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CÁCERES, A STROLL THROUGH HISTORY
A stroll through the most representative monuments of Cáceres will not last more than 10 km, but this distance we will be enough go through 25,000 years of history (and prehistory). This is the age of the Matravieso Cave, a palaeolithic enclave that forms part of the city. It was discovered in the 1950s in a large chalk operation. Remains of bodies, ceramics and cave wall art highlight the value of this grotto as compared with the neighbouring Cueva de Santa Ana and El Conejar. A leap in history brings us to the Norba Caesarina, the name with which the Romans baptised this area. In the outskirts of the city, in Aldea Moret, we can find the last remains of this civilisation, watchto -
The 21st century church
Can a church be groundbreaking? The one in the parish of Santa Mónica is a miracle that surprises on all levels. It exceeds all personal beliefs and reinvents the concept of Spanish holy art. It is a place for shelter that is noted in the solid minimalism of its shapes, without lacking respect for any credo. Since it was created in 2008, this singular building has attracted as many religious faithful as it has lovers of culture and modern architecture. It has won them over, fifteen kilometres from the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, to the municipality of Rivas Vaciamadrid. It is impossible to ignore this shiny amalgam of steel and glass that stands out among the urban -
Teruel, mudéjar soul
The capital of the least populated province in Spain is the guardian of a treasure of incalculable value. In its streets and on its walls we find the legacy of visitors of the past: the largest mudéjar art heritage in Spain. The artistic style born at the time when the Muslims lived under Christian control. These were the times of the reconquest. The Arabs left the country but their art remained intact. The mudéjar style has nothing to do with the grandiose mediaeval constructions that would later come to Europe, and it leaves no details either, like nasrid art. It is simpler and absolutely adapted to each place where it is found. In the case of Aragon, where Terue -
Patios and corralas
A Patio (courtyard) is an open space located inside a building and usually surrounded by a columned portico reminiscent of Roman peristyle. It is a typically Spanish architectural element, so much so that it is repeated under very different appearance, in palaces, in religious architecture and the more recent examples of popular buildings. However, when it comes to yards in a strict sense, the most famous are those of Andalusia and Cordoba in particular, direct heirs of the Roman peristyle, which the Muslims turned into true oases by enhancing the plants. The patios are distinguished by the explosion of plants and flowers inside the house: jasmine, orange blossom and gera -
The village of weddings
According to the National Institute of Statistics, Campillo de las Ranas, in Guadalajara (in the province of Castilla La Mancha), officially has 198 inhabitants. One hundred and seventeen are men and 81 are women. However, despite its small population, this village has the honour of being one of the places where most weddings are held and also one of the most characteristic destinations of the so-called “black architecture”, a kind of popular house construction that uses slate, a mineral of grey, violet and bluish tones, as its main raw material. This gives the village a characteristic dark colour which, curiously, contrasts perfectly with the white of the weddings. Of -
Elciego and Frank Ghery’s silver bodega
In Elciego, in La Rioja of Alava in the north of Spain, two artistic expressions collide: on the one side, the architecture of the American Frank Ghery, one of the most important living architects in the world; and on the other, the wines of the inheritors of el Marqués de Riscal, a firm that has been delighting palates since 1860. They say that to convince Gehry, a Pritzker Prizewinner (the Nobel prize for architecture) and author of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, to build some bodegas in such a picturesque place was not an easy job. The old architect was hesitant to accept the commission. However, the pro -
Envoûtante Andalousie
Ma première rencontre avec L'Andalousie a eu lieu au début d'Avril de cette année. Je m'y suis rendue pour faire plaisir à mon mari car il voulait retrouver ses racines mais je crois que je suis tombée sous le charme de cette région. Nous avons visité des villes magnifiques chargées d'histoire telles Tolède,Grenade,Ronda et surtout Séville où nous sommes restés pendant une semaine.Nous avons été éblouis par la richesse des monuments et touchés par la ferveur religieuse qui en émanaient.mais surtout nous avons adoré l'atmosphère vivante de -
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