Domingo 20 de Febrero
Woke up at 8, breakfast and then back on the road at 9:30am. First we stopped just outside of Mérida to marvel at the ruins of the giant Roman aquaduct. The water came from a source some 5km from the city, and it was used to transport water in a system that actually provided running water in all the Roman homes in Mérida! We talked about how the building was not only built to serve it's function but also to be aesthetically pleasing -- the giant cement columns were covered and supported by big grey granite stones, between which were bands of red brick. The brick was also used to make the arches between pillars. Really quite impressive how well they transported water... Then we stopped by a reservoir constructed by the Romans. It was and still is also a place for leisure -- bars, windsurfing, boats, bathing, everything is available. Sort of like Shoreline park in Mountain View haha.
Next stop: Guadalupe, a little town with some 2,000 residents. This is where the Guadalupe river begins. Apparently "gua" is the Arabic word for river, and this is why so many Spanish rivers start with this sound.
We arrived at the impressive Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe around 12:30pm and the plaza was filled with tourists and pilgrims, many of whom were nicely dressed. The monastery is a UNESCO world heritage site with origins in the 13th century. Story goes: a sheperd was attending his herd along the banks of the Guadalupe River. He sees a cow dies, goes to cut off it's feet to salvage the leather, but then the cow rose up again, and the stone beneath it also rose up, and there appeared this Virgin Maria (the statue had probably been hidden by earlier Christians when Moors invaded the region in 714). At the site of the discovery, the monastery was built and the statue is still here today. After returning from his first voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus journeyed to this monastery to give thanks for his good fortune.
I really liked the architectural style of the monastery -- Gothic on the bottom with "Mudéjar" (Muslims posing as Christians in Spain to avoid expulsion) arches, tiling and thin columns on the upper parts of the building. We took a guided tour through the monastery, around the central courtyard (which was beautifully green, sunny and lush with a beautiful exemplary structure of the Gothic-Mudéjar mix): a collection of paintings -- some by El Greco, one by Goya but really just tokens -- carved statues of Christ dead, Christ on the cross, saints escaping lions (which were eaten by termites because they'd been carved of wood).
There was a great collection of GIANT hymn books made of leather pages sewn together and bound with gigantic metal clasps. Each page was illuminated with extremely detailed depictions of Biblical stories and had the hymn words and musical notes printed big for everyone to see. In my mind, these books functioned like 15th and 16th century powerpoints to help the monks practice their songs... Also saw a bunch of robes and capes, which were produced here in a semi-factory established at the monastery. Our guide was very enthusiastic about the five crowns of the virgin and the many many relics kept here at the monastery (I didn't look to closely, but most seemed to be fingers and portions of arms). Then entered the church as the organist commenced playing -- so much ornate Baroque decoration -- and also the Sacristo to see portraits of Spanish kings (every single Spanish king has visited here). I was pleased to recognize Charles II's hideous underbite! Then the room with Zubaran's enormous 8 paintings; I think depicting scenes from the life of St. Jeronimus. I'd never heard of this saint before, but he is all over Spain. It was cool to see that these rooms and the furniture is still being used -- we saw a monk putting on his cape and stuffing his "street clothes" into one of the exquisitely decorated drawers in preparation for Sunday mass. Then we went up to see a room with big painting depicting scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary and wooden statues of the 8 women from the Bible (like Judith). Finally, what we'd all been waiting for, we were lead into a tiny alcove. In front of us was a panel with some thirty odd enamel tiles depicting scenes of Spanish history (Cervantes appeared, as did several kings including Carlos V and Felipe II). We had to avert our eyes as the old men turned the pedastel. We we looked back, there was the main attraction, the Virgen de Guadalupe: basically a doll/statue of the Virgin Mary holding a very tiny Jesus. Both were adorned in ornate gold and green clothing. Made of wood, the faces of the statues appeared dark brown/black. The monk-guide told us that there are several theories as to why this is. One is that the sculptor was inspired by a sentence in some Biblical translation in which the Virgin Mary says "I am morena -- brown-skinned -- but I am beautiful". Our monk-guide told us he "doesn't like" this theory and instead prefers the theory that the craftsmen liked the natural look of the wood or could only find dark wood. Regardless, this is the original "Virgen" after which so many towns, rivers, neighborhoods, churches etc. are named after in Latinoamerica (mostly because so many explorers like Cortes came from this region of Spain). It's so important in Spanish history and to Catholics here that over time, the tiny monastery in which the statue was kept expanded and expanded each year, received more and more artistic commissions, etc. Interesting how one idea can spark and inspire so much labor and so many pilgrims (to this day!). Some of the people and families in our guided tour were clearly religious pilgrims, coming to bring their young babies to kiss the Virgen (the baby didn't want to). Really a beautiful place though.
We then had lunch in the monastery (it has a hotel too). We were served salchichón (some sort of sausage made of blood...) and then paella guadalupense (with seafood!) and roast chicken with potatoes and ice cream cake for dessert. Afterwards, had free time -- Brittany and I went wandering through the town to marvel at the beautiful hillsides covered in olive trees and the newly blooming cherry blossoms. Left Guadalupe, this hidden little village of many pilgrims, at 5pm.
Then visited a ceramics factory (Artesanía Talaverana) in Talavera de la Reina to see how they make those ceramics. I asked Isidro about differences between Spanish and Dutch pottery. He said all pottery, ceramics originally came from the Chinese. The Spanish probably were introduced to pottery by the Arabs because Spanish pottery traditionally includes very Arabic colors -- yellow, blue and green. The Dutch pottery is usually blue and white -- different coloring.
Returned to Madrid at 9:45 and reunited with Mamma for a brief salad dinner.
