Trip #2 (Part II) - BARCELONA

Upon arriving in Barcelona we dropped our luggage off at the hotel and headed to the Museu Nacional d'Arte de Catalunya (The National Museum of Art of Cataluña). It is one of the most amazing places I have ever visited. It is a vast palace on the side of Montjuic (just below the Olympic Village).

The palace boasts an amazing collection of Romanesque and Gothic art. The Romanesque (11th through 13th centuries) art is particularly important. The collection is made up of murals from decaying churches throughout Cataluña. There were attempts to reconstruct the apse and nave of the churches as best they could. I love these spaces. It is important to see these, and other places of worship, as "books" to be read by the people. Remember, the vast population of the Medieval period were illiterate. They were taught visually. So, seeing these images reminded them of the essential themes of the Bible and who they were to worship and why. A good example is the Church Santa María de Taüll:

(detail from the apse)

These images were not always pleasant, but did get their point across. The image above shows the Archangel Michael holding balances with the Devil gliding in from the other side. It represents the influence of good and evil.

One of the most beautiful representations of Christ is in the recovered chapel Sant Clement de Taüll:

In the apse you find Christ in Glory (engulfed in a mandoria) holding a book with the words, "I am the light of the world."

Above him is the hand of God

 And then just above that the symbol of Christ referred to in Revelations 5:6 having seven eyes.

I was particularly intrigued by the image below. It is Lazarus from Luke 16:19-31 who sat outside the rich man's door whose wounds were licked by dogs. This image teaches something important about what the faithful of this church considered to be an essential quality in human behavior.

 Aside from recovered murals, the museum holds very rare wooden images and sculpted stone column capitals.

The one on the left represents Abraham taking Isaac to sacrifice him when an angel appears and presents him with a ram. The one on the right represents Mary and Joseph's flight into Egypt with the Christ child.

The statue above is one of what are known as black Virgins. They have a dark patina.

This is an interesting (and rare) representation of Saint John the Evangelist in wood riding on the back of an eagle (an anthropormorphic symbol of the evangelist)

This Christ figure is a fully articulated wooden whose arms move to accommodate their placement on a separate cross.

After seeing all the "serious" stuff, we took them down to the beach and let them have some time hanging out. I must confess that I originally did not plan to take them to the beach since most in Spain haven't any clothing rules (partial nudity is very common). Fortunately, the Playa Litoral is pretty tame. I only saw one topless woman in the vicinity! We gave them free time to explore the downtown area. I think that they really liked the freedom.

There are some really "funky" buildings and sculptures near and around the beach area. Here are some examples:

After walking down the boardwalk, my family and I went to a beautiful gothic church, Santa María del Mar. It is a perfect specimen of what unscathed gothic churches were all about: open nave with a full view of the main altar upon entry. Remember that churches were set up with the altar on the east end of the church. The faithful would enter from the west and move toward the east, toward the light represented by Christ and the altar. The students also visited this place the next day.

PART III of our trip coming soon...!!!!

TRIP #2 (Part I) - ZARAGOZA

Our first trip was to the beautiful northeast area of Spain known as Aragón and Cataluña. Our first stop was in Zaragoza. Once a Roman port city on the Ebro River, the city was known as Caesaraugusta (from which the modern name is derived). Our hotel was in the historial center of the city just a few minutes walk from the Basilica de la Virgen del Pilar, the Cathedral, the Lonja (an ancient commodities exchange building, and an array of Roman ruins. Let's begin with the centerpiece of the area, the Basílica de la Virgen del Pilar. According to legend on 12 October 40 A.D. the apostle, Saint James, the Greater, arrived in Caesaraugusta on a mission to preach the Gospel. After a difficult time trying to gain converts and with minimal success, Saint James was on the banks of the Ebro River praying when the Virgen Mary appeared to him standing on a pillar accompanied by a choir of angels. She promised him that eventually converts would be found and that they would be as strong as the pillar on which she stood. She gave him the pillar and a small wooden image of herself. She then commanded him to build a chapel on that spot. Today the Basílica is immense (see below).

Many thousands of Catholic faithful come to worship in the Basílica. While we were there a group of children from a local school were there. They sang songs and read scripture in the area where the small Virgen stands atop the silver plated pillar. Unfortunately I was not able to take pictures of the interior.

The city's Cathedral is equally amazing. It is a gothic building though not built in the traditional cruciform shape (similar to Santa María del Mar in Barcelona). One of the salient features of the Cathedral are two small chapels on opposite sides of the building where the transept would normally be. Both chapels have canopies over the saint in the style of Bernini (like those in the Vatican). Below are some exterior shots.

