Sights in Spain
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Museo de Arte Contemporáneo
León’s showpiece Museo de Arte Contemporáneo belongs to the new wave of innovative Spanish architecture. A pleasing square-and-rhombus edifice of colourful glass and steel, the museum won the Spanish architecture prize a few years back. It has been acclaimed for the 37 shades of coloured glass that adorn the facade; they were gleaned from the pixelisation of a fragment of one of the stained-glass windows in León’s cathedral.
Although the museum has a growing permanent collection, it mostly houses temporary displays of cutting-edge Spanish and international photography, video installations and other similar forms.
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Casona de Tudanca
The CA281 south from Puentenansa follows the Río Nansa upstream. Along the way, a short detour east leads to the attractive hamlet of Tudanca, dominated by the Casona de Tudanca, a white, 18th-century rural mansion. Guided visits last 45 minutes. The house was built by an indiano – that is, someone who had made a fortune in Spain’s Latin American colonies (in this case Peru) and returned. Inside you’ll see all sorts of centuries-old furniture and diverse objects. The house also contains the 18,000-volume library of writer José María de Cossío, to whom it belonged in the 20th century.
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The Rock
Naturally, the main sight is the awesome rock; a vast limestone ridge that rises to 426m, with sheer cliffs on its northern and eastern sides. For the ancient Greeks and Romans this was one of the two pillars of Hercules, split from the other, Jebel Musa in Morocco, in the course of Hercules' arduous twelve labours. The two great rocks marked the edge of the ancient world.
Most of the upper Rock, starting just above the town, is a nature reserve with spectacular views and several interesting spots to visit. A great way to get up here is by the cable car (catch it from Red Sands Rd, it goes every few minutes 09:30-17:00).
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Museu Frederic Marès
One of the wildest collections of historical curios lies inside this vast medieval complex, once part of the royal palace of the counts of Barcelona. A rather worn coat of arms on the wall indicates that it was also, for a while, the seat of the Spanish Inquisition in Barcelona. Frederic Marès i Deulovol (1893-1991) was a rich sculptor, traveller and obsessive collector. He specialised in medieval Spanish sculpture, huge quantities of which are displayed in the basement and on the ground and 1st floors – including some lovely polychrome wooden sculptures of the Crucifixion and the Virgin. Among the most eye-catching pieces is a reconstructed Romanesque doorway with four…
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Park
This carefully manicured park remained a private family idyll until the 1970s, when it was opened to the public. Many a fine party and theatrical performance was held here over the years, but now it serves as a kind of museum-park. The gardens take their name from a maze (which is very easy to get lost in!) in their centre, but other paths take you past a pleasant artificial lake or estany, waterfalls, a neoclassical pavilion and a false cemetery. The latter was inspired by 19th-century romanticism, often characterised by an obsession with a swooning, anaemic (some might say plain silly) vision of death.
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Oasys/Mini Hollywood
This is the best-known and most expensive of the Wild West shows and provides some good down-home family entertainment. Although the actual set is looking a bit scuffed, the zoo has grown to a considerable size with some 800 animals at last count, including lions, panthers, tigers and hippos.
There is also a couple of modest museums, with stagecoaches and similar, plus a pool and restaurant (think overpriced burgers and chips). Children should enjoy the, albeit brief, 20-minute daily shoot-out (resulting in an unceremonious hanging), while adults may prefer the clichéd can-can show (or at least the beer) in the saloon. While this is not Hollywood by any stretch of the…
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Congreso de los Diputados
Spain’s lower house of parliament was originally a Renaissance building, but it was completely revamped in 1850 and given a facade with a neoclassical portal. The imposing lions watching over the entrance were smelted from cannons used in Spain’s African wars during the mid-19th century. On the day that they were mounted outside the parliament building, one irreverent Madrid newspaper wrote ‘And what mouths they have! One might imagine them to be parliamentarians!’ It was here, on 11 February 1981, that renegade members of Spain’s Guardia Civil launched a failed coup attempt. Be sure to bring your passport if you want to visit.
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Museu d’Història de la Immigració de Catalunya
The Museu d’Història de la Immigració de Catalunya is dedicated to the history of immigration in Catalonia. The star piece of this museum is a wagon of the train known as El Sevillano, which in the 1950s trundled between Andalucía and Catalonia, jammed with migrants on an all-stops trip that often lasted more than 30 hours! The one-room exhibition in the former country house, Can Serra (now surrounded by light industry, ring roads and warehouses), contains a display of photos, text (in Catalan) and various documents and objects that recall the history of immigration to Catalonia from the 19th century on. There’s also an engaging video with images of migrant life…
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Mirador de Colom
High above the swirl of traffic on the roundabout below, Columbus keeps permanent watch, pointing vaguely out to the Mediterranean. Built for the Universal Exhibition in 1888, the monument allows you to zip up 60m in the lift for bird’s-eye views back up La Rambla and across the ports of Barcelona.
