THE GRAND TOUR OF
HISTORIC SPAIN
LEON AND CASTILE
HISTORIC SPAIN
LEON AND CASTILE
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THE GRAND TOUR OF HISTORIC SPAIN LEON AND CASTILE |
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Introduction
From earliest times a recurrent theme of Iberian history has been the effort to politically unify the peninsula. This was a most difficult task both because of the geographical characteristics of the peninsula and the diversity of the people within its boarders.
The Romans were the first to establish hegemony over the peninsula in the 1st Century BC, a unity only achieved after a long and bloody struggle. Rome incorporated Iberia into its vast Empire and concurrently laid a cultural foundation which survived the vicissitudes of later centuries. The Germanic tribes that crossed the Pyrenees in the 5th Century destroyed Roman rule and took two centuries of conflict before the Visigoths extended their control over the entire peninsula. Visigothic rule (from their capital in Toledo) continued until the arrival of the invading Moors (Muslims) in 711. Within a short time the invaders destroyed the Visigoths Kingdom and gained mastery of nearly the entire peninsula. The key word here is nearly, for the Moors never completed the conquest of the extreme north. While the Moors established great centers of civilization in cities such as Cordoba and Seville, and profoundly influence the culture of Hispania (particularly in the south known as Andalusia), new centers of Christian culture and resistance developed in the North. Asturia/Leon, Navarre, Castile, Aragon, Catalonia and Portugal emerged in the centuries following the collapse of the Visigothic Kingdom and keep alive the idea of a unified Christian Kingdom in the Peninsula. This tour will focus on two of the most important of these kingdoms, Asturias/Leon and Castile.
Two major factors contributed to the emergence and survival of these nascent Christian Kingdoms. First, the formidable mountainous terrain and poverty of the northern Spain. While there is little doubt the superior military might of the Moors could have completed the conquest by eliminating the Christian conclaves, there was little in that region to tempt the Moslems to undertake such an arduous endeavor (in retrospect a great mistake). Secondly, throughout the 8th and 9th Centuries there were frequent conflicts among the Moslems themselves. While it was the Berbers of North Africa that had been largely responsible for the conquest, they were treated as 2nd class citizens by the Arabs and often mistreated. This led to frequent conflict within the Moslem territories and gave the Christian North the opportunity to survive, grow and gain strength.
ORIGINS OF THE KINGDOM OF ASTURIAS/LEON
While the Moslems were consolidating their power in most of the peninsula, it was scarcely felt in the middle Pyrenees and Galicia. The first leader of Christian resistance was the semi-legendary Pelayo (possibly related to the last Visigothic king). According to tradition a Moslem force was dispatched to deal with Pelayo and his followers who had fled to the Cave of Covadonga on Mt. Aseuva where they intended to make a last stand. When the battle was fought (probably on May 28, 722) the Moslems were routed and the Kingdom of Asturia was born. It was the first time a Christian force had defeated its Moslem enemy. While Covadonga was a minor skirmish to the Moslems, to the Christians it became the symbol of Christian resistance to Islam. Under Alfonso I (739-757) the tiny kingdom became a reality extending it power over all of Galicia and northern Portugal. The Duero River became the demarcation line between Christians and Moslems. Alfonso III (866-910) know as the Great, continued to expand the boundaries of his kingdom including the capture of Porto. It was Alfonso’s son Ordoño II who in 913 moved the center of the Asturian Kingdom to the city of León, thus he and his successors were known thereafter as kings of León. The Kingdom of Leon was simply a continuation of the kingdom of Asturias.
ORIGINS OF THE KINGDOM OF CASTILE
Though the Moslems abandoned the Duero Valley east of Asturias, the Christians lacked sufficient resources to occupy the region. Consequently, Alfonso I (739-757) laid waste to the Duero Valley creating a no-man’s land separating Asturias and Andalusia. Under Alfonso III (866-910) many castles were erected in the area to block Moslem incursions. In this manner Castile, the land of the castles came into existence as the buffer of the kingdom of Asturias/Leon against Moslem military expeditions. By 882 Castile centered on a small burgus (which became the future town of Burgos) had formed into a county of the Kingdom of Asturias. In the 10th century under Fernán González (923-70) Castile became an independent territory. During the reign of Sancho III (1000-35), King of Navarre, he gained control of Galicia, León and Castile. Upon his death in 1035 his lands were divided among his three sons, with his eldest son Sancho receiving Castile as a Kingdom. Thus, in 1035 Castile came into being as a kingdom. If was this frontier territory which emerged into a county in the 10th century and a kingdom in the 11th that would serve as the primary catalyst in the creation of a New Spain.
