Travel: Religious Artifacts and Moving Art

14 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by PhoenixKaio in Religion, Spain, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

We touched on some deep religious moments when wandering through some lesser-known sites today. It’s incredibly moving to see the beauty of faith, which is blatantly prevalent when one travels though Europe. You can see the elegance and effort the owner, engineer, and architect invested in the creation of such magnificent buildings. You can see the care that each structural fragment of history is treated with, and how delicately they handle the religious art and artifacts.

It is a challenge for me to fully comprehend this, given how the world, and the experiences of my friends, and my own has shaped my pessimism, glass is half empty views on reality. This is not to say that I am not touched, I truly understand the allure of having faith, I just merely lack it myself. I will admit, it is sometimes a struggle when I visit these prominent examples of medieval faith, for I truly wish I had it too. :/. Today was no exception. 

*Interior pictures were not permitted (as usual) so I am sorry to say I cannot present these locations in their full glory.

The Convent de La Encarcion was founded in 1611 by Felipe the III and his wife, Margarita de Austria. It was intended as a retreat for titled ladies and is the sight of one of the most important catholic reliquaries in the world, storing more than 1500 saintly relics. These include skulls, arms encased in ornate hand-shaped containers, and bones from every part of the body.

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It is best known as the location of the blood of St. Januarius and of  St. Pantaleon. St. Pantaleon was a 4th century doctor-marytr. Legend foretells that if his ‘petrified vial of blood’ does not liquefy on his feast day (July 26 at midnight), great tragedies will occur.

The Monasteiro de las Descalzas Reales was originally the site of a medieval palace home to Charles I of Spain and Isabel of Portugal. Joanna of Austria, their daughter, founded this convent in the mid-16th century. Since this monastery was royally approved, a succession of titled ladies joined, bringing a host of artistic treasures with them. It is still functioning today and houses 23 shoeless nuns of the Franciscan order.

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In the reliquary, a chest is said to house wood pieces from Christ’s cross.

What are your thoughts on Faith? How do you keep it alive? If you don’t, Why do you not believe?

Travel: El Escorial

13 Apr 2013 1 Comment

by PhoenixKaio in Architecture, Religion, Spain, Travel Tags: , , , , ,

Having completed far more than I thought we could in the half-day we had in Madrid after arriving via plane, we decided to take a Day Trip to the site of El Escorial.

El Escorial was formerly the official residence of the King of Spain; it serves multiple functions. It has two primary architectural complexes, which serve the dual purposes of representing the power of the Spanish Monarchy, and illustrating the predominance of Roman Catholicism. Phillip II invested his inexhaustible stores of New World Gold to stem the growing protestant tide during the reformation. Failing to do this, he decided to enlist  Juan Bautista de Toledo as the collaborator on this complex in 1559. However, the building was not completed until 1584, and his apprentice, Juan de Herrera had already taken over due to Toledo’s death.

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Since pictures where not allowed in the interior, a certain percentage of the following photographs are provided courtesy of Wikipedia. I will say, that this is irksome, as pictures themselves do not harm the heritage, flashes do!! I do understand that many tourists do not follow this rule stringently, and I believe this is why photograph capabilities were ruined for all of us. 😦

My favorite rooms are as follows (I swear I walked MILES through the interior of this great structure):

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Basilica

 

Battle

Wikipedia: Hall of Battles

 

Wikipedia: Pantheon of Kings

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Tomb of Infants

 

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Wikipedia: Biblioteca

I’m obviously feeling really lazy today, so I will leave it to you to do the research this time. 😛

Travel: Au Revoir Portugal!

12 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by PhoenixKaio in Architecture, Religion, Spain, Travel Tags: , , , , , ,

I was finally fortunate enough to stay at my first hostel ever! (Since I was staying with my friend’s family while visiting her in Portugal). Unfortunately (or fortunately) it was the off-season, so I had a quiet relaxing day, and enjoyed the room to myself at night. This was probably for the better considering that I woke up a 3:00 AM this morning so I had time to walk the 15 minutes to the OPO Airport in time to catch a 6:30 AM flight.

So, Guess where I am? : P . . . MADRID!

I rendezvoused with my dear mother. While this may not sound optimal, considering the classic vision of a no-holds barred and party hard Euro Trip with close friends, I am both sad that I don’t have that opportunity, but grateful to be spending what could be my last quality moments with her. You see, since my school was on a completely different track than typical universities, Quarters versus Semesters respectively, I don’t have any friends that have the same availability as I do. Furthermore, as I was pursuing a graduate degree, those of my friends who streamlined into the working world have exactly that, work, with limited options or freedom to drop everything and disappear.

