Barcelona and Valencia, Spain : beautiful architectures

Barcelona and Valencia are the second and the third largest cities in Spain after its capital Madrid.  Barcelona and Valencia are both coastal cities in the Eastern Spain facing the Mediterranean Sea.  Their vibrant city lives, warm Mediterranean weather and beautiful architectures attract millions of tourists each year.

People come to Barcelona will not miss the great architectures of Mr. Gaudi.  One of his famous project is the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia.  Construction work of the church has been carried out over a century.  The complex project is expected to take few more decades before reaching its completion.  With great devotion and hard work, Gaudi and his team are putting together a historical master piece.



(The Nativity Facade of the Basilica from the garden pond)



(Closer look at the Nativity Facade)



(The Passion Facade)



(Close up at the Passion Facade)


Gaudi was under the influence of Gothic Revival in the 19th century.  He also made reference to Moorish momentums in Spain.  Gaudi later moved towards modernisme and found great imagination from the nature.

(Entrance to the Park Guell, another work of Gaudi in Barcelona)

(The Dragon in the entrance staircase of the Park)

Valencia is a city of gardens.  It has both modern and historical architectures covering the beautiful city.  Personally, I find Valencia as the most attractive modern city in Spain.



(The L'Hemisferric and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia - part of arts, science and cultural complex in Valencia)

   

(The Agora behind the L'Assut de l'Or bridge)

Inside the old Valencia city, Gothic churches, city buildings and gardens mix well and provide citizens peaceful lifestyle.  

(The Plaza de la Reina in front of the Valencia Cathedral)

(The Plaza del Ayuntamiento, Valencia's main square)



(Valencia train station - Estacio del Nord)



(Mosaic of the Virgen de los Desamparados, the patron Saint off Valencia)

Andalusia, Spain : sunshine coast in the Mediterranean

Andalusia is the southern autonomous community of Spain, facing Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea.  Its warm Mediterranean weather and abundant sunshine makes it one of the popular tourist spots in Spain.

Costa del Sol ("Coast of the Sun") of the Malaga region in Andalusia has been the favourite of world travellers and vacation homes of many European expatriates. This March we had opportunity to visit this beautiful place.  There are many splendid and expansive Spanish villas along the hillsides.  We also saw several property development sites laying idle.  The effects of the financial crisis are still being felt here.




(Hotel and vacation houses in Costa del Sol)

 

(Spanish villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea)



(Apartment buildings in the Port of Malaga)


Andalusia had been under Islamic rule for more than seven centuries.  Granada was the last Muslim strong hold under 1492.  The Islamic roots can still be found in local culture and architecture.

(Colourful flower pots for sale)

 
When the Arabs and Moors came to the Iberian peninsular, they were delighted to find more abundant water supply as compared to their deserts home.  Flowing water and fountains are the main features of the Islamic gardens.  There are wonderful examples of Islamic gardens in the Generalife Palace in Granada.

(Islamic garden in the Palace of Generalife)

(Water fountain made of marble)

Gardeners of the Generalife Palace have skillfully cultivated orange trees to make them parts of the garden decorations.



(Orange trees for decoration)


In case you are interested to know more about Islamic gardens, you can read Brookes, John. Gardens of paradise: the history and design of the great Islamic gardens. New York: New Amsterdam Books, 1987.

Cordoba, Spain : a cultural mosaic

During the recent trip to Spain, we visited Cordoba in Andalusia.  Cordoba has many history buildings from the times of Roman Empire, Visigoth, Moorish Al-Andalus and Christian of medieval Europe.  We also stayed one night inside the old Cordoba town to enjoy its cultural mosaic in leisure.

Cordoba is an historical town of more than twenty centuries.  The River Guadalquivir runs through Cordoba and then flows to Seville in Andalusia before reaching the Atlantic Ocean.  You may remember that Christopher Colombus started his great exploration finding the new world from Seville five centuries ago.   

