Sights in Spain
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Catedral
Toledo's cathedral reflects the city's historical significance as the heart of Catholic Spain.
From the earliest days of the Visigothic occupation, the current site of the cathedral has been a centre of worship. During Muslim rule, it contained Toledo's central mosque, destroyed in 1085. Dating from the 13th century and essentially a Gothic structure, the cathedral is nevertheless a melting pot of styles, including Mudéjar and Renaissance. The Visigothic influence continues today in the unique celebration of the Mozarabic Rite, a 6th-century liturgy that was allowed to endure after Cardinal Cisneros put its legitimacy to the test by burning missals in a fire of faith; they…
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Plaza de la Cebada
Just west of La Latina metro station, the busy and bar-strewn corner of Madrid marked by the ill-defined ‘Barley Square’ is important to understanding what medieval Madrid was like, although it requires a little imagination. In the wake of the Christian conquest the square was, for a time, the site of a Muslim cemetery, and the nearby Plaza de la Puerta de Moros (Moors’ Gate) underscores that this area was long home to the city’s Muslim population. The square later became a popular spot for public executions – until well into the 19th century, the condemned would be paraded along Calle de Toledo, before turning into the square and mounting the gallows. The …
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Open Air Gallery, Museo Guggenheim
One of the joys of the Guggenheim experience is to take a quiet wander around the outside of the building, appreciating the extraordinary imagination behind its design and catching the different colours reflected by the titanium tiles, limestone and glass. Lying between the glass buttresses of the central atrium and Ría de Bilbao is a simple pool of water that emits at intervals a mist 'sculpture' by Fuyiko Nakaya.
Nearby on the riverbank is a sculpture by Louise Bourgeois, a skeletal canopy representing a spider entitled Maman, said to represent a protective embrace.
In the open area to the west of the museum a fountain sculpture fires off jets of water into the air…
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Palau de la Música Catalana
This concert hall is a high point of Barcelona’s Modernista architecture. It’s not exactly a symphony, but more a series of crescendos in tile, brick, sculpted stone and stained glass. Built by Domènech i Montaner between 1905 and 1908 for the Orfeo Català musical society, it was conceived as a temple for the Catalan Renaixença (Renaissance).
The palace was built with the help of some of the best Catalan artisans of the time, in the cloister of the former Convent de Sant Francesc, and since 1990 it has undergone several major changes.
The palau, like a peacock, shows off much of its splendour on the outside. Take in the principal facade with its mosaics, floral…
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Tomb of Christopher Columbus
Inside the cathedral's southern door stands the Tomb of Christopher Columbus, an elaborate monument dating from 1902 with four sepulchre-bearers representing the four kingdoms of Spain at the time of Columbus' 1492 voyage: Castile, León, Aragón and Navarra. But are the bones within really those of the great explorer?
The tomb holds bones brought back from the Caribbean in 1899 and long thought to be Columbus'. However, the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean claims that Columbus' bones lie beneath a monument in its capital, Santo Domingo. Since 2003 researchers have been conducting tests on various bones from the Seville cathedral tomb and elsewhere to try to resolve…
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Plaza de Neptuno
Officially known as Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, the next roundabout south of Cibeles is something of a crossroads of Spanish nobility. The Ritz and the Palace, two of Madrid’s longest-standing and most exclusive hotels, glower at each other across the plaza with self-righteous grandeur, while the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Prado do likewise in competition for the title of Madrid’s best loved repository of fine art. The centrepiece is an ornate fountain and 18th-century sculpture of Neptune, the sea god, by Juan Pascual de Mena. But madrileños, never the most reverent lot, know it better as the celebration venue of choice for fans of Atlético de Madrid who lose…
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Castell de Montjuïc
The forbidding Castell (castle or fort) de Montjuïc dominates the southeastern heights of Montjuïc and enjoys commanding views over the Mediterranean. It dates, in its present form, from the late 17th and 18th centuries. For most of its dark history, it has been used to watch over the city and as a political prison and killing ground.
Anarchists were executed here around the end of the 19th century, fascists during the civil war and Republicans after it – most notoriously Lluís Companys in 1940. The castle is surrounded by a network of ditches and walls (from which its strategic position over the city and port become clear).
Until 2009 the castle was home to a…
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Plaza de Oriente
A royal palace that once had aspirations to be the Spanish Versailles. Sophisticated cafes watched over by apartments that cost the equivalent of a royal salary. The Teatro Real, Madrid’s opera house and one of Spain’s temples to high culture. Some of the finest sunset views in Madrid. Welcome to Plaza de Oriente, a living, breathing monument to imperial Madrid.
At the centre of the plaza, which the palace overlooks, is an equestrian statue of Felipe IV. Designed by Velázquez, it's the perfect place to take it all in with marvellous views wherever you look. If you’re wondering how a heavy bronze statue of a rider and his horse rearing up can actually maintain that…
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Capilla Real
The Royal Chapel adjoins Granada’s cathedral and is an outstanding Christian building. Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand commissioned this elaborate Isabelline Gothic–style mausoleum. It was not completed until 1521; they were temporarily interred in the Convento de San Francisco.
The monarchs lie in simple lead coffins in the crypt beneath their marble monuments in the chancel, enclosed by a stunning gilded wrought-iron screen created in 1520 by Bartolomé de Jaén. Also here are the coffins of Isabella and Ferdinand’s unfortunate daughter, Juana the Mad, and her husband, Philip of Flanders. There is some doubt as to whether Juana was mad at all. She was Charles…
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Plaza de la Cibeles
Of all the grand roundabouts that punctuate the Paseo del Prado, Plaza de la Cibeles most evokes the splendour of imperial Madrid.
The jewel in the crown is the astonishing Palacio de Comunicaciones. Built between 1904 and 1917 by Antonio Palacios, Madrid’s most prolific architect of the belle époque, it combines elements of the North American monumental style of the period with Gothic and Renaissance touches. It serves as Madrid’s town hall (Ayuntamiento), with the main post office occupying the southwestern corner. Other landmark buildings around the plaza’s perimeter include the Palacio de Linares and Casa de América, the Palacio Buenavista (1769) and the…
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Plaza de España
It’s hard to know what to make of this curiously unprepossessing square. The 1953 Edificio de España (Spain Building) on the northeast side clearly sprang from the totalitarian recesses of Franco’s imagination such is its resemblance to austere Soviet monumentalism, but there’s also something strangely grand and pleasing about it. To the north stands the rather ugly and considerably taller 35-storey Torre de Madrid (Madrid Tower). In the square itself is a statue of Cervantes. At the writer’s feet is a bronze statue of his immortal characters Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. The monument was erected in 1927. But Plaza de España is at its best down in its lower…
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Plaza Mayor
Built between 1729 and 1755, Salamanca's exceptional grand square is widely considered to be Spain's most beautiful central plaza. The square is particularly memorable at night when illuminated (until midnight) to magical effect. Designed by Alberto Churriguera, it's a remarkably harmonious and controlled baroque display. The medallions placed around the square bear the busts of famous figures. Look for the controversial inclusion of Franco in the northeast corner – it looks different from the others, being moulded in a special easy-to-clean plastic to counter its regular subjection to vandalism. Bullfights were held here well into the 19th century; the last ceremonial
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D'Alt Vila
D'Alt Vila is the old walled town; a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1999. The Romans were the first to fortify this hilltop, but the walls you see were raised by Felipe II in the 16th century to protect against invasion by French and Turkish forces. A ramp leads from Plaça de sa Font in Sa Penya up to the Portal de ses Taules gateway, the main entrance.
Above the entrance hangs a commemorative plaque bearing Felipe II's coat of arms and an inscription recording the 1585 completion date of the fortification - seven artillery bastions joined by thick protective walls up to 22m (72ft) in height.
Immediately inside spreads Plaça de la Vila, with its upmarket restaurants,…
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The Cathedral
For three centuries following the Reconquista (Reconquest) in 1236, the Mezquita remained largely unaltered save for minor modifications such as the Mudejar tiling added in the 1370s to the Mozarabic and Almohad Capilla Real (located nine bays north and one east of the mihrab, and now part of the cathedral).
In the 16th century King Carlos I gave permission (against the wishes of Córdoba's city council) for the centre of the Mezquita to be ripped out to allow construction of the Capilla Mayor (the altar area in the cathedral) and coro (choir).However, the king was not enamoured with the results and famously regretted: 'You have built what you or others might have built…
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Euskal Museoa
This museum is probably the most complete museum of Basque culture and history in all the Basque regions. The story kicks off back in the days of prehistory and from this murky period the displays bound rapidly through to the modern age. The main problem with the museum is that, unless you speak Spanish (or perhaps you studied Euskara at school?), it’s all a little meaningless as, amazingly, there are no English or French translations.
The museum is housed in a fine old building, at the centre of which is a peaceful cloister that was part of an original 17th-century Jesuit college. In the cloister is the Mikeldi Idol, a powerful pre-Christian, possibly Iron Age,…
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Fórum Romá
The northwest half of Fòrum Romà was occupied by a judicial basilica (where legal disputes were settled), from where the rest of the forum stretched downhill to the southwest. Linked to the site by a footbridge is another excavated area, which includes a stretch of Roman street. The discovery in 2006 of remains of the foundations of a temple to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva (the major triumvirate of gods at the time of the Roman republic) suggests the forum was much bigger and more important than had previously been assumed.
