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In this series of photographs in La Vanguardia Readers’ Photos we can contemplate the monument sculpture of the giants Eloi and Maria Gleva crowned by the solar halo.
In reality, Eloi is the giant of Manlleu, who came out of the Christian Art Workshop in Olot. On April 17, 1988, it was premiered and blessed by the parish priest of Sant Pau.
The gegant Eloi is a young archer, he carries a bow in his right hand and an arrow in his left. Hanging on his back are more arrows.
For its part, the giant Maria Gleva was also built in the Workshop of Christian Art in Olot. In 1995, when more than thirty giants from various Catalan towns went to Manlleu on the occasion of the Giant Meeting, the premiere of the new giant of this town of Osona took place.
It was named Maria Gleva, in honor of the Virgin who gives its name to the town on the other side of the River Ter. The gegants of Vilafranca de Conflent, from North Catalonia, acted as godparents at the baptism of Maria Gleva, who was accompanied at all times by Eloi.
The solar halo forms around the sun, presenting an iridescent ring on its outer circumference, due to ice crystals when there are high clouds.
The halo is caused by ice particles suspended in the troposphere that refract light, generating a spectrum of colors around the Moon or the Sun. It is an optical effect in the shape of a disk around the sun – or the moon – and which presents a iridescent ring on its outer circumference.
