Southern Style: June 2022

Similar to Portugal, Spain has also been populated by vastly diverse peoples and cultures over its history. In 206BC the Romans settled in Spain and remained the dominant culture for some 800 years. Around the 5th century AD several Germanic peoples invaded Spain most notable the Visigoths. They impossed Christian rule over the region, but their rule was relatively brief. By the 700sAD the Islamic Moors were the next to dominate Spain bringing their traditions, architecture, and science. The Moorish rulers were expelled in 1492 and Spain had a succession of Christian rulers the Castilians, Argonese, Habsburgs, and Bourbons. For generations Spain was one of the richest countries of the world and had lands across the globe. It's golden age would dwindle in the 18th and 19th centuries as many of its outlying lands gained independence from Spain or were otherwise relinquished. It underwent a civil war from 1936-1939 and then four decades under the rule of dictator, Francisco Franco. Following the death of Franco in 1975, the Boubon king Jaun Carlos returned to the throne making Spain into a constitutional monarchy.

We flew from Lisbon, Portugal to Seville, Spain to start our trip through Spain. Seville is a very beautiful city. The architecture is just amazing and there are acres of gardens and green space.

Seville is in the southern region of Spain known as Andalusia. This area has wonderfully sunny weather much of the year and it is well known for its fruits and produce. Seville claims the highest numbers of orange trees is Spain. The variety is actually the bitter orange as opposed to the better known Valencia. This tree was brought to Spain from Southeast Asia in the 10th century by the Moors. It flourished in the Andalusia region and was important in perfumes and essential oils, helping to reduce some of the unpleasant odors typical of life in Medievil times. It was also used to make marmalade when sweetened with sugar. So even though you can not just pick them off a tree and eat them due to the bitter taste; when sugar is added and they are cooked, the marmalade is said to be stupendous.

Seville's approximate 20,000 bitter orange trees outnumber any other tree species in the city.

Our site seeing in Seville took us around town by bus for a short ride. Because Seville has hosted 2 World's Expos (1929 and 1992), there are many beautiful buildings build for these expos. So many in fact it was impossible to see all of them. Most of them have been made into governmental offices or other similar uses and are not for touring anyway. They do give the city a unique appearance.

The first big tour stop in Seville was the Alcazar. This is a large area or compound containing numerous government buildings and residences for the ruling family of Spain. The compound was founded in ancient times (913AD) by the ruling Moors. They erected buildings for their government within the compound. In 1249 the region was conquered by the first Christian king who made the compound not only the city's political hub but also the residence for the royal family. The gardens, government buildings, and royal palace of the Alcazar have undergone many restorations and renovations over its 11 centuries of existence. Aspects of Muslim and Christian influence can be seen as well as Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Bourbon, and Flemish styles in its architecture. Some areas of The Alcazar have been used to film scenes in the movies Lawrence of Arabia, Kingdom of Heaven, and the TV series Game of Thrones. Even today the royal family stays in portions of the royal palace on the compound when they are in Seville.

Some shots from around the Alcazar

Here are several pictures from the inside of the royal palace at the Alcazar from areas that are open for public viewing. The architecture and detail in the buildings here are just amazing.

Once our tour of the royal palace was finished we split into small groups of 4 and took horse-drawn carriages for a 30 minute ride to the Cathedral of Seville.

Our carriage awaits

Riding through the gardens on the way to the cathedral

The cathedral was built on top of the 12th century Aljama mosque. The building of the Christian cathedral was started in 1401 and continued for 100 years until 1506. It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.

Pulling up to the cathedral

Inside the cathedral's courtyard.

And then there was the inside of the cathedral. Above the main alter there is an enormous wooden carving depicting 45 scenes in the life of Christ. These are intricately carved and painted with gold leaf. It was the lifetime work of craftsman, Pierre Dancart; and is the largest and richest alter piece in the world. The amount of gold leaf covering the carvings is staggering.

When there are no services going on there is an iron gate across the alter area

View through the gate to the alter

The wood carved, gold plated scenes of the life of Christ behind the alter. These carvings cover the entire back wall behind the alter floor to ceiling.

These are a few of the pipes of the organ in the cathedral

This is the back of one side of the pipe organ

Other portions of the cathedral have family chapels and other alcoves. Nobles as well as wealthy families often purchase space for their own chapels and tombs.

This is the tomb of a prominent bishop from the cathedral

The Cathedral of Seville is also the final resting place of the remains of Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon in Spanish).

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

Just a few words about Christopher Columbus may be in order at this point. Although Columbus was born in Italy, by the time he was a young man he found himself in Lisbon, Portugal. Already an experienced sailor, he spent some time in Lisbon studying mathematics and navigation. It was also here that he began to contemplate a plan to sail west across the Atlantic Ocean to reach Asia. This would end the need to sail around the bottom of Africa (a very treacherous journey) to reach Asia. Today we know this plan to be flawed, but it would none-the-less change the world forever. Officials in Portugal and England did not want to finance Columbus; however, in 1492 the Spanish monarchs agreed to sponsor him. As we know this led to his travel into the Americas. Now love him or hate him, Columbus was a very driven, ruthless, and sometimes cruel man. In addition to all that he discovered he also exploited, enslaved and destroyed many indigenous peoples in the Americas. He sent 500 enslaved indigenous people to Queen Isabella of Spain as a gift. She was horrified with the gift believing that any lands and people discovered by Columbus were subjects of Spain and should be treated as such, not enslaved. She promptly and sternly sent her subjects back to their homelands in the Americas. Columbus' indiscretions eventually got him arrested and sent back to Spain in chains. Although he was cleared of the most serious charges, he was stripped of his noble titles and died destitute in 1506 in Valladolid, Spain. Just as he traveled extensively in life so it was to be in death. First interred in Valladolid, 2 years later his remains were moved to a convent in Seville, Spain. In 1537 his remains along with those of his son were sent to the Spain territory of Santo Domingo in the now Dominican Republic. When Spain ceded this territory to France in 1795 his remains were moved to Havana another Spanish territory at the time. In 1898 Spain went to war with the United States and so he was moved again back to Seville, Spain. This time his remains were placed in a large ornate sarcophagus in a prominent spot in the cathedral of Seville.