This side of the Cathedral shows a trait common to many buildings in Aragón; the use of tiles to create decorative façades. This influence comes from the mudéjar tradition (mudéjares were Muslims who remained in Christian territories after the Reconquest but did not convert to Christianity). Below are some detailed shots.

Also in Zaragoza were some amazing Roman ruins. Known as the Ruta Romana, there are a series of four excavated ruins made up of: a Roman theater, a Roman bath, a Roman forum, and stair landings near the Ebro River.

Roman Theater

Roman Forum

Above is the large canal that carried waste water out of the city to drain into the Ebro River. Fresh water was brought in from the mountains via aqueducts.

The fresh water was transported throughout the city via lead pipes. The pipes were formed by taking lead plates and rolling them around a post. the seam was sealed together with hot lead and the pipes were then connected one to another with a lead "gasket" that was soldered to the each pipe. Frankly, not much different from the way we build our water systems today, just without the lead.

Below are the steps that lead to the port on the Ebro River. Merchandise was taken up these steps and then transported to the nearby forum.

Other evidences of the empire are some exposed Medieval walls built on Roman foundations.

And a Roman bridge that is still used today.

TWO FUN ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK!

FIRST, Jake P. organized our first weekly devotional at our home. It was wonderful! Grace offered us a spiritual thought and Ethan played a musical number on his viola with his mom on the keyboard. Afterwards they sat around and talked, played games, and just hung out with one another.

SECOND, the students did the first of our weekly service project teaching English to young Spanish children ages 4-14. It was fun to watch and listen to the students interact with the kids. There was one little boy, Victor, who was just one little ball of energy. I don't think that I saw him stop moving the whole hour plus that we were with them. After about an hour in the classroom we took them out on the patio to play "Simon Says."

Tomorrow (Wednesday, May 6) we head for Zaragoza and Barcelona. We report as soon as possible on our adventure.

Trip #1 - SEGOVIA (part II)

There are just a few more things that I want to add regarding our trip to Segovia. The last thing that we saw together as a group was the Alcázar. The palace has its origins in the 12th century. The young Isabel of Castile took refuge in this palace in 1474 when word came of the death of her brother. She was soon proclaimed Queen of Castile. Also, it played a significant role, being the place where Queen Isabel and King Fernando received Christopher Columbus.

This is the throne room in the Alcázar

This is the ceiling. Like I always tell the students, "You must always look up when you travel in Spain because you never know what you will see."

This is the view from the throne room into the area where nobles and ambassadors would wait to meet with the king and the queen.

Who doesn't like a good pair of armors?

The guide made it a point to have us notice this odd configuration in the floor. Turns out that this was the "royal throne" where the king and queen could relieve themselves. Whether it is true or not, it makes for a good story. 

And, here we all are!!!

As part of our adventure we climbed to the top of the Alcázar's towers. From there we had this magnificent view of Segovia's Cathedral and the city.

After we left the the Alcázar the students dispersed to find something to eat. Jannette, the kids (minus Ethan) and I headed for the Iglesia de San Justo. On the way we ran into President and Sister Jackson from the Spain Madrid Mission.

It is a shame that we San Justo was closed. It is one of our favorite visits in Segovia. It is a beautiful Romanic church with the original murals covering the interior apse. Though we weren't able to go inside, we did take a couple of minutes to sit outside...

One other point: On the way to the plaza we passed an often ignored location of significant historical importance. In 1574 Saint Teresa de Avila founded this convent for the Carmelitas Descalzas. Saint Teresa is one of the most significant Catholic nuns of the 16th century, founding more than 20 convents throughout the country. This year is the 500 anniversary of her birth with many celebrations taking place in Avila.

La Granja

After our visit to Segovia we went over to La Granja, made up of an 18th-century palace and its gardens. 

The main spectacle there is to see the fountains go off. This is how it works. There is a large reservoir in the nearby mountains. Water is released from the reservoir. As it flows down, certain gates can be opened to allow water to enter the fountains one at a time. They are very spectacular. You will notice the hundreds of people there to see the event.

The most amazing one we saw was "La fuente de las ranas" (The Frog Fountain). The fountain is covered with small frogs with larger human/frog figures in the lower pool. Slowly they begin to shoot water out until the whole fountain is completely engulfed in water and mist: 

And that was our day! Hope that you enjoyed this snapshot of our first trip.