Itinerary
DAY 1 DEPART BOSTON FOR MADRID.
DAY 2 ARRIVE MADRID AND TRAVEL TO TOLEDO
Toledo
Toledo is of pre-Roman origin; known in ancient times as Toletum, which fell to the Romans in 193 BC. The city became an important early center of Christianity and its archbishops, the primates of Spain. In the 6th century Toledo prospered as capital of the Visigothic kingdom, and was the scene of several important church councils. Its greatest prosperity began under Moorish rule (712–1085), first as the seat of an emir and after 1031 as the capital of an independent kingdom. Under the Moors and later under the kings of Castile, who made it their chief residence, Toledo was a center of the Moorish, Spanish, and Jewish cultures and thus a great center for translation.
On May 25, 1085 Alfonso VI captured Toledo and established direct control over the Moorish city from which he had been exacting tribute, and ending the mediaeval Taifa's Kingdom of Toledo. This was the first concrete step taken by the combined kingdom of Leon-Castile in the Reconquista. The recovery of Toledo by the Christians was both a major military and symbolic step in the Reconquest of Spain from the Moslems.
DAY 3 CONTINUE VISIT OF TOLEDO
Historical Monuments in Toledo
Museums in Toledo
"View of Toledo" - El Greco
DAY 4 EL ESCORIAL & VALLEY OF THE FALLEN
El Escorial has been declared a World Heritage Site, it was the political center of the empire of King Philip II, where he built a great basilica-church and monastery and organized his royal household and library. The library is shown below:
The pantheon contains his remains, those of his parents the Emperor Charles V and the Empress Isabel of Portugal, and those of his relatives and successors. King Philip chose the site for the complex late in 1562, and the last stone was laid in 1584.
The Basilica contains two great cenotaphs, one on either side of the high altar: to the right, that of the founder, King Philip II; and to the left that of the Emperor Charles V. They are accompanied by members of their families.
El Escorial at night
The Valley of the Fallen (El Valle de los Caídos), completed in 1959
On the way from El Escorial to Avila we will make a brief stop at The Valley of the Fallen. While many think it is nothing more than a monument to Fascism and Franco (which it appears to be), it is a marvelous work of architecture and engineering worth seeing.
The monument is an underground church and tomb topped with a 500 foot stone cross, which can be seen from a distance of 30 miles. Although supposedly honoring all the dead in the Spanish Civil war, only two names are commemorated, those of General Francisco Franco and of José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange).
Most critics see this gargantuan memorial, not as a celebration of post-civil war reconciliation, but rather of Fascist theatricality. Many prisoners from the Republican side lost their lives in the process of being forced to quarry this huge cavern out of the rock.
DAY 5. SEGOVIA & AVILA
Designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site, the old city of Segovia is spectacularly situated atop a long, narrow promontory. It contains a wealth of monuments, including a cathedral, a magnificent ancient Roman aqueduct, and the beautiful fairy-tale spires of the Alcázar, or castle-palace, that towers over the countryside below.
Scattered about the city are half a dozen Romanesque churches of interest, and a church that was once a synagogue.
Although Segovia was populated by the Celt Iberians and evidently by the Romans, the fact that neither Visigoths nor Moors left any mark on the city leads some to believe it was abandoned after the Moorish conquest of Spain and only repopulated as part of the reconquista, towards the end of the 11th century. Segovia is particularly rich in Romanesque architecture and the 13th and 14th centuries were its moment of greatest prosperity and splendor. Today, if not for the thousands of tourists it attracts and its world heritage status, it would be little more than a market town, a provincial capital with less than 60,000 inhabitants.
Roman Aqueduct. It is Segovia's most emblematic monument and the most important example of Roman civil engineering in Spain; it was built to bring water from the Rio Frio high in the Sierra.
No one knows exactly when it was constructed, though the consensus is the first century A.D. when Trajan was emperor. The most unbelievable characteristic is that no binder holds it together, no cement, no mortar, nothing: its entire 800 m length and 30 m height has stood for nearly two thousand years because of its extraordinary construction. You can get a good view of the aqueduct from above by climbing the steps to its west.
