Madrid en la mañana! So before I go (and as a procrastination from actually packing), MORE CHURCHES IN SPAIN. The Cathedral and the Basilica de San Juan de Dios. Both in Granada and both breathtaking.
And of course, for background: Flamenco. Bamboleooooo.
Also this: Crepes and cafe con leche. The best way to study for an art history exam. Yumm.
The Cathedral of Granada. Third largest in Spain, and built with the intention of housing the remains of the kings and queens of Spain. Ferdinand, Isabel, Juana la Loca and her husband Felipe el Hermoso (he definitely got the better end of that naming deal) are resting in splendor next door in the Capilla Real. The Capilla forbids photography, but google has some pretty good shots of the tombs and the surrounding altars. Carlos V, son of Juana and Felipe and grandson of Ferdinand and Isabel built the Capilla and renovated the cathedral, expecting that Granada would become the capital of Spain.
Outside of the Cathedral. It's massive.
The main altar.
The ceiling
The cathedral at night
Basilica San Juan de Dios. San Juan was this super humble guy, always helping the poor, building hospitals, etc. So naturally they honored him by building a massive, extravagant, gold covered Baroque horror--- I mean church. And filled it with relics. Saintly bones abound.
Stare at that for 30 seconds and try not to go blind. And this is only the front. The other walls were just as gold covered and lavish. Baroque was the propaganda of the catholic church in their eternal fight against the protestant reformation. And what does protestantism hate? Decoration, the use of saints and intermediaries, and wasteful spending of church funds. So, naturally, Baroque art set out to spend massive amounts of money blinging out churches beyond the point where even Lil Wayne would draw the line. Statues of saints? Yea, about 5000 of them (not an exaggeration). Bones of saints too. and pictures. Baroque art was a power play, and the point was WELL made. I didn't even know where to look.
reliquary of San Juan de Dios, patron saint of the church
And music for background, the song "Granada" of course (what else?)
Granada
Granada, tierra sonada por mi, mi cantar se vuelve gitano cuando es para ti. Mi cantar, hecho de fantasia; mi cantar, flor de melancolia, que yo te vengo a dar. Granada, tierra ensangrentada en tardes de toros, mujer que conserva el embrujo de los ojos moros. De sueno, rebelde, gitana cubierta de flores, y beso tu boca de grana, jugosa manzana que me habla de amores. Granada, manola, cantada en coplas preciosas, no tengo otra cosa que darte que un ramo de rosas, de rosas de suave fragrancia que le dieran marco a la Virgen morena. Granada, tu tierra esta llena de lindas mujeres, de sangre y de sol.
Translation into English
Granada, land of my dreams, mine becomes a gypsy song when I sing to you. My song, born of fancy; my song, melancholy flower, that I've come to offer you. Granada, land covered in blood from the bullfighting afternoons, woman who retains the spell of Moorish eyes. A dream-land, a rebel, a gypsy, covered with flowers, and I kiss your scarlet mouth, juicy apple that tells me about love affairs. Granada, my beautiful, sung in precious coplas, I have nothing else to give you but a bouquet of roses worthy of adorning the brown-skinned Virgin. Granada, your soil is full of beautiful woman, blood and sunshine.
Las banderas! The European Union, Andalusia, Spain, and the city of Granada
This is my school. It's called La Huerta de Los Angeles, so sometimes I tell people I go to school in L.A. haha
Postcards! First round!! Finally! Woo hoo!! (If you want one, send me your address and I'll gladly oblige)
The view looking down from the tower of the Alhambra on one of the other towers and on what remains of the walls of some of the original buildings. The outside wall around it goes around the entire "city" for soldiers to patrol.
