Mistralian) norm Provençal (in classical norm, ''La Copa Santa'' in full ''Lo Cant de la Copa Santa'' (The song of the Holy Cup) or ''La Cançon de la Copa'' (The Song of the Cup)) is the anthem of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

. It is sung in Provençal, one of six

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

dialects. It refers to a silver

chalice A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning. R ...

the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

félibres offered their Provençal counterparts on July 30, 1867 during a Banquet held in Avignon to thank them for hiding

Victor Balaguer The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, a poet from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

who'd sought political asylum out of Spain. The cup was made by Guillaume Fulconis and the silversmith Jarry. The cup is traditionally entrusted to the capolièr, who presides over the

Félibrige The ''Félibrige'' (; in classical Occitan, in Mistralian spelling, ) is a literary and cultural association founded in 1854 by Frédéric Mistral and other Provençal writers to defend and promote the Occitan language (also called the ) and ...

. It is showcased every year at the society's annual congress, called ''la Santa Estèla''. The banquet is officially closed when the ''Copa Santa'' gets sung. It was initially written by

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel ...

to commemorate the fraternal bond that unites the

and Catalan nations, and the music was taken from a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

from Friar Serapion: ''Guilhaume, Tòni, Pèire''. It stands among the best-known anthems of Occitania alongside ''

Se Canta ''Se Canta'' (; regional alternative titles: ''Se Chanta''; ''Aqueras Montanhas'') is an anthem associated with Occitania. It is also a very old popular song, known all over Occitania. According to legend, it was written by Gaston III Fébus (133 ...

'' and '' De cap tà l'immortèla''. The audience is supposed to stand up for the last verse.

Description

described the cup with these words in ''L'Armana prouvençau'':

It is a cup of antique shape, supported by a palm tree. Against the palm tree, standing up and facing each other, two gentle figurines that depict Catalonia and Provence as sisters.
Provence wraps its right arm around her friend's neck, as a token of amity; Catalonia holds her right hand on her heart and seems to be thanking her.
At the bottom of each figurine, dressed in the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
manner and with their breasts naked, lie their respective coat of arms in an escutcheon.
Around the cup and outside it, written on a braid intertwined with laurels, the following words can be read (in
Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
):

"Souvenir offered by the Catalan
Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
s to the Provençal Félibres for the hospitality given to the Catalan poet Victor Balaguer, 1867."

And on the pedestal these other finely engraved inscriptions can be found:

"They say it is dead,
But to me, it's still alive.
V. Balaguer
Ah! if only they could hear me!
Ah! if only they would follow me!
F. Mistral"

Lyrics

Notice: ''For both norms of Provençal orthography, pronunciation is almost the same.''

References

External links

* & (

Access to lyrics, music sheet, and MIDI file

Notreprovence.fr in English

Wikisource

Copa Santa
{{National Anthems of Europe Copa Santa Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French anthems Occitan music National anthem compositions in F major Frédéric Mistral