For the Feast of of Sant Roc of Plaça Nova, in 1884, the Feast Committee supplemented the traditional ring games with the first "cucanya" (greasy-pole) of the Cathedral Quarter. This cucanya was a unique apparatus that belonged to the City Hall of Sarrià. It was used until 1901, when the cucamya was damage. Then the Feast Committee thought of building a new one, original and belonging to the neighborhood. In 1904 Francesc Llorens, carpenter and antiquarian of the street Bou de la Plaça Nova and member of the Feast Committee, built the new cucanya for the Plaça Nova that is currently still the same that appears during the Feast of Sant Roc. The Cucanya of PLaça Nova has become a ritual and the main attraction of girls and boys in the neighborhood of the cathedral, and even for some adults, for generations. It is a unique piece and different from the rest of mast-type greasy-poles. Two types of mast greasy-poles can be found: vertical and horizontal. The one at Plaça Nova could be considered of the horizontal type, but differs from the other types both by its shape as for the how the game is played.
In the game of crossing the greasy-pole, a boy or girl climbs up the lateral pole and sits on the horizontal pole with their legs on each side of cucanya, resting the feet on two of the ropes and with the hands grabbing the other two. While this process takes place, the "cucanyaire" (person in charge of the game) keeps the horizontal post in position, as the axes are entwined the post tends to rotate rapidly due to the weight of the child. Once secured on the cucanya, the participant must advance over the post, sitting down, by pulling the strings and must reach the other end without the cucanya turning around. When arriving to the other pole, the player has to touch it with its head, turn around and repeat the operation in the opposite direction.
The participant, if successful, will hold on the cucanya firmly with arms and legs and the "cucanyaire" will make it rotate three times. Then the child wilñl drop down. When landing on the ground the participant receives a small gift as a reward. Should the cucanya turn before passing the game, the participant either falls or ends up upside down. In that case, the participant is rotated for as long as the "cucanyaire" or the onlookers want.... and then they can try again! The Cucanya of Plaça Nova is active all the days of the Feast of Sant Roc.