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I had planned to complete this trip on my own, and yet, it is nice to have some company. There would have been moments of loneliness and doubt, followed by meeting people from different countries and spontaneously finding bonds of friendship. Don’t you worry though! My mother leaves in 2.5 weeks, and my trip will revert to solo travel as I continue through my next few European nations.

Despite us both being incredibly tired, her because of the 6 hours time-difference, and me because I have the incapacity to sleep early, we managed to pack in our day!

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Palacio Real

Our first stop was the Palacio Real. After the 9th century Alcazar was destroyed in a fire in 1734, Felipe V, who was raised in Versailles, decided to replace it with a much grandeur structure. He never lived to see his vision however, since it was not completed or habitable until 1764. The palace’s exterior is not ostentatious, but is compensated for by the extravagance of the interior rooms.

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Unfortunately, I have limited pictures since most palaces and sites in Madrid do not allow you to take pictures. 😦

After completing the Palacio Real, we meandered back to the Plaza de Oriente to savor some coffee and a snack, and enjoy the fresh open air of the square. We were able to admire the central fountain, which includes a bronze equestrian statue of Felipe IV; it dates from 1640 and is reputedly the first ever bronze depiction of a rearing horse. It is said that Galileo assisted with the calculations to allow it to balance on the horse’s hind legs.

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Almudena Cathedral

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Plaza de Oriente

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then admired the Cathedral de La Almudena, and the splattering of gothic chapels encased within its neoclassical shell. This cathedral was in fact planned centuries ago, but suffered from a lack of funds and a Civil War bombing, so it did not actually open until 1993. The best part was the crypt, which features neo-Romanesque architecture, and more than 400 columns! Each bears its own unique capital.

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This is also the sight of the image of “Our Lady of Flor de Lis” It is one of the oldest images in Madrid having been commission by King Alfonso VI in 1083 AD.

The day was wrapped up by a relaxing stroll the Jardines de Sabatini, and quiet contemplation when gasping at awe at the ancient hieroglyphics that still lay carved on the interior walls of the Temple of Debod. (Unfortunately due to a lack of better preservation techniques, these images are gradually fading from existence).

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Sabatini Gardens

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Temple of Debod

 

Travel: Leiria

10 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by PhoenixKaio in Architecture, Portugal, Religion, Travel Tags: , , , , , , ,

Once again, woke up late, this is becoming a pretty nasty habit since I, as a traveler, obviously want to jam-pack my days with the culture and heritage of the region. 😦 Nonetheless, it was relaxing to take a leisurely day to explore a nearby town, hike up to a castle, and just breathe in the atmosphere of Portugal as I reach my final days in this nation.

We didn’t really get a good head-start until around 3 PM this afternoon, despite the fact that I woke up earlier than I have any other day this week (excluding the day trip to Sintra since travel time was a much larger consideration). My friend has just as much affection for sleep as I do. Zzzzzzzzz!! However, my aunt would argue the following “You are on vacation. You aren’t allowed to wear a watch, you are just supposed to relax and care about nothing.” This statute would be much easier to follow if we tourists did not have to conform our schedules around attraction hours.

We started off by stopping at the “Funmarcia” an interesting twist on the classic Candy Store.You select your pill container  stock it with an assortment of candy, and are written a prescription for it!

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‘Medicines’ can range from being antidotes to lovesick woes, stimulators to improve your sense of humor, or Activators to increase your memory (all in jest of course). It was pretty comic to see all the prescription tag-lines the franchise had come up with; definitely not an innovation yet seen in the states. I almost want to open up a franchise myself! Of course, parents would hate how excited their children get over it. The company is trying to transition to include english prescriptions at this moment.

 

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All this candy provided energy for our short, but steep hike up from old Leira to the Leiria Castle.  It’s location atop the mountain was strategic since it provided military support to the region.

 

 

 

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The town itself was founded by D. Afonso Henriques circa 1135. It was a prosperous economical trade center which marketws major products such as olive oil, wheat, wine and timber, as well as ore, and handicrafts. It is believed that Leiria is the first known Portuguese town to produce paper (1411).

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Despite its origins, which included both Moorish and Jewish districts in the town around the year 1211, it was ultimately chosen by Pope Paul III as headquarters for the Bishop in 1547. The city itself holds a large medley of monuments from the 16th century, the landscape served as a backdrop to a large array of convents.

View from Top

View from Top

Medieval Early Gothic

Medieval Early Gothic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The original plan was to drive to the gorgeous beach town of Nazare, but Portugal’s weather has been uncooperative as of late, and the gloomy sky ended up not boding well for us.

Travel: Mosteiro Batalha

09 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by PhoenixKaio in Architecture, Portugal, Religion, Travel Tags: , , , , , ,

As we continued our day, we went to visit the famed Battle Monastary (Mosteiro Batalha), so named due to a vow given to the Virgin Mary, that should the outcome of a dire-looking battle be victorious, the king would erect a monastery devoted to her. Today, we know this battle as the 1385 Battle of Aljubarrota and the ruler as King John I of Portugal who won a Portuguese victory over the Castilians.

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The monastery itself, took over a century to build and was continuously in construct during the reign of seven kings. Officially, fifteen architects participated in its design. The employed artistic style and complexity of the structural stability were ahead of its time.    The majority of the structure is done in the Gothic Style, but gave way to the Manueline style in its final years of construction.

I have used these expressions quite a few times in recent days, and even I don’t clearly understand the subtle differences between both. The following will be my attempt to illustrate the main features of each.

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The gothic style is an evolution of the older Romanesque style and emphasizes the use of verticality and light. So classic buildings vie away from solid walls and embrace stone skeletons that involve clustered columns, ribbed vaults, and flying buttresses.

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A defining characteristic is a ogival arch. Structurally a pointed arch helped vault spaces that had irregular plans, or brought transverse vaults to the same height as diagonal vaults. Additionally, gothic vaults tend to employ irregularly shaped polygons. This is advantageous because rather than being circular, orthogonal shapes provide clear load paths for the weight to distribute amongst the bearing pears and columns.

Gothic churches also tend to be extremely tall; this verticality suggests an aspiration to heaven. This is emphasizes through the use of towers and spires projecting to the sky as seen on the exterior.

The Unfinished Chapel

The Unfinished Chapel

The Manueline style is also known as a Portugese late-gothic style is evident in many late medieval buildings. Classic elements include intricate stonework with incorporates ship elements such as spheres, anchors, and chains. It also embraces use of items from the sea such as sea shells, pearls, and strands of seaweed.

 

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Travel: Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima

08 Apr 2013 1 Comment

by PhoenixKaio in Portugal, Religion, Travel Tags: , , , , ,

As a result of Saturday night, I woke up late and was unable to maintain our former schedule of events for the day. I spent the afternoon celebrating my friend’s grandfather’s birthday, and enjoyed a wide medley of traditional Portuguese food. This included cod, cauliflower and greens with piglet, rice with duck, and cake (of course). There was also lasagna, although clearly this is not of Portuguese origins :P.

It was delicious, and it was enjoyable to partake in a family celebration while listening to the conversations around me. I was able to pick up bits and pieces due to my background in Spanish. Some of her cousins did speak English and were kind enough to provide tidbits of information so that I could stay involved.

After, one of her cousins was headed to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima, and was nice enough to let me tag along. Fatima is known for being the site where the Virgin Mary appeared to three Shepherd children in 1917. It is said that Mary predicted 3 events would come to pass, and only 2 have occurred to date.

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Franciso Marto

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Jacinto Marto and Sister Lucia

She patiently explained the history behind each aspect of the square, and accompanied me as I took in the sites of such a holy place. We entered the main cathedral, and paid our respects to the tombs of the three children.

 

 

After we exited, we went to light candles in prayer. Some individuals’ purchase was body parts or full wax figures; these are lit and melted by the church. Many see this as sacrificing part of yourself when you are praying for help from God.

On the ground along the square, is a long raised path that is paved in marble. Patrons of the sanctuary will sometimes walk, crawl, kneel, or lie down as they advance this tremendous distance to the chapel, which lies directly beside the tree where the apparition appeared. It is a painful process, and is seen as the deepest way in which to show reparation, devotion, and respect.

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 It is difficult to describe the emotions that I felt. Let me preface this by saying, while I believe in a higher power, circumstances of life have made it difficult for me to be a true believer of any singular religion. I was raised as a Catholic, and spent years as a child attending church in addition to attending a private catholic school. However, my dad is currently a practitioner of Buddhism and I have also attained some of those values as well.

In witnessing the devout attendees of the sanctuary, an overwhelming sense of sadness hit me. I was jealous. In their faces, it was clear that they believed without doubt in the power of God, Jesus, and the mercy of Mary. They were willing to experience pain, and sacrifice symbolic wax figures, in hopes of answers for their prayers. I truly wish that I could also feel this, believe this, and accept this higher power without question. Even when my travel companions went to confession, I refused, having not been in confession for more than a decade. I wanted to attend, but I didn’t know how I could start when it’s been so long since I have had faith.

Is there a religion that you believe in? What keeps your faith strong and persevering?

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