Trip #1 - SEGOVIA (Part I)

What a wonderful day in the beautiful city of Segovia. The city boasts some amazing sites, among them the Roman aqueduct and the stunning Alcázar, home to Isabel and Fernando, the Catholic Kings.

We started our visit at the Roman aqueduct. We were led by Mariano, a guide that our agent in Spain hired for us. The aqueduct is nearly two thousand years old and has survived all the forces that nature can throw at it, including the aftershocks of the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. All of the stones are laid one on top of the other and held together by gravity. There is not a single ounce of cement used to hold it together. The idea of the "keystone" takes on added meaning when you consider its function in maintaining each arch tightly fitted together and the entire structure firm and unmoving.

The aqueduct runs about 11 miles and starts in the nearby hills. It slopes at a slight angle that allowed water to flow along the upper canal until it reached this point where the people living in Segovia (on a hill) could come to this point and collect water for use in their homes.

 

The city was built in such a way that the wealthier citizens lived on the walled hill and the working class (laborers) lived below. You can imagine who were the ones to suffer first!!! Anyway, Segovia has many beautiful palaces. Some have been turned into business while others house government or educational organizations.

La Casa de los Picos

This palace exemplifies a process adopted from the Muslim tradition. Instead of plain stuccoed walls, the architects would take stencils that they would apply to the wet cement. Once the cement had dried the workers would slowly chip out pieces to create the designs you see below:

Also stunning is the ornate metal work (herrería) in the window. This metal work dates back to the 16th century.

Below is another example of a palace, this one showing the arched balcony overlooking the plaza.

Below is the medieval marketplace.

This is the Iglesia de San Martín in the Plaza de Juan Bravo. This is a typical example of a Romanic church (ignoring the addition to the top of the tower). Porticos were often found on the north and south of the buildings to take advantage of morning and evening light.

Surrounding this plaza are several very interesting Renaissance buildings (below)

From here we made our way to the Plaza Mayor where you find government and religious building. Here you will find the ornate Cathedral of Segovia.

Here are some interior shots of the Cathedral with its high vaulted ceilings.

The "catedra" where the priest delivers his sermon is made from Carrera marble. On the front is a representation of the Virgin Mary and Christ child. On the sides are representations of the four Evangelists with their anthropormorphic symbols (Matthew/Man; Mark/Lion; Luke/Ox; and John/Eagle)

The patron saint of Segovia is San Fruto. In a small casket are his remains in the center of this elaborate altar just behind the choir area.

Now my favorite thing in the Cathedral. In one of the side chapels you will find this painting by Ignacio de Ries. You will see the world represented by people eating, drinking and making merry. The main trunk of the tree has been cut nearly through, representing the coming judgment. To the left is death with a small demon tugging on a rope tied to the upper branch of the tree. To the right is Christ with a hammer in hand gently ringing the bell. The story tells of the impending judgment. Christ stands near, sounding the bell of repentance while the Demon pulls mortals toward destruction. We are taught that we should listen quietly to the whisperings of the Spirit so as not to fall victim to our lusts. With this in the upper left-hand corner we read: "Mira que te has de morir; Mira que no sabes quedo". On the left hand side it reads: "Mira que te mira Dios; Mira que te esta mirando"

The Cathedral's cloister

This is a "sillería" of the choir. You will note that the seat is tipped up so that the singer can stand. Often times they would have to stand for long periods so each seat was equipped with a "misericordia," a small seat that allowed the singer to bend his knees slightly and rest. "Misericordia" means "mercy." Thus, this is the "mercy seat."

One of the two facing organs just above the choir.

Inside the choir were seats for the king (left) and for the queen (right). There were placed opposite each other in the first position within the choir.

Just off of the Plaza Mayor is a small church, the Iglesia de San Miguel where Isabel of Castile was proclaimed Queen (later known as Isabel la Católica)

Today was May Day (Labor Day) and the streets of Madrid were filled with demonstrations by a variety of political parties. Fortunately it was quiet and organized. We waited until the afternoon to take the students into the city. When we arrived at the Atocha (the train station) there was a long march taking place. The participants were members of the Communist Party and Workers' Party. The later were carrying flags similar to those that flew during the II Republic (1931-1936).

When you walk through the city you discover all kinds of interesting graffitti. This one must have been a result of last years voting in Catalunya about whether to break from Spain and form its own country or not. It is evident that this tagger believed that it wasn't a good idea.

Walking up the calle Las Huertas (entering the Barrio de los Escritores) we found this band playing. They were pretty good!

We came on this unusual protest. Two sets of individuals were tied to light poles with plastic wrap. They invited children to grab the ends of the plastic wrap and race to untie the people as quickly as possible.

What happened next is they called my youngest son, Seth, to participate. Here is racing around the pole being cheered on the by the crowd. He didn't win, but had a great time!