Alcázar. Dating from at least the twelfth century, but remodeled, enlarged, burnt down and rebuilt over and over again, the last time in the eighteen sixties, the Alcázar of Segovia is instantly recognizable, having served as the inspiration for the Disneyland Sleeping Beauty castle. Isabel the Catholic was living here when she was proclaimed queen, and received Christopher Columbus here to promise funding for his transatlantic adventure.
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Cathedral. Segovia's cathedral is tucked away in a corner of the Plaza Mayor. It was built to replace a Romanesque one which burnt down in 1520 during the Comuneros War. Work started on the current cathedral in 1525, and the style is extremely late Gothic, the latest in Spain.
AVILA
The history of Avila begins with a Celt Iberian settlement around 700 B.C. The first wall was built by the Romans in the third century B.C., making Avila a strategic point of defense. The peak period of the city was in the 16th century, when wool manufacture allowed its economic take-off. During this boom, many civil and religious buildings were built which still stand in the historic quarter.
The wall is the symbol of the city and it is one of the best kept, medieval walled enclosures in Europe. Its two and a half kilometers perimeter is marked by a hundred towers, six gates and three openings.
The Gate of Leales("The Gate of the Loyal Ones"), one of the main entrances into the ancient city, leads directly to the cathedral, (shown below) which resembles a fortress, erected between the 12th and 14th centuries and the apse of which, called "cimorro", is attached to the wall, making it the largest round turret of the whole bastion.
While Gothic and Baroque elements overlap in the façade, in the interior, the elaborated relieves of the retrochoir and the alabaster sarcophagus of El Tostado, Bishop of Ávila, are astounding.
Within the confines of the wall, medieval areas intermingle with Renaissance houses of noble lineage. The most remarkable building is the Palace of Dávila. It is a fortress made up of four houses, the oldest of which dates back to the 13th century. The compound stands out for its famous Renaissance window.
Nearby stands the Tower of Guzmanes, erected in the 16th century and presently houses the City Council. These are only a few of the more than a hundred mansions and palatial residences that existed in Avila between the 16th and 18th century. The square of Mercado Chico, the place where the ancient Roman forum stood, is now the city centre. The front of the City Hall faces it, as does the façade of the church of San Juan, rebuilt between the 15th and the 16th centuries.
Throughout history, Avila was the birthplace of famous Spanish mystics, like Santa Teresa de Jesus and San Juan de la Cruz.
Saint Teresa of Ávila, known in religion as Saint Teresa of Jesus. b1515, d.1582.
This is evidenced by the great number of churches and convents that are scattered around the city. In Plaza de Santa Teresa is the convent.
Places to visit in the city of Avila, World Heritage Site
DAY 6 SALAMANCA
History
Salamanca was populated by Celt Iberian tribes in 4th century B.C. Its strategic situation made it an object of conquest by Hannibal and the Carthaginians. When the Iberian Peninsula was conquered by the Romans, the city was Romanized and annexed to the Province of Lusitanian. Greek historians referred to the city as Helmantike, and later Salamantica, it wasn't until the 13th century that it became known as Salamanca.
Roman Bridge
It was Christianized before 600 AD by the Visigoths, and conquered by the Moors 120 years later. King Alfonso VI reconquered Salamanca in 1096 (he had recovered Toledo in 1085) and gave its governance to his son-in-law, Count Raymond of Burgundy.
The city had suffered a great deal and lost much of its population since it was located in the heart of Castile which remained a no-mans-land between Christians and Moslems. Because of this, a program of re-population was undertaken by Alfonso and Raymond.
An important date in Salamanca History was 1218, when King Alfonso IX founded the General Study, precursor of the University of Salamanca. It became a University during the reign of Alfonso X "The Wise". In 1254 Pope Alexander IV called the University of Salamanca "one of the four leading lights of the world" (along with the universities of Oxford, Paris and Bologna).
Library, University of Salamanca
The University of Salamanca has spawned numerous famous personalities including Fray Luis de Leon, a Renaissance scholar of the late XVIth century. His ideas prompted his fellow professors to turn him over to the Inquisition and he was imprisoned for several years. He returned to the same classroom the day he was released from prison and resumed his lecture with these famous words: "As we were saying yesterday”.
Emperor Felipe II married his first wife, Maria of Portugal, in Salamanca in 1543. Later Salamanca took part in the Succession War in favor of Felipe V, who later built the Plaza Mayor in 1710 in gratification.
The time of greater suffering for Salamanca was XIXth century, during the Peninsular War. From 1808 to 1811, Salamanca was a battleground between armies disputing the hegemony of Europe. Salamanca's presence in the 20th century was mainly centered in the cultural and literary life around the University of Salamanca.
In 2002, the town was named a European Capital of Culture, which provided a new impulse to this dynamic and cosmopolitan city.
OVERNIGHT SALAMANCA
DAY 7. LEON
León was founded in the 1st century BC by the Roman 6 Legion VI Victrix. In 68 AD. Legion VII Gemina created a permanent military camp, which was the origin of the later city. Its modern name is derived from the city's Latin name Legion VII Gemina. That Roman legion was recruited by the Roman Galba from the Iberian population to protect the territory from the wild mountaineers of Asturias and Cantabria, and to secure the transport of gold extracted in the province. This Legion Camp in Asturias grew into an important city, which resisted the attacks of the Visigoths till A.D. 586, when it was taken by King Leovigild. Leon was one of the few cities which the Visigoths allowed to retain their fortifications. During the struggle with the Muslim invaders, the same fortress, which the Romans had built to protect the plain from the incursions of the mountaineers, became a main source of defense against the Moslem invaders.
The post-Roman history of the city is largely the history of the Kingdom of Leon. As the Kings of Asturias regained territory to the east the capital was moved from Oviedo to Leon and in name the Kingdom of Leon replaced that of Asturias.
The kings of Leon continued to pursue an active policy of reconquest. They expanded their sphere of influence into the lower Duero valley (northern Portugal) and, from there, eastward toward the upper Ebro valley. To secure the newly gained territory, castles were erected, after which the region of Castile was named. Leonese expansion did not come without setbacks, the worst being the sacking of Santiago de Compostela by Muslim forces in 997. The defeat at the hands of Al Mansur was of such a kind, that Leon was compelled to recognize the Caliphate's suzerainty over Leon and to fight alongside his forces against King Sancho of Navarre. Not until the reign of King Alfonso V could the Kingdom reestablish its independence and resume the Reconquista. With Portugal to the west and Castile to the east, Leon could only expand southward. The most important city gained by Leon during this period was Salamanca in 1096. In 1230 Leon and Castile were united permanently into a single kingdom.
Monuments and places of interest
León possesses many impressive monuments, from outstanding medieval to avant-garde modern buildings.
The most notable monuments are the Gothic Cathedral, with its excellent stain glassed windows, the Basilica of San Isidoro, with its tombs of the Kings of León and fine Romanesque paintings, and the old monastery of San Marcos (currently a luxurious parador) with an exuberant plateresque façade.
The Palacio de los Guzmanes, the site of the provincial parliament, contains an impressive patio in the plateresque style. The old quarter of the city conserves a large part of the medieval wall and some remains of the original Roman wall. There is also the Casa de Botines, a Neo-Gothic styled building and an excellent example of the architecture of Antoni Gaudí.
León is the headquarters of the Castile and León Museum of Contemporary Art. It is an impressive modernist structure with a distinctive facade formed out of thousands of large stained-glass panels. The nearby León Auditorium has an equally striking presence of crisp white cubes perforated by irregularly set windows.
OVERNIGHT LEON
DAY 8 BURGOS
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Burgos City Gate |
Burgos Cathedral |
Burgos is a both a province (la provincia de Burgos) and the capital city of the province. It is the second largest city in Castilla y León in terms of population (166,000) and is centrally located between Madrid and the northern coast and the eastern and western coasts. Burgos was founded in the 880s as an outpost of the expanding Christian frontier, when Diego Rodriguez, count of Castile was ordered to increase the Christian population. Consequently, he gathered the inhabitants of the surrounding territory into one fortified village, whose Visigoth name of Burgos signified consolidated walled towns (Gothic burgs). The county of Castile, subject to the Kings of Leon, continued to be governed by counts, Fernán González being the greatest of them, established an independent Castile.
During the eleventh through thirteenth centuries Burgos matured into a major medieval city. During this time Burgos became an important city economically, religiously, and politically. The principal product at the time was wool, a highly sought commodity throughout Europe. During the 11th -15th Centuries the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (el Camino de Santiago) brought people from all over Europe through Burgos with great profit to the town. Throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Burgos was a favorite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favored burial site.
