Spain

 We had a fantastic trip to Spain with Luke and Heather. We met them in Barcelona, although it took longer to get there than we planned. We planned to take the train from Augsburg to Barcelona on April 11th, but on the way from Strasbourg to Paris, the train ran into a two-hour delay. We heard later that a farmer had passed out on his tractor, but the tractor continued without a conscious driver on to the train tracks. We had a two-hour layover in Paris, but it was not enough to cover the delay. So the rail company gave us a ticket for the next day, and put us up at a nearby hotel. I hope it worked out for the farmer too.

So we arrived in Barcelona late on the 12th, and did not accomplish any site-seeing. But our tickets for the tour of the Sagrada Familia was for the next day, and that is where we started our vacation.

In total, we saw five of the 12 Treasures of Spain during our vacation:

1. Sagrada Familia in Barcelona 

2. City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia 

3. Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

4. Alhambra in Granada 

5. Seville cathedral 

We started in Barcelona at the Sagrada Familia. It was started on 19 March 1882 under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. But Villar resigned in 1883, and Gaudí took over as chief architect. It is currently the tallest unfinished Catholic church in the world.

The nativity facade (east entrance) at Sagrata Familia 

 The tour was given by a local woman, who was was good and very proud of the church. We started by looking at the outside facade, and we're told about the Bible stories. (Although we knew the stories, identifying the stone characters was not always obvious, so the guide was appreciated.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forest of tilted columns inside the Sagrada Familia

The inside of the Sagrada Familia was for me even better. The first impression was of a white light, because the surfaces are light colored. Then the height caused me to look at up, and the inside was nearly as high as the outside of the church. There are no large vaults, as there are in Gothic churches. Gaudí used branching columns that are tilted to take the forces. Each column’s section morphs (circular → polygonal) as it rises, then splits at a more horizontal angle to form smaller parabolic arches that support small, thin-shelled vaults. The result is a high ceiling and a forest of columns branching at various heights.

Gaudí's chain model of a church

The titled columns also negate the need for buttresses, which are present in Gothic churches.  Gaudí didn't have computers, of course, but he had a workshop where he made models, sculpture molds, and plans. Gaudí himself lived there during the last years of his life. The workshop was burned down by a group of anarchists at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War, but we saw a reconstruction and film. Gaudí used a technique of designing arches is called the “chain” method.  A chain is tied at two ends and unsupported in the middle will sag to form a parabola that (if turned upside-down) would be a perfect arch. Gaudi would create an upside-down string model of his building, then he would then hang weights from the strings that would simulate the weight that the columns would need to bear. The resulting shape - when looked at through a mirror - would provide the ideal shapes of arches and other supports.

But the church has the best use of the stained-glass windows that I have seen. The nave runs north and south, and windows on the east side of the nave were predominantly blue and green. The light shining in lit up the ceiling and columns in shades of blue, and seen in the photo. The windows on the west were even more brilliant, since it was afternoon and the sun was in the west. The windows let in orange and yellow light.
 

east side of nave

west side of nave

windows in the west side of the nave.

 

We then traveled to Valencia, where Heather spent some time in college.

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The cathedral is the home of the Holy Chalice, which some believe to be the Holy Grail. It has been kept since 1437 in Valencia Cathedral. A few years earlier in 1424, King Alfonso the Magnanimous transferred  the Holy Grail to his residence at the time, the Royal Palace of Valencia. However, the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples required costly military campaigns for which he needed loans, so he contracted with the ecclesiastical hierarchy for a loan. The king guaranteed it with all his relics, including the Holy Grail, which he had to hand over in 1437 as part of a financial agreement with the Church. 

The cup is made up of three elements: the upper bowl of agate, the base, and the handles. The upper part, made of polished agate, is the authentic relic. According to studies by Professor Antonio Beltrán, it was crafted between the 4th century BC and 1st century AD in an Eastern workshop, likely in Egypt, Syria, or Palestine. The base was added around the 12th century and comes from an Egyptian or Caliphate cup from the 10th or 11th century. The pearls and precious stones that adorn it were added later, possibly when the Holy Chalice was venerated at the Monastery of San Juan de la Peña. 

The region of Valencia submitted peacefully to  Abd al-Rahman III in 915.

The rest  of our trip was in Andalusia. The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus, which may be derived from the Vandals, a Germanic tribe that invaded the Iberian peninsula in 409 and ruled until  they were displaced into north Africa (King Gunderic) by the Visigoths, another Germanic tribe led by King Theodoric. 

