It's about 35 degrees and rainy here today, so perfect blogging weather! Classes started up again yesterday, and everyone is finally here after all the delays and canceled flights. I'm really liking all of my classes and my professors. I'm taking art history, grammar, civilization, and Spain and the European Union and have class from 8:40 a.m. to about 1:30 in the afternoon. I'm really enjoying the smaller excursions that we are taking for our classes too.
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I pass by both the above fountain and below statue on
my way to and from class, they're my direction points! |
Yesterday we went back to the aqueduct to learn about some of the Roman legends, since the Romans have a large influence throughout the city. Legend has it that there were twins born around the first century and were left in a cave to die. A mother wolf heard the twins' crying and took them in as her own with her cubs. This is where I lost a little in translation of what happened, but I think that the twins were found and taught human ways. One of the twins, Romvlo, was extremely strong, and eventually ended up killing his twin, Remo. Romvlo became the founder of the Roman people, and near the aqueduct is a statue that represents Romvlo and Remo with the mother wolf.
We also learned about the legend of how the aqueduct was created; modern science still isn't sure how the aqueduct was created or why it is still standing. History tells us that the Romans created the aqueduct about 2,000 years ago, but the legend is a little bit different. They say that there was a young girl who wanted to go out to a festival, but her mother wouldn't let her because she needed her to go get water and wash clothes. Water took a long time to get to, so the daughter was upset and said something like, "Even el diablo (the devil) couldn't get water out my window in time for me to go to the festival." The devil heard the girl and that night created the aqueduct. There also may have been something about the girl saying she bet her soul that the devil couldn't do it, but I'm not sure.
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| Entrance to the Alcázar |
Today we also went on an excursion to go inside the Alcázar. I've been outside the castle twice now, but it is completely different to be able to go inside. Being the history and museum studies person, the first thing that I immediately asked was if the artifacts and objects in the castle were originals. I was told that everything was original, that there weren't reproductions and that the changes made to the castle were done over the centuries of its use. Needless to say, the cold and the rain instantly didn't bother me anymore. The first part of the castle we went in was the dungeon, which is the earliest, medieval part of the castle.
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| The Dungeon |
After that, we made our way to the main halls, where there were different suits of armor before heading into the main dining area. The different suits of armor were used for different things. The armor (pictured below) with the spikes was used for infantry/on the battlefield and you can see the spikes throughout the armor used to keep enemies away. The armor (also pictured below) with the collar was used for horseback, when the user needed a hand for a sword and the other to control the horse. The collar is placed so that the heart would be covered when in use.
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| Spikes |
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| Collar |
The main dining hall contains the only fireplace in the entire castle - I definitely would have lived in there during the winter! It also has a beautiful ceiling constructed during Muslim influence in Spain. Our professor pointed out that none of the changes to the castle during this time contained faces or people, which had something to do with their religious customs I believe.
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| The Ceiling |
Connecting to the main dining room is what I assume to be the throne room, pictured below. There are also stained glass windows throughout the castle, depicting various monarchs.
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| Throne Room with Spanish Crest |
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| Enrique IV "The Impotent" Stained Glass |
One of the last things that we saw was the bedroom of the queen. There was only one queen in the entire history of the castle who shared a bedroom with the king, so there was an adjoining door to connect the two rooms, with only the queen's room being on display.
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| The Room of the Queen |
The last two places we visited were the church and what I call the room of monarchs of Castile. The first king of Castile recognized in the hall is Peyote, in the year 735. The hall contains the monarchs of Castile and has descriptions of each on a plaque below lining the top of the walls. It was incredible to see, and the pictures really can't do it justice. The entire castle was like that, and it is amazing to be able to see and be so close to so many centuries of history.
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| The Church |
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| Room of Monarchs |
The last picture that I took was the view on my way back to my host family. I can't get over how wonderful and old everything is here, and I can't wait to explore even more of the city!