The ceilings are INCREDIBLE. The art style is called "Mocarabe" or "Honeycomb". Originally it would have all been painted with many different colors, all that remains of the original are some of the blues, but I can imagine it was quite the sight
These people knew how to decorate
The intricacy of the carvings is mind-blowing. . . all made of crushed plaster mixed with water and poured into molds
Las Palacias Nazaris- So: The Alhambra is a city in itself- "Alhambra" translates to "Red" from Arabic, so it was known as the Red City, so called because the first Muslim ruler had red hair. It is situated at the highest point in the city (for strategic reasons), and pretty massive. The palaces look pretty impressive on the outside, but the inside. . . .oh man. . . . they believed that just as beauty in a person should come from within, so too should the wealth and beauty of the palaces be displayed inside instead of outside. . . and WOW did they ever display some wealth.
La Generalife. Every time I see this word I want to make it General Life, but it's Generalife, which is Arabic for the Gardens of Paradise. Islam originated in the desert, so naturally their paradise is a garden full of flowers, fountains and fruits. It's a little early for the flowers, but the gardens are gorgeous and green and in a month or two will be filled with roses and other flowers.
The Palace of the Generalife. More fountains and gardens and all around awesomeness
The theater. added in the 1950s for public concerts and music festivals in the summer. Supposedly in July and August there are some pretty spectacular flamenco shows up here
The capitals of all the columns, displaying some beautiful script and designs.
The palaces again. Much of the Alhambra is the original Nasarid (the last dynasty of the Muslim rulers) palaces, but some of it was added by Carlos V after the Reconquista of Granada
Oh no. . . I've already forgotten the name of this building. . .. did I mention the Alhambra is kinda big?
Puerta de Vino! So named after the Reconquista (Islam forbids alcohol), because it was the door they would use to transport goods, including wine, in to the palaces
The ruins of one of the palaces. Napoleon and his Little Man Complex destroyed parts of the Alhambra, along with time (1000 year anniversary this year!). Many of the original houses of artisans and nobles who lived within the city were destroyed, but luckily most of the palaces etc remained intact.
Almond trees and Orange trees abound in Spain. The oranges are all in season, and the almonds are just starting to bloom:) Spring is upon us!
Legend says that one of the Muslim kings married a princess from Northern Europe and when he brought her to Granada she was homesick for the snow. So he planted thousands of Almond trees all over the hillside of the Alhambra so that the hill would be white in the spring and look like snow.
Mosaics!
Inside the flower is the Arabic word for "blessing". It's on every doorway and archway in the Alhambra to bless those who enter
The mirror of the Alhambra.
Plaza of the Lions
So much sun. . .
The ceiling of the Salon of the Kings, all made out of wood and carved with stars to resemble the night sky and the seven levels of paradise
This phrase in Arabic means "God (Allah) is the only true victor". When Mohammed I (the first Nasarid king) returned to Granada after his great victory in battle, the people greeted him in the streets with cries of "Mohammed our victor/champion!" to which Mohammed responded "God is the only true victor." It became the family motto and is carved literally thousands of times in the Alhambra
The ceiling of one of the private residences of the king and his lady friends (Islam permits up to 4 wives. Whichever one has a son first is the principal wife and was given the title of Queen)
more mosaics
Granada, from the tower
The Palace of Carlos V. Carlos had some serious power, as the grandson of Los Reyes Catolicos (Ferdinand and Isabel) and The Hapsburgs of the Austrian/German empire he inherited most of Europe and was given the title of Holy Roman Emperor. He wanted to make Granada the capital of Spain, and so built a palace here in the Alhambra. the patio inside is designed to look like the Roman Pantheon.
So rumor (from one of our host moms) is that there is an underground palace at the Alhambra that no one is allowed to visit. . . maybe that's where this random staircase in the ground was headed for (There was a big locked door at the bottom ha)
Yeah, I'm pretty excellent at smiling for pictures
The Sierra Nevadas!
More gardens, and Granada
The Mirador de San Nicolas in the Albayzin. When we visited there a few weeks ago I took a picture of people taking a picture of us from the Alhambra, sooo now I have the opposite way as well haha!