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Plaza de Lavapiés
The triangular Plaza de Lavapiés is one of the few open spaces in Lavapiés and it’s a magnet for all that’s good (a thriving cultural life) and bad (drugs and a high police presence) about the barrio. The Teatro Valle-Inclán, on the southern edge of the plaza, is a stunning contemporary addition to the eclectic Lavapiés streetscape. To find out what makes this barrio tick, consider dropping in to the Asociación de Vecinos La Corrala, just up the hill from the plaza, where staff are happy to highlight all that’s good about Lavapiés without dismissing its problems.
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Alcázar
If heaven really does exist, then let's hope it looks a little bit like the inside of Seville's Alcázar. Built primarily in the 1300s during the so-called 'dark ages' in Europe, the architecture is anything but dark. Indeed, compared to our modern-day shopping malls and throw-away apartment blocks, it could be argued that the Alcázar marked one of history's architectural high points. Unesco agreed, making it a World Heritage Site in 1987.
Originally founded as a fort for the Cordoban governors of Seville in 913, the Alcázar has been expanded or reconstructed many times in its 11 centuries of existence. In the 11th century Seville’s prosperous Muslim taifa (small…
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Convento de las Descalzas Reales
The grim, prisonlike walls of this one-time palace keep modern Madrid at bay and offer no hint that behind the sober plateresque facade lies a sumptuous stronghold of the faith.
The compulsory guided tour (in Spanish) leads you up a gaudily frescoed Renaissance stairway to the upper level of the cloister. The vault was painted by Claudio Coello, one of the most important artists of the 17th-century Madrid School and whose works adorn San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
You then pass several of the convent’s 33 chapels – a maximum of 33 Franciscan nuns is allowed to live here (perhaps because Christ is said to have been 33 when he died) as part of a closed order. These nuns follow…
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Cathedral
Seville’s immense cathedral, officially the biggest in the world, is awe-inspiring in its scale and sheer majesty. It stands on the site of the great 12th-century Almohad mosque, with the mosque’s minaret (the Giralda) still towering beside it. After Seville fell to the Christians in 1248 the mosque was used as a church until 1401. Then, in view of its decaying state, the church authorities decided to knock it down and start again. ‘Let us create such a building that future generations will take us for lunatics’, they decided (or so legend has it). The result is a cathedral measuring 126m long and 83m wide.
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Caixa Forum
This extraordinary structure down towards the southern end of the Paseo del Prado, is one of Madrid's most eye-catching architectural innovations. Seeming to hover above the ground, this brick edifice is topped by an intriguing summit of what looks like rusted iron. On an adjacent wall is the jardín colgante (hanging garden), a lush vertical wall of greenery almost four storeys high. Inside there are four floors of exhibition and performance space awash in stainless steel and with soaring ceilings. The exhibitions here are always worth checking out and include cover photography, painting and multimedia shows. But the building itself is always worth checking out…
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Plaza de la Puerta del Sol
The official centrepoint of Spain is a gracious hemisphere of elegant facades and often overwhelming crowds. It is, above all, a crossroads with people forever passing through on their way elsewhere.
In early times, the Puerta del Sol (the Gate of the Sun) was the eastern gate of the city and from here passed a road through the peasant hovels of the outer ‘suburbs’ en route to Guadalajara, to the northeast. The name of the gate appears to date from the 1520s, when Madrid joined the revolt of the Comuneros against Carlos I and erected a fortress in the east-facing arch in which the sun was depicted. The fort was demolished around 1570.
The main building on the square…
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Plaza de España
Plaza de España, a rather isolated and relaxing spot with its fountains and mini-canals, faces the northeastern side of Parque de María Luisa across Avenida de Isabel la Católica. Curving round the plaza is the most grandiose of the 1929 Exposición buildings, a brick-and-tile confection featuring Seville tilework at its gaudiest, with a map and historical scene for each Spanish province - all designed by the leading Iberoamericana architect, Sevillan Aníbal González.
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11 March 2004 Memorial
In the modern northeastern corner of the Antigua Estación de Atocha, the 11 March 2004 Memorial is a moving monument to the victims of the 2004 terrorist attack at the station. Although partially visible from the Paseo de la Infanta Isabel, the memorial is best viewed from below. A glass panel shows the names of those killed, while the glass-and-perspex dome is inscribed with messages of condolence and solidarity left by well-wishers in a number of languages in the immediate aftermath of the attack. The 12m-high dome is designed so that the sun highlights different messages at different times of the day, while the effect at night is akin to flickering candles. It's…
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Great Siege Tunnels
The Great Siege Tunnels were gun emplacements hewn out by hand by the British during the 1779-83 siege. They constitute a tiny portion of the more than 70km (43mi) of tunnels in the Rock, most of which are off limits to the public. Nearby is the Tower of Homage, the last vestige of Gibraltar's Muslim castle, built in 1333.
New Ministry of Defence Tunnel Tours can now take you through the WWII caves where the Allied invasion of North Africa was planned.
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