It was a busy day in Seville. Unfortunately we only had one day there and the next morning we were off toward Gibraltar and the Mediterranean coast of Spain. This will be the fodder for my next post.

Our last two days in Portugal took us to the capital city of Lisbon. This hilly city sits on the Tagus River and its estuary which empty into the Atlantic Ocean. It was from this river's ocean access that the explorers of the Age of Discovery began their journeys to far off lands. However, Lisbon existed long before the Age of Discovery. Historical records for the city date back to 205 BC. In fact Lisbon is the second oldest European capital after Athens.

As I have mentioned in a previous post, Lisbon was thriving during the Age of Discovery (1400-1600AD). Many well known and accomplished explorers came from Portugal and at one time Portugal had territories spread across multiple continents. This thriving city was to experience a cataclysmic event on the morning of November 1, 1755. It was All Saints Day and the city's churches were filled with worshipers when an earthquake believed to have measured about 9 on the Richter scale hit Lisbon. The quake leveled many of the buildings in the city, opened up 15 foot fissures in downtown, and resulted in multiple fires likely due to candles lit in homes and churches for the holiday. It also resulted in a tsunami with waves of 20 feet in Lisbon and 65 feet when it reached Spain. The quake was so strong the tsunami waves reached the Caribbean 10 hours after the quake and some 3,000 miles away. 60,000 people in Lisbon alone were killed by the quake, fires, and tsunami. The "Great Lisbon Earthquake" as it became known was a seminal event in European history. In addition to the countless lives lost, priceless works of art, palaces, churches, even historical documents of explorers were lost in the fires and tsunami following the quake. It became the catalyst for the study of modern seismology and earthquake engineering.

Lisbon rebuilt itself and today remains a thriving modern city. There are many museums and cathedrals and Lisbon offers any and all of the amenities of a modern capital city.

Pictures from the top of our hotel The Ritz Four Seasons Lisbon. Looking out over Lisbon with the Tagus River in the distance.

St. George's Castle atop the hill in Lisbon.

Its oldest parts were fortified by the Romans in the 500s AD. It served as the royal Moorish residence until 1147 when the first king of Portugal, Alfonso Henriques, captured it. Much of it had to be restored after the Great Earthquake of 1755.

Belem Tower (below) on the Tagus River. Built in the early 1500s, it was the ceremonial gateway into Lisbon and served as the embarkation and disembarkation location for Portuguese explorers during the Age of Discovery.

Across the street from the Belem Tower is the Igreja Santa Maria de Belem. This Gothic cathedral was built in 1601 and has the tombs of two of Portugal's kings and their wives, the tomb of explorer Vasco da Gama, and several well known poets, playwriters, historians and other nobles. Attached to the church is the Jeronimos Monastery. Two wings of the monastery now house The Maritime Museum and the National Archeological Museum.

Igreja Santa Maria de Belem

View along the length of the cathedral and monastery

The entrance to the Maritime Museum on one wing of the Jeronimos Monastery

Our group got to spend some time in the Maritime Museum. It houses many artifacts from Portugal's explorers.

Map of the routes followed by the great explorers of Portugal

Globe from the 1600s

Replica of a Portuguese ship. There were numerous replicas from different periods of history

Coins

Canon

Musket

There were also complete boats in one area of the museum.

After the Maritime Museum we visited the Palacio National da Ajuda ( The National Palace of Portugal).This was the official residence of the Portuguese royal family from the reign of King Louis I in 1861 until 1910 when Portugal became a republic. Built in 1802 this lavish palace is still used as a venue for some official state functions. The portion open to the public is maintained as a museum displaying historical furnishings, sculptures, artwork, textiles, and silverwork.

Photos from inside the National Palace of Portugal

Wood inlays around the palace are reflective of the patterns often seen in the tile done by Moorish artisans.

It was quite the busy day around Lisbon. There were numerous street cars which added an Americana look to the streets.

Because Lisbon is such a hilly city it has several lifts or funiculars. These large elevators lift pedestrians from lower streets to some of the higher streets making walking easier depending on where you need to go.

One of Lisbon's funiculars

It was the time of year when Lisbon's jacaranda tress were blooming. These purple bloomed trees are not native to Portugal but were brought from South America and acclimatized to Lisbon. They are all over the city and quite pretty.

A final treat we got to experience in Portugal is Fado. This is a genre of music that originated in the pubs, cafes, and restaurants in the Lisbon area in the early 1800s. Fado is very melancholy with the musician singing about the hardships and struggles of life. It is a very unique style of music. We had a lovely luncheon with a Fado performance afterward.

Fado performance

Below is the 12 string Portuguese guitar. This pear shaped guitar is strongly associated with Fado music and has become an icon for anything Portuguese.

So after several days in Portugal, it was time to make our way to Spain. I hope everyone has enjoyed the several posts about Portugal. Next week I will start with some of the sites and experiences from Spain. Here are a few final pictures from Portugal to end this post.