FROM ROMANS TO VISITORS FROM SPACE?

Continuing south we came to Tarragona where the Romans established a major city and port, Tarraco.  We knew we were getting close when the Arc de Bara confronted us in the middle of the road.  The road no longer passes through the arch which is now safely preserved on a traffic island between the carriageways.  It was designed to impress and it succeeded!

 Tarragona itself is a lovely city with well preserved remains of the Roman city walls on top of those originally built by the Iberians using massive blocks of stone.  An outer defensive wall was added in the eighteenth century to protect the city during the War of the Spanish Succession.   The Iberian walls are clearly visible including two fine gateways in the kilometre of walls that still remain.  

 Within the city there are more remains from the Roman and succeeding eras while nearer the sea is a remarkably well preserved amphitheatre used now for re-enactments of the Roman Games.

 We spent a few nights at a lovely little fishing port called Cambrills.  We were able to cycle into town to shop and sight-see.  The harbour still has many working fishing boats and a marina, from which tourist boats operate trips along the coast.  On the quay little cafes crowd alongside an ancient tower ...

 ... and several bronze sculptures depict the life of the fishermen and their families in days gone by.  Here two of the women are mending nets.

 Our next stop was Valencia.  We drove through it first, negotiating the eight-lane roundabouts with surprising ease, on route to our site about six kilometres further south.  From the site an excellent cycle track took us along the coast and into Valencia even crossing the wide river on a separate purpose-built bridge alongside one of the new road bridges.

Running through the centre of Valencia is the dry bed of the Rio Turia most of which has been turned into a park with walks, cycle routes and sports areas since the river was diverted in 1956 following serious flooding.  Towards its southern end has been built a futuristic collection of buildings housing the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences).  This very modern architecture is varied and stunning – one of the buildings looking as if it has just arrived with visitors from space! 

The old city must have been magnificent judging by one of the only two remaining gateways.

One of the old bridges is still guarded by angels – in the Bible, angels are usually described as very scary creatures and these angels certainly fall into that category!

The baroque style of the Cathedral was quite different from others we have seen here ...

 

... and the Central Market – one of the largest in Europe housing over 1000 stalls – which was built in 1928 is a lovely example of architecture of its period.

As the weather became warmer we travelled on to Moraira where we were able to go to church on the Sunday with friends Peter and Margaret who are soon returning to UK after living here for about fourteen years.  The Anglican church meets in a small building – the  Ermita de San Josep – which has an interesting cross on the wall behind the altar.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

After many delays getting the warranty work done on the van we finally crossed  from Dover to Dunkerque on 27th February.  We drove down through Belgium and France using mainly the quiet country roads with hardly any traffic and lovely countryside scattered with interesting villages.  

 

  
We called at Reims and visited its magnificent cathedral with a very impressive main doorway.

The weather was cold but lovely and sunny as we continued south to the ancient fortified city of Carcassonne, not far from the France/Spain border.

The site has been occupied since about 3500 BC and became an important trading centre in the sixth century BC. 

 It was fortified by the Romans, parts of the original walls still being visible, and for many years since had a violent history.   In 1247 King Louis IX founded the “new town”, across the river from the old city, which has since flourished, initially as a textile producer.  

 King Philip III added the outer ramparts strengthening the fortifications of the old city after which it was considered to be impregnable and during the Hundred Years War Edward, the Black Prince, failed to capture it (though he did destroy the new town!).

Following the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which conceded the border territory of Roussillon to France, Carcassonne lost its importance as a military base for the defence of France from Spain and fell into decay, the walls of the old city being used as a quarry!

In 1853 work began to restore the old city under the guidance of the brilliant architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc.  His research was extremely thorough and his plan very practical – restoring the most important buildings first.  Carcassonne became listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and is still a “work in progress” today.

 

We crossed the border into Spain and continued south along the coast to Figueres where the main attraction is the museum of paintings and sculptures by Salvador Dali.

The Dali Museum, housed in a converted theatre, has many of his works, some of which are very well known.  Unfortunately, my favourite painting – of Christ on the cross, viewed from above, with the world at his feet - is in Glasgow!

Dali was born in Figueres in the Catalunya province of Spain in 1904, the area to which he returned and eventually died in 1989.  His art was strongly influenced by both the Christian (especially Catholic) faith and the scientific and cultural revolutions of the twentieth century.  In later life his wife Gala was a powerful influence and appeared in many of his works.

Painted ceiling - Dali Museum

Technically his art is very clever, comical, often difficult to understand and frequently seems to reveal a very troubled soul. 

Perhaps he never came to terms with the death of his mother, whom he worshiped, when he was 16 and which he described as “the greatest blow ever”.

Painted wall, Dali Museum

Taking a slight detour further west we visited a lovely old town called Besalu with a fine fortified bridge over the river.  In the centre of the bridge is a gatehouse complete with port cullis!

Returning to the coast, we stayed at a site at Mataro a few kilometres north of the lively city of Barcelona.  The site operates a free bus service into the city which made our visit very easy.  Unfortunately we chose one of the few days when it poured with rain!  However that did not prevent us from visiting some of the main attractions. 

The old Cathedral is surprisingly simple inside, with some beautiful stained glass.  We wandered through the old town and discovered the main Post Office which is remarkable to say the least!

The old fashioned zoo (which we did not go into) is housed in a building resembling a Norman Keep and nearby is their Arc de Triomf (not a misprint!)

The main attraction though was to see some of the works of the remarkable architect, Antoni Gaudi, born in 1852, who died after being hit by a tram in 1926.  He once said that to take inspiration from nature is to cooperate with the Creator.  Most of his work, which now seems ahead of his time, attempts to recreate natural stone formations and living things such as trees.

Between 1904 and 1906 he was involved in the renovation of an apartment block – Casa Batllo.  It is said that the roof represents the back of a dragon and the structure to left above it is the lance of St George, the Patron Saint of Catalunya, plunged into it.

Although ridiculed at first, he was commissioned to design a number of prestigious buildings in Spain but his greatest achievement, which took up most of his later years and which is still being built, is the huge Sagrada Familia church.  Here is a model of it:

Among its many spires are twelve bell towers representing the twelve apostles and inside it is built like a great forest, the columns spreading out at the top like the branches of trees and the ceiling looking like their leaves. 

Many of the windows, begun in 1999, contain beautifully coloured stained glass in abstract designs on which you could spend hours in meditation.

It is a beautiful, stunning, inspiring place.