The Visigoths ruled until 711, when the Umayyad conquest of Hispania caused a major cultural and political shift in the Iberian Peninsula. The city of Córdoba emerged as the capital of al-Andalus and one of the most important cultural and economic centers of the medieval world. The height of Andalusian prosperity came during the Caliphate of Córdoba, under rulers like Abd al-Rahman III  (912 to 929) and Al-Hakam II, when the region became known for its advancements in science, philosophy, and architecture.

Granada

Granada is situated in front of the snow-covered Sierra Nevadas. The highlight was the Alhambra, a ornately decorated palaces (the Palacios Nazaríes), robust fortifications (the Alcazaba) and graceful gardens (the Generalife). 

Great Mosque of Córdoba

The Mezquita de Córdoba is also the cathedral of  Cordoba, seen in the center of the photo.

Mosque and Cathedral of Cordoba (from Wikipedia)

Traditional accounts claim that a Visigothic church, the Catholic Christian Basilica of Vincent of Saragossa, originally stood on the site of the current Mosque-Cathedral. The church was divided and shared by Christians and Muslims after the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711. It was replaced by The Great Mosque in 785 on the orders of Abd al-Rahman I (ruling 756-788), founder of the Islamic Emirate of Córdoba. Reused Roman and Visigothic materials in the area, especially columns and capitals, can still be seen in the photo of the original mosque's most famous architectural innovation, rows of two-tiered arches, which was preserved and repeated in all subsequent Muslim-era expansions.

The columns and two-tiered arches in the original section
of the mosque building. (from Wikipedia)

Al-Hakam II (r. 961–976), was a cultured man who extended the central "nave" of the mosque by highlighting an elaborate ribbed dome (now part of the Capilla da Villaviciosa). More famously, a rectangular maqsura area around the mosque's new mihrab (a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of  Mecca) was distinguished by a set of unique interlacing multifoil arches (in 965). 

            The mihrab (from Wikipedia)           

Soon after this date both the middle dome of the maqsura and the wall surfaces around the mihrab were covered in rich Byzantine-influenced gold mosaics. According to traditional accounts, al-Hakam II had written to the Byzantine emperor (initially Nikephoros II Phokas) in Constantinople requesting that he send him expert mosaicists for the task. The emperor consented and sent him a master craftsman along with about 1600 kg of mosaic tesserae as a gift. The mosaicist trained some of the caliph's own craftsmen, who eventually became skilled enough to do the work on their own. The work was finished by this team in late 970 or early 971.

Al-Hakam II's work on the mosque also included the commissioning of a new minbar (pulpit) in 965, which took about 5 to 7 years to finish. The minbar became associated with the mosque and was celebrated by many writers for its craftsmanship. It was made out of precious woods like ebony, boxwood, and "scented" woods, and it was inlaid with ivory and with other colored woods such as red and yellow sandalwood. 

Abd al-Raḥmān III, was born in Córdoba, on 18 December 890, and was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 929, at which point he founded the Caliphate of Córdoba, serving as its first caliph until his death. He added a minaret (finished in 958) and his son al-Hakam II added a new mihrab and maqsurah section (finished in 971). A mihrab is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of Mecca, towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a mihrab appears is the "qibla wall". The maqsurah is an enclosure, box, or wooden screen near the mihrab or the center of the qibla wall in a mosque. It was typically reserved for a Muslim ruler and his entourage, and was originally designed to shield him from potential assassins during prayer. The mihrab in Cordoba is beautiful. It has a three ribbed domes, covered in gold mosaics.

According to traditional , al-Hakam II had written to the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople requesting that he send him expert mosaicists for the task. The emperor consented and sent him a master craftsman along with about 1600 kg of mosaic tesserae as a gift.

The minbar, which is the raised platform from which an imam (leader of prayer) addresses the congregation, is located to the right of the mihrab. It was made out of precious woods like ebony, boxwood, and "scented" woods, and it was inlaid with ivory and with other coloured woods such as red and yellow sandalwood.

The new extension was built in 987–988, covered 8600 square meters, and made the mosque the largest in the Muslim world outside of Abbasid Iraq. After the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba at the beginning of the 11th century, no further expansions to the mosque were carried out.

The mosque was converted to a cathedral in 1236 when Córdoba was captured by the Christian forces of Castile during the siege of Córdoba by the forces of Ferdinand III, king of Castile and León, marking the end of the Islamic rule over the city.

 The Mosque underwent major modifications when a building project in the 16th century inserted a new Renaissance cathedral nave and transept into the center of the building. The former minaret had been converted to a bell tower, and was significantly remodeled around this time.

Seville

The cathedral in Seville started out as the Almohad mosque, constructed from 1184 until 1196. But in 1248, Ferdinand III (see above ) completed the Conquest of Seville, and converted the mosque into a church.

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