It was in Barcelona that Columbus allegedly gave the delighted Catholic monarchs a report of his first discoveries in the Americas after his voyage in 1492. In the 19th century, it was popularly believed here that Columbus was one of Barcelona’s most illustrious sons. Some historians still make that claim.
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Iglesia de Vera Cruz
This 12-sided church is the most interesting of Segovia's churches, and one of the best-preserved of its kind in Europe. Built in the early 13th century by the Knights Templar and based on Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, it once housed a piece of the Vera Cruz (True Cross), now in the nearby village church of Zamarramala (on view only at Easter).
The curious two-storey chamber in the circular nave (the inner temple) is where the knights' secret rites took place and where they stood vigil over the holy relic. For fantastic views of the town and the Sierra de Guadarrama, walk uphill behind the church for approximately 1km.
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Castillo de Gibralfaro
One remnant of Málaga’s Islamic past is the craggy ramparts of the Castillo de Gibralfaro, spectacularly located high on the hill overlooking the city. Built by Abd ar-Rahman I, the 8th-century Cordoban emir, and later rebuilt in the 14th century when Málaga was the main port for the emirate of Granada, the castle originally acted as a lighthouse and military barracks.
Nothing much is original in the castle’s interior, but the airy walkway around the ramparts affords the best views over Málaga. There is also a military museum, which includes a small scale model of the entire castle complex and the lower residence, the Alcazaba. The model clearly shows the…
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Palacio de la Conquista
On the south side of the Plaza Mayor, carved images of Pizarro and his lover Inés Yupanqui (sister of the Inca emperor Atahualpa) decorate the corner of the 16th-century Palacio de la Conquista. To the right is their daughter Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui with her husband (and uncle), Hernando Pizarro. The mansion was built in the 1560s for Hernando and Francisca after Hernando – the only Pizarro brother not to die a bloody death in Peru – emerged from 20 years in jail for murder. Higher up, a bas relief carving shows the Pizarro family shield (two bears and a pine tree), the walls of Cuzco (in present-day Peru), Pizarro's ships and a group of Indian chiefs.
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Pedreres de s'Hostal
About 2km east of the town centre is an original 'monument'. The Pedreres de s'Hostal is an extensive series of stone quarries. The bleached marés stone, extracted here and in other quarries around the island, has historically been Menorca's main building material. This quarry was in action until 1994. The bizarre shapes cut into the rock were first hewn by strong men with picks (as long as 200 years ago) and later with machinery.
In the latter - which are a series of giant, deep pits - concerts are organised (the acoustics are great). In the older quarry a botanical garden, with endemic Menorcan species, grows amid the weird 'sculpture'.
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Fundación Francisco Godia
Francisco Godia (1921–90), head of one of Barcelona’s great establishment families, liked fast cars (he came sixth in the 1956 Grand Prix season driving Maseratis) and fine art. An intriguing mix of medieval art, ceramics and modern paintings make up this varied private collection.
Housed in Casa Garriga Nogués, this is a stunning, carefully restored Modernista residence originally built for a rich banking family by Enric Sagnier in 1902–05.
The ground floor is given over to a display of Godia’s driving trophies (and goggles) and a video on his feats behind the wheel, as well as occasional temporary exhibitions.
The art is up the languidly curvaceous marble…
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Castillo de Loarre
The evocative Castillo de Loarre broods above the southern plains across which Islamic raiders once rode. Raised in the 11th century by Sancho III of Navarra and Sancho Ramírez of Aragón, its resemblance to a crusader castle has considerable resonance with those times. There's a labyrinth of dungeons, tunnels and towers and two towers offering magnificent views.
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Cathedral
Pamplona's main cathedral stands on a rise just inside the city ramparts amid a dark thicket of narrow streets. The cathedral is a late-medieval Gothic gem spoiled only by its rather dull neoclassical facade, an 18th-century appendage. The vast interior reveals some fine artefacts, including a silver-plated Virgin and the splendid 15th-century tomb of Carlos III of Navarra and his wife Doña Leonor. The real joy is the Gothic cloister, where there is marvellous delicacy in the stonework. The Museo Diocesano occupies the former refectory and kitchen, and houses an assortment of religious art, including some fine Gothic woodcarvings.
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Catedral de la Asunción
Santander's cathedral is composed of two Gothic churches, one above the other. The 14th-century upper church, off which is a 15th-century cloister, was extensively rebuilt after the 1941 fire. In the lower, 13th-century Iglesia del Santísimo Cristo, glass panels reveal excavated bits of Roman Santander under the floor. Displayed nearby are silver vessels containing the skulls of the early Christian martyrs San Emeterio and San Celedonio, Santander's patron saints.