(Romanesque bridge over River Guadalquivir leading to the Great Mosque/Cordoba Cathedral)

From the above photo, you can see historical architectures of three different periods and cultures.  The bridge is called Ruente Romano that was built from the Roman time.  Muslims under the Umayyad Emirate took over Iberia in the seventh century.  Cordoba was the capital of the Umayyad government.  The medieval town was one of the great Mediterranean cities and had a population of one hundred thousand.  Cordoba was not only a political center of Al-Andalus, it was also a major religious and learning center.  Its commercial network covered Mediterranean and the Islamic world.    

The Great Mosque of Cordoba was built on the site of an ancient Roman temple.  It is still the biggest mosque in Europe with over 850 columns supporting the giant arches.  After Cordoba was retook by Christians in the thirteenth century, the Cordoba Cathedral was built within the mosque. 

(White and red arch in the mosque external wall covered with Christian shield) 

(Beautiful wooden window cover with Roman style columns)

(The bell tower of Cordoba Cathedral - converted from the mosque minerat)

(A Roman church opposite of the mosque - now a tourists information center)

During our stay in Cordoba, we spent a night at the Hotel Macia Alfaro.  The hotel is converted from houses within the old Cordoba town.  You can still see beautiful remains of the Mudejar craftsmanship in the hotel.  If you are there next time, you may try.  
When we got up in the morning, we saw beautiful sunrise from the window of our hotel room.



(Sunrise in Cordoba)



Lisbon visit : recalling the history of Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese maritime expansion

Our recent visit to Lisbon led us to revisit the history of Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese maritime expansion about five hundred years ago. 

It was Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese maritime explorer, who found the sea route from Europe to India.   Christopher Columbus did not succeed in finding the sea route to India.  Instead, he found America.  In 1497, Vasco da Gama started his journey from the Tagus River in Lisbon with four ships and 170 crew members.  They sailed through the Port of Great Hope in Africa and reached Calcutta in India in the following year.



(The famous Belem Tower overlooking the Tagus River where Vasco da Gama started his world exploration)


In 1502, Vasco da Gama returned again with the Portuguese Armada to India.  He was able to establish the profitable sea trade on spices and helped the expansion of the Portuguese maritime empire.  The Portuguese maritime traders forced their ways to Goa in India.  Later they also established colonies in Malacca in Malaysia and Macao in China. 

(Vasco da Gama in the Monument to the Discoveries, Lisbon - the third person from top)

(Stone status of Vasco da Gama in Macao)

Portugal enjoyed major maritime expansion in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with many overseas colonies including Goa, Malacca, Macao, Timor and Brazil.  However, other European powers caught up quickly.  Portugal lost its influence and many colonies to the new European powers.  Malacca was lost to Dutch (see my earlier blog on January 25, 2011).  Macao was returned to China in 1999. 

Although Portugal had long lost its glory days, it left traces of maritime history and historical buildings in its colonies.  Goa and Macao would be interesting places to recap the history of Portuguese maritime trade and preaching of the Society of Jesus.



(Ruins of the Cathedral of St. Paul in Macao - a popular spot for tourists)


During this visit, we paid attention to the beautiful Portuguese tiles.  You may know that Moors, the Islamic tribesmen from North Africa, had ruled over the Iberia peninsula for five centuries. Portuguese tiles were developed on the base of Islamic tiles and the European artistic culture.  In Portugal, you can still see many beautiful house decoration with Portuguese tiles.



(Historical picture with Portuguese tiles)

  

(Beautiful wall decoration with Portuguese tiles in the gate of Obidos)

(Simple and beautiful wall tiles in Lisbon)

Portuguese tiles are more colourful and lively than other Islamic tiles that you may see in Turkey or Iran.  If you travel to Macao, you can still find similiar tiles decoration in its Portuguese food resturants.  If you are interested to learn more about Portuguese tiles, you can read the book, Sabo, Rioletta. Portuguese decorative tiles. New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1998.