Woke up at 8, breakfast and then back on the road at 9:30am. First we stopped just outside of Mérida to marvel at the ruins of the giant Roman aquaduct. The water came from a source some 5km from the city, and it was used to transport water in a system that actually provided running water in all the Roman homes in Mérida! We talked about how the building was not only built to serve it's function but also to be aesthetically pleasing -- the giant cement columns were covered and supported by big grey granite stones, between which were bands of red brick. The brick was also used to make the arches between pillars. Really quite impressive how well they transported water... Then we stopped by a reservoir constructed by the Romans. It was and still is also a place for leisure -- bars, windsurfing, boats, bathing, everything is available. Sort of like Shoreline park in Mountain View haha.
Next stop: Guadalupe, a little town with some 2,000 residents. This is where the Guadalupe river begins. Apparently "gua" is the Arabic word for river, and this is why so many Spanish rivers start with this sound.
We arrived at the impressive Real Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe around 12:30pm and the plaza was filled with tourists and pilgrims, many of whom were nicely dressed. The monastery is a UNESCO world heritage site with origins in the 13th century. Story goes: a sheperd was attending his herd along the banks of the Guadalupe River. He sees a cow dies, goes to cut off it's feet to salvage the leather, but then the cow rose up again, and the stone beneath it also rose up, and there appeared this Virgin Maria (the statue had probably been hidden by earlier Christians when Moors invaded the region in 714). At the site of the discovery, the monastery was built and the statue is still here today. After returning from his first voyage to the Americas, Christopher Columbus journeyed to this monastery to give thanks for his good fortune.
I really liked the architectural style of the monastery -- Gothic on the bottom with "Mudéjar" (Muslims posing as Christians in Spain to avoid expulsion) arches, tiling and thin columns on the upper parts of the building. We took a guided tour through the monastery, around the central courtyard (which was beautifully green, sunny and lush with a beautiful exemplary structure of the Gothic-Mudéjar mix): a collection of paintings -- some by El Greco, one by Goya but really just tokens -- carved statues of Christ dead, Christ on the cross, saints escaping lions (which were eaten by termites because they'd been carved of wood).
There was a great collection of GIANT hymn books made of leather pages sewn together and bound with gigantic metal clasps. Each page was illuminated with extremely detailed depictions of Biblical stories and had the hymn words and musical notes printed big for everyone to see. In my mind, these books functioned like 15th and 16th century powerpoints to help the monks practice their songs... Also saw a bunch of robes and capes, which were produced here in a semi-factory established at the monastery. Our guide was very enthusiastic about the five crowns of the virgin and the many many relics kept here at the monastery (I didn't look to closely, but most seemed to be fingers and portions of arms). Then entered the church as the organist commenced playing -- so much ornate Baroque decoration -- and also the Sacristo to see portraits of Spanish kings (every single Spanish king has visited here). I was pleased to recognize Charles II's hideous underbite! Then the room with Zubaran's enormous 8 paintings; I think depicting scenes from the life of St. Jeronimus. I'd never heard of this saint before, but he is all over Spain. It was cool to see that these rooms and the furniture is still being used -- we saw a monk putting on his cape and stuffing his "street clothes" into one of the exquisitely decorated drawers in preparation for Sunday mass. Then we went up to see a room with big painting depicting scenes of the life of the Virgin Mary and wooden statues of the 8 women from the Bible (like Judith). Finally, what we'd all been waiting for, we were lead into a tiny alcove. In front of us was a panel with some thirty odd enamel tiles depicting scenes of Spanish history (Cervantes appeared, as did several kings including Carlos V and Felipe II). We had to avert our eyes as the old men turned the pedastel. We we looked back, there was the main attraction, the Virgen de Guadalupe: basically a doll/statue of the Virgin Mary holding a very tiny Jesus. Both were adorned in ornate gold and green clothing. Made of wood, the faces of the statues appeared dark brown/black. The monk-guide told us that there are several theories as to why this is. One is that the sculptor was inspired by a sentence in some Biblical translation in which the Virgin Mary says "I am morena -- brown-skinned -- but I am beautiful". Our monk-guide told us he "doesn't like" this theory and instead prefers the theory that the craftsmen liked the natural look of the wood or could only find dark wood. Regardless, this is the original "Virgen" after which so many towns, rivers, neighborhoods, churches etc. are named after in Latinoamerica (mostly because so many explorers like Cortes came from this region of Spain). It's so important in Spanish history and to Catholics here that over time, the tiny monastery in which the statue was kept expanded and expanded each year, received more and more artistic commissions, etc. Interesting how one idea can spark and inspire so much labor and so many pilgrims (to this day!). Some of the people and families in our guided tour were clearly religious pilgrims, coming to bring their young babies to kiss the Virgen (the baby didn't want to). Really a beautiful place though.
We then had lunch in the monastery (it has a hotel too). We were served salchichón (some sort of sausage made of blood...) and then paella guadalupense (with seafood!) and roast chicken with potatoes and ice cream cake for dessert. Afterwards, had free time -- Brittany and I went wandering through the town to marvel at the beautiful hillsides covered in olive trees and the newly blooming cherry blossoms. Left Guadalupe, this hidden little village of many pilgrims, at 5pm.
Then visited a ceramics factory (Artesanía Talaverana) in Talavera de la Reina to see how they make those ceramics. I asked Isidro about differences between Spanish and Dutch pottery. He said all pottery, ceramics originally came from the Chinese. The Spanish probably were introduced to pottery by the Arabs because Spanish pottery traditionally includes very Arabic colors -- yellow, blue and green. The Dutch pottery is usually blue and white -- different coloring.
Returned to Madrid at 9:45 and reunited with Mamma for a brief salad dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment