A Walk Through Time

Up until today, this week had been pretty slow. Each morning we have two hours of grammar (!), a half hour break, and two more hours of culture class. In the half hour break, my friends and I have discovered a tiny neighborhood on the backside of the building where school is. There are lots of great bakeries and cafés. This week we've discovered a café that we all loved right behind the school. My favorite drink so far has been the café con leche, and at this place they always draw a little design on top!

In culture class we have learned about the reign of Juan Carlos, the Spanish king who abdicated on June 18th, during which Spain became a parliamentary constitutional democracy. Also, we learned about the kings who ruled Spain in the time spanning from the Catholic Monarchs (Reyes Católicos) in the late 1400s to Charles IV in 1819. Although we talked about the history of Spanish government the majority of the time, we also learned a lot about the different stages of art in Spain, which is what I found especially interesting. Today, we walked around Zaragoza on an excursion to see some architectural examples of the Mudejar, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles.

First, we walked to the Patio de la Infanta, a courtyard built during the Spanish Renaissance in 1550. It was inside the residence of Gabriel Zaporta, a banker and merchant of Jewish ancestry who was also a borrower for King Carlos V. Today, it is strangely located inside of a bank tower (hard to believe, right?). If I wasn't here with SYA, it would have been impossible to find.

There are two styles of Renaissance art in Zaragoza: Plateresco and Purista. The Patio de la Infanta is very intricately and excessively adorned with medallions, and candelieris - all characteristics of the Plateresco style of Renaissance art. There were many medallions portraying kings of Spain, including Carlos I, the king at the time of its construction, and Fernando II de Aragón, the Catholic Monarch who united the kingdoms of Aragón and Castilla to form Spain through his marriage to Isabel I de Castilla.

Carlos I

Fernando II

After leaving the Patio de la Infanta, we walked to La Seo Cathedral. However, on the way we passed some pretty cool parts of Zaragoza. One was the Plaza de España, the center of Zaragoza. This is a picture of the Monument of Martyrs, which was completed in 1904 and is dedicated to the martyrs of Zaragoza. These martyrs are the Countless Martyrs of Zaragoza, who were 18 Christians killed by Roman persecutors in the 4th century, and the people who died defending Zaragoza against Napoleon Bonaparte's army in the Siege of Zaragoza in 1808-1809.

Monument of Martyrs

After passing the Plaza de España, we walked into another tiny neighborhood called El Tubo. The narrow streets of El Tubo are filled with restaurants and bars that all look like they have a great atmosphere. Also, I absolutely love the look and feel of El Tubo, so I hope I get to come back and spend more time there soon!

My culture class in El Tubo

Finally, we arrived at La Seo, Zaragoza's second cathedral (the other one is the Pilar). Zaragoza is the only city in all of Spain to have two cathedrals, as the church was very powerful here. It is built on the site of the old Roman Forum, and where La Seo currently stands there was originally a mosque during the Arabic control of Zaragoza until 1118. In 1121, the mosque was consecrated in the honor of San Salvador, and renovations were made to make it a better fit for Christian purposes. Then, in 1140, the mosque was demolished and construction on the cathedral began and continued throughout the 13th century. The lower part of two of the apses are preserved from this era in the current cathedral. In 1204, Pope Innocent III granted La Seo the privileges of being the site of the coronations of Aragonese kings, and all Aragones kings from that year until the 1400s were crowned there. Carlos I was the last king to be crowned in La Seo. In addition to coronations, royal weddings, baptisms, and burials took place there. Furthermore, the cathedral had various changed made and additions put on during the Renaissance era. Call me crazy, but I liked the interior of La Seo more than that of El Pilar. I could see the Mudejar, Gothic, Renaissance, and Boroque styles blending together in the various chapels and architectural details. One of the things I love about studying in Spain is that I can see the things I learn in the classroom around me in real life. Here are some pics of La Seo (the pics of the interior are not mine as there is no photography allowed inside):

Photo creds: https://www.flickr.com/photos/snuffy/6202384050/
You can see gothic elements on the top half of the altar and Renaissance elements in the scenes near the bottom half.

Photo creds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Seo_Cathedral#mediaviewer/File:La_Seo.jpg

The exterior side wall of La Seo was also really cool. It is one of the oldest parts of the cathedral, and is a prime example of Mudejar art. Mudejar art is a style of art created by Muslims who stayed in Spain after the Christian reconquest. It is a blend of Islam and Christianity, and the geometric and colorful designs on the side of La Seo are very typical of Mudejar art:

This tower also has very gothic designs in the windows.

Well, looking back and seeing how long this post is, I think that its incredible that I saw all this history in two hours without walking more than 20 minutes away from school. As I said before, the beauty of studying abroad is being able to see what I learn in the classroom come to life on the streets. I can't believe how much I've learned just by walking around.

Tomorrow, we will be taking an all-day excursion and afterwards my friends and I will be eating dinner together with our host siblings to celebrate the Fourth. All of us Americans are pretty excited to show our pride tomorrow, so watch for a new post about hiking, castles, river rafting, and how to find the best American restaurant in Zaragoza!