BASILISC, GIANT OF MATARÓ

Basilisc is a fabulous animal that has a mixed form of snake and rooster. Like the dragon, the Basilisc is a treasure-keeping animal. Greek mythology presents a myth that explains the origin of the Basilisc. According to this myth, when Perseus defeated the Medusa, all the snakes were born from its hairs, including the Basilisc. Hence its attribute of "petrify with the gaze", as Medusa did. The Middle Ages Bestiaries often speak of the Basiliscs as mythological animals and add new features such as legs, feathers or beaks. There are also figures of Basilisc in art and heraldry.

The Basilisc de Mataró is a piece of 3.10 meters high by 3 meters long and a single carrier with 10 points of fire in the mouth, wings, and tail. It presents a stylized and very aggressive rooster with colourful feathers on the head, painted in warm tones and a snake body with the texture of dark-coloured reptiles and a tail making a remarkable wave. The wings show the piece about to take off. In the neck he wears a metal crown with fairies, referring to the sun as the rooster is a solar animal. The design takes into account the characteristics that identify the mythological Basilisc according to medieval descriptions