Seville...ahhhh
Sunday 28 november 2005 12:28am s’pore time
5:28pm spain time
I’m here blogging in the bus again. We’ve moved on from torromolinos to Seville, the capital city of Andalusia. It is also the 4th largest city in spain. After Madrid (the biggest), Barcelona, Valencia. On the way we stopped by at Gibraltar, a british colony. What was amazing abt it was the caves. Taking thousands of years to form. The stalactites and stalagmites were… sagrida famiglia architecture touched by a divine hand. Yes a grade higher. If u thought Barcelona was beautiful, Seville wd make u think again. This city also has its fair share of spectacular architecture. Only difference is the styles. Barcelona peaked in the 19th century with the beginning of th industrial revolution, that’s why u see the spectacular examples of more modern architecture. Seville achieved its prime during the renaissance, where wif the discovery of the new world, it became the most important (and I think the only one) where the romantic and world famous explorers and conquistadors set off. Pissaro. Columbus. Cortez. Magellan. These r the more famous of such pple who disembarked and embarked from Seville b4 and after they sailed to the new worls. Well I’ll make an exception for Magellan who was murdered by locals in the Philippines, but his cronies survived (not many in fact) and came back to tell the tale. He had left wif some thousand men and 20 over ships. They only came back w/o their captain, but wif only 1 ship remaining and 18 men. There’s this monument near to the banks there that commemorates this.
And Seville has been the backdrop to many many operas and famous literary works. Or operas for example, some examples. Marriage of figaro (Mozart), Carmen (Bizet), La Oforza del destino (Verdi), Barber of Seville (Rossini), and still got some other more famous operas by Verdi, bellini, mozart, donizetti, Puccini that I cannot recall straight away. But u get the idea. How one city, just one, cd inspire so many artists and writers and poets to produce their great pieces of art.
In Seville, we were brought to see the site for the 92 world exposition. Some fascinating modern architecture….and then the buildings from the 29 exhibition held between spain and latin America to commemorate the anniversary of the discovery of the new world. Those buildings were really something. Each latin American country has a pavilion of its own. Many have its own interesting blend of architectural elements. Remarkable. Most r used as the respective embassies of the latin American counties, and schools, and for the smaller ones, restaurants. The highlight of this area is the pavilion dedicated to spain itself, where they blended every imaginable stylistic period of spainish architecture into one huge edifice. From the moors, romans, the Spanish themselves, and so on. All chum chum together make until very very nice. And very huge. If ur a star wars fan, u’ll probably remember this building as one of the backsrops they used in episode ii.
And after a while all this stuff starts to make me feel numb. And I find myself consciously stopping myself from falling into that spell where every spectacular sight looks the same.
We were then brought for some night walks in Santa cruz, their old quarter. Very romantic and cosy. All the buildings r built super super close to one another. Streets r super narrow..maybe fit for only at max, 3 pple to walk side by side. If u r on one of the balconies, u can literally reach out to touch ur neighbour opposite’s balcony. Yes its that close. According to our guide, (this nice, friendly old woman) they built it so close to keep out the heat in the sweltering hot summers. Had dinner then we checked into our hotel into Seville.
Our hotel is located abit far from the city center, but we’re very happy wif it. Like suite like that, very big. Even my parents got their own room to sleep in. tock gong. And inspired by a documentary that they screened in the bus of seville’s holy week procession, I started work on a drawing on the same theme. Commemorating the events of the passion of Christ wif much pomp, splendor and religious fervoir, it must have been a veryt dramatic and unforgettable sight.
So today we began our quite detailed city day tour, where once again we were brought to the 2 expo sites, wif commentary from the local guide (that nice old woman). Then saw their super nice ex-tobacco factory (where Carmen from the opera used to work). Now it’s a university.
After that had some stops here and there for some phototaking. One of them being a church that houses the virgen de los macarenas. Some kind of patroness of the city. It’s a 18th century staute that has this characteristic big-sized and elaborately-decorated gown and headdress. Its quite a popularly revered icon. Everywhere the souvenir shops sure sell pictures or statues or some kind of representation of this icon. Very very dramatic and spectacular church. Every part is embellished wif paintings, carvings, statues and architectural eements. Then at the front of the church in the back of the entrance there are some painted portraits of the previous 5 or 6 popes up til jp ii. Although its built in the spectacular baroque style, its quite remarkable in the sense that it was built quite recently, less than 50 years ago. Quite an ambience.
We then proceeded to walk walk the old town santa crux, and there’s this small square where the famous spainsh painter murillo is buried. Same place where we walked the previous night. He was buried in the church that once stood in the square, but a fire destroyed it and up til today they still cannot pinpoint his exact burial site.
The old town also has patios or courtyards in the individual houses. Outside ar, the buildings look very plain, but u look inide and u realize that its another world.
Our walk thru the old town brought us to Seville cathedral. Slowly and slowly, u see the streets start to widen, and buildings look more important. The climax being the sight of the huge huge cathedral set dramatically in the center of this semicircular square.outside, u see a nice mixture of different architectural styles dating from different periods. The Moorish tower, or giralda, was all that remained of the mosque that once stood in the site b4 it was damaged by earthquake then totally destroyed by the catholic monarchs. And the catholic cathedral was built over it. Reputed to be one of the largest in Europe, after st peters in rome and st paul’s in London.
The interior id also equally fantastic. U get the high ceilings and pillars characteristic of the gothic style, and the altar screens and other décor covered exquisitely in gold. Seems like if u want to look and all these properly, it wd probably take a week. Special mention to the unbelievable pipe organs and the main altar retablo.
I like it btter than st peters. The Vatican one is abit too much, too grand. U go in, u don’t feel like praying at all. Perhaps its due to the over usage of marble and lack of stone surfaces. Here in Seville cathedral, everything is perfect. The ideal setting for big spectacular feastday celebrations and masses. But I find it abit too much sometimes for private prayer…too distracting. But its still very nice. perhaps I’m not used to such size and grandeur. Maybe for this cathedral, its function as a prayer place will grow on u. maybe becoz I’m still in the touristic mode, so see all these, ya feel its very nice, and first thing u do is to take pictures. U don’t feel like praying, but if u clear ur thoughts and ignore the pple coming in and walking past and just contemplate on the mysteries of the faith, this will become the ideal place.
And they don’t have the votive candles that u see in Barcelona cathedral. But Seville cathedral is still a sight to behold.
And now we’re moving into Portugal going towards capital city Lisbon. Its been so far a great great trip, and in so many ways spain’s so much more fun when compared to italy. Maybe its becoz I’m older now and whatever I see now leaves a deeper mark on me, especially at this time when I’m on the lookout for new sources of inspiration.
alvin ong dozed and watched the sawdust trampled night @ 10:05 PM
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