We visited the Plaza Mayor. This the Puerta de Toledo that begins at the plaza. There were just mountains of people in the downtown area making it very difficult to stay together.

This is the Basilica Pontificia de San Miguel. It is a beautiful example of Italian baroque built in the 18th century at the request of Isabel de Farnesio. The basilica is particularly significant since it houses (at the back of the church) the Nuncio of Vatican (its embassy).

And, of course, we had to take a time out to have some gelato. This is the best ice cream in the city! If you ever visit Madrid, remember PALAZZO. You won't regret it.

We saw a lot of interesting sites not featured here. Among them were the ruins of the old Moorish walls of Madrid, the Cathedral of the Almudena, the outside of the Palace, the Palace Gardens, the home of Lope de Vega, the Convent of the Trinitarias (where Miguel de Cervantes is buried), the Convento de las Descalzas Reales, and so much more. The poor students were hot, tired, and exhausted. After we finished we separated with some accompanying me and my family to the Parque del Retiro (the Central Park of Madrid). Here are some pictures:

A little catch up time: This post will cover what we did on Wednesday, April 29. We met with the students bright and early on Wednesday to pass out their bus/train/subway cards and student ID's. We then went to Alcalingua where they had to take a "prueba de nivel" (translated as a placement test). After the test, Marta, one of the coordinators at Alcalingua, took us on a brief walking visit around Alcalá de Henares. Here are some pictures with captions:

Here we are outside the Iglesia Magistral in the Plaza de los santos ñinos, Justo y Pastor. These are young Hispano-Roman children who wanted to become Christians. This was during the reign of Diocleciano in the IV century. Instead, they were martyred on this spot by the Roman authorities.

We are walking down the calle Mayor with its covered walkways, below you will see that many of the columns that support this colonnade are recycled from older Roman buildings.

The two pictures above show one of the few remaining key holes. From the 15th century on the arrangement along the colonnade was to have the businesses on the ground floor and the merchant living on the floors above. The entrance to the residences were to the side of the businesses. If a person came to visit they would stand under the hole (that was in the residence's floor) and announce his or her intention. If it was friend the family would drop the key to the door through the hole where upon the visitor would open the door and return the key to its owner.  If it was an unwanted guest, the resident would pour cold water on their head if it were winter and hot water if it were summer. Other versions indicate that if it was someone very disagreeable the contents of the chamber pot would be showered on the unwanted, contemptible visitor!

Marta is explaining to the students the purpose of the plaza. The plaza was the center of social and commercial life in Alcalá de Henares. The space was divided between the rich (living to the left) and the poor (living to the right). The city's "Corral de comedias" (theater) was located on the poorer side of the plaza given its less-than-reputable status in Christian Spain. Note that the Universidad de Alcalá is located on the wealthier side of the city while the Judería and Muslim quarters were on the poorer side of town.

From here we went to meet up with another Marta (a Master's student in History at the University). She gave us an absolutely amazing and detailed description of the university's façade. Let me try to replicate some of those details:

The façade is divided into three levels: 1) above each window on the first level are representations of the church Fathers; 2) above the two windows on either side of the main entrance on the second level are Peter and Paul. The center image represents the Cardinal Cisneros with two soldiers standing guard and two giants supporting the outer two columns. These symbolize the power of the Church within the confines of the university and the significance that the Church plays in intellectual pursuits; 3) the top level has a representation of God the Father holding up the world in one hand. He governs all knowledge and truth. The ten windows on the upper story represent the 10 commandments.  Student who attended the university had to live very austere lives, following the precepts of Cisneros' Franciscan order. Students lived in small rooms with one chair, one table, and a small bed. They were given one candle a day that they used for studying.

This is the first of three patios. This is the patio del Colegio Mayor o de Santo Tomás de Villanueva. It was renovated in 1662 in the Herririano style. One of the salient decorations is that of the cisne (swan) and was a play on Cisneros' name (below).

In the second patio (above), known as the Patio de los Filósofos, you find two doors. After a student took his final exams for his degree there were results, pass or fail. If he passed, he was invited to exit through this gate that led to the Plaza del Mercado (Cervantes) where, at his expense, he would engage in a three-day celebration with the citizens of the city. If he failed, he would exit through a much smaller door just opposite this one that led to an alley where he would be scorned by his classmates and citizens of the city as a rebuke for denying them their "party."

This is the Patio Trilingüe with its "secular, pagan" fountain decorated with shells, the symbol of Venus.

This was just a brief summary of our day. We also visited the Paraninfo (a salon where students would be examined by their professors) and the Capilla de San Ildefonso (where the Cardinal Cisneros' empty crypt is located). The crypt is very elaborate and violated every desire that the Cardinal had that his remains rest under a simple stone slab. His request was satisfied when his remains were moved to the Iglesia Magisterial.