EL CID (Most famous Son)
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar 1040-1099,), known as El Cid Campeador, was a Castilian nobleman, military leader and diplomat, who after being exiled, conquered and governed the city of Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was the alférez, or chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most important commander in the fight against the Moors. The name "El Cid" comes from the Spanish article "El", which means "The" and the dialectal Arab word سيد "sïdi" or sayyid, which means "Lord". So "El Cid" could be translated as "The Lord". The title "Campeador" is a Vulgar Latin word that could be translated as "master of military arts".
El Cid
The great national hero of Spain was born in Vivar just 5 miles north of Burgos and is buried with his wife in the Burgos Cathedral.
Tomb of El Cid
Historical records show that El Cid's father Diego Laínez was part of the minor nobility of Castile. El Cid was educated in the Castilian royal court, serving the future king Sancho II, son of Ferdinand I ,(The Great). Sancho was murdered in 1072 and many think his assassination was a result of a pact between his brother Alfonso and his sister Urraca ; some scholars also believe the siblings (Alfonso and Urraca) had an incestuous relationship.
Royal tomb at Burgos Cathedral
Since Sancho died unmarried and childless, all of his lands including Castile passed to his brother Alfonso. Rodrigo eventually quarreled with Alfonso, was exiled, conquered the city of Valencia which he ruled for many years and won many famous victories against the Moslems before his death in 1099.
The early nineteenth century Spanish War of Independence saw Burgos occupied by the French from 1808 to 1813. During their retreat, the French destroyed many of the city’s buildings, including the near 1,000 year old castle (which was modified and/or rebuilt during that time).
Cathedral, distant view
Gargoyle, Burgos Cathedrall
In general, the nineteenth century was a time of modernization and growth. The newly organized Spanish state created province capitals with Burgos being one. This period was also marked by the renovation of the oldest parts of the city and the building of new public buildings including the Teatro Principal.
Countryside near Burgos
Today, Burgos is an important city, historic and modern, urban and rural. It has a rich cultural and historical past evident in the magnificent buildings, statues and people.
Celebration, Burgos
DAYS 9-10 MADRID
The site of Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, as demonstrated by numerous artifacts found during excavations along the banks of the River Manzanares. Many of these objects (axes and small Paleolithic objects, remains of large mammals, Neolithic ceramics, etc.) can be seen at the National Archaeological Museum.
Madrid is not mentioned in the chronicles until the late tenth century, when there was already a fort or castle where the Royal Palace stands today. This fort was occupied by the Moors, who having named the River Manzanares al-Magrit ("source of water"), referred to the area as Mayrit (from which Magerit, then Madrid) and around which the borough of Madrid developed in the following centuries.
The old Arab walls surrounding this settlement can still be seen today:
The Moors ruled Madrid until 1085 when it was conquered by Alfonso VI in his advance towards Toledo. This king ordered the main mosque to be "purified" and consecrated as a Catholic church under the guidance of the Virgin of the Almudena, the name deriving from a religious icon. La Virgen de la Almudena later became Madrid's female patron saint, who gives her name to Madrid's cathedral.
After being destroyed by fire during the reign of Enrique II, the city was rebuilt by his grandson Enrique III (1390-1406). Surviving from that period are the Churches of San Jerónimo, and Del Paso, the Tower of Lujanes in the Plaza de la Villa, (opposite the Ayuntamiento or City Hall) where Francis I of France was held prisoner after his defeat by the Emperor Charles V at Pavia ( Italy) in 1525.
Royal Palace
Madrid was a favorite city of the Emperor Charles and his son, Phillip II moved the Imperial Court to Madrid in 1561 without making any official declaration. The population of the new capital was around 25,000 at the time.
Madrid enjoyed significant changes during the 18th century, when city gates, bridges and new buildings gave it a new appearance. The Royal Palace (also called the Eastern Palace - Palacio de Oriente) was constructed on the site of the ruins of the old Moorish Castle. The reign of Carlos III (1759 - 1788) helped to greatly improve the appearance of the city. The work on the Royal Palace was totally completed (as we know it today), as was the construction of the city gates of Puerta de Toledo, Puerta de Segovia and Puerta de Alcalá, together with the Royal Theatre, the building that now houses the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda), the Natural Science Museum, the Botanical Gardens.
Retiro Park
Retiro Park was significantly improved and the fountains of Cibeles, Neptune and Apollo were all constructed.
Post Office
These endeavors resulted in making Madrid one of Europe's most beautiful capital cities.
DAY 11. RETURN TO U.S.
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