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St Michael’s Cave
If you walk for around twenty minutes, south down St Michael's Rd from the top cable-car station (or up from the Apes' Den), St Michael's Cave is a big natural grotto that was once home to Neolithic inhabitants of the Rock. Today, apart from attracting tourists in droves, it's used for concerts, plays, even fashion shows. There's a café outside.
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Patio de los Naranjos & Minaret
Outside the Mezquita, the leafy, walled courtyard and its fountain were the site of ritual ablutions before prayer. The crowning glory of the whole complex was the minaret, which at its peak towered 48m (only 22m of the minaret still survives). Now encased in its 16th-century shell, the original minaret would have looked something like the Giralda in Seville, which was practically a copy. Córdoba’s minaret influenced all the minarets built thereafter throughout the western Islamic world.
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Catedral del Apóstol
Anyone who has journeyed along the Camino de Santiago will hardly be disappointed on finally entering Praza do Obradoiro to behold the lavish baroque façade of the Catedral del Apóstol. Before this elaborately festive façade was built in the 18th century, the less overwhelming but artistically unparalleled Pórtico de la Gloria (Galician: Porta da Gloria) - now behind the baroque façade - was the first scene to greet weary pilgrims.
The bulk of the cathedral was built between 1075 and 1211, in Romanesque style, and the Pórtico de la Gloria was its original façade. Much of the 'bunting' (the domes, statues and endless flourishes) came later.
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Basílica de San Francisco El Grande
Lording it over the southwestern corner of La Latina, this imposing and recently restored baroque basilica is one of Madrid’s grandest old churches. Its extravagantly frescoed dome is, by some estimates, the largest in Spain and the fourth largest in the world, with a height of 56m and diameter of 33m.
Legend has it that St Francis of Assisi built a chapel on this site in 1217. The current version was designed by Francesco Sabatini, who also designed the Puerta de Alcalá and finished off the Palacio Real. He designed the church with an unusual floor plan: the nave is circular and surrounded by chapels guarded by imposing marble statues of the 12 apostles; 12 prophets,…
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Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela
The grand heart of Santiago, the cathedral soars above the city centre in a splendid jumble of moss-covered spires and statues. Though Galicia's grandest monument was built piecemeal through the centuries, its beauty is only enhanced by the enticing mix of Romanesque, baroque and Gothic flourishes. What you see before you is actually the fourth church to stand on this spot. The bulk of it was built between 1075 and 1211, in Romanesque style with a traditional Latin-cross layout and three naves. Much of the 'bunting' (the domes, statues and endless trimmings) came later. Its artistic and architectural riches fill guidebooks of their own; you'd need days to see it all.
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Catedral Vieja
The Catedral Nueva's largely Romanesque predecessor, the Catedral Vieja is adorned with an exquisite 15th-century altarpiece, with 53 panels depicting scenes from the lives of Christ and Mary, topped by a representation of the Final Judgment – it's one of the most beautiful Renaissance altarpieces outside Italy. The cathedral was begun in 1120 and remains something of a hybrid: there are Gothic elements, while the unusual ribbed cupola, the Torre del Gallo, reflects a Byzantine influence. The cloister was largely ruined in the 1755 earthquake, but the Capilla de Anaya houses an extravagant alabaster sepulchre and one of Europe's oldest organs, a Mudéjar work of art dating…
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Patio del León
The Patio del León was the garrison yard of the Al-Muwarak palace. Off here, the Sala de la Justicia (Hall of Justice), with beautiful Mudéjar plasterwork, was built in the 1340s by Alfonso XI, who disported here with his mistress Leonor de Guzmán.
Alfonso's dalliances left his heir Pedro I (El Cruel/Justiciero) with five half-brothers and a severe case of sibling rivalry. Pedro had a dozen friends and relatives murdered in his efforts to stay on the throne. One of the half-brothers, Don Fadrique, met his maker right here in the Sala de la Justicia. The room gives on to the pretty Patio del Yeso, a 19th-century reconstruction of part of the 12th-century Almohad palace.
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Parc de la Creueta del Coll
Not far from Park Güell, this refreshing public park has a pleasant, meandering, splashing pool. The pool, along with swings, showers and snack bar, makes a relaxing family stop on hot summer days and is strictly a local affair. The park area is open all year; only the lake-pool closes outside summer.
The park is set inside a deep crater left by long years of stone quarrying. On one side of it, an enormous cement sculpture, Elogio del Agua (Eulogy to Water) by Eduardo Chillida, is suspended. You can wander the trails around the high part of this hill-park and enjoy views of the city and Tibidabo. From the Penitents Metro station, it’s a 15-minute walk. Enter from…
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