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
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