Alcázar de Toledo

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Alcázar
Calle de la Union
Toledo, September 2022

“The Alcázar of Toledo (Alcázar de Toledo) is a stone fortification located in the highest part of Toledo, Spain. It is a large quadrangular building measuring 60 meters on a side, framed by four large towers 60 meters high, each crowned by the typical Madrid spire. Most of the city was rebuilt between 1939 and 1957 after the siege of the Alcázar during the Spanish Civil War. Once used as a Roman palace in the 3rd century, it was restored under Charles I (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) and his son Philip II of Spain in the 1540s. In 1521, Hernán Cortés was received by Charles I at the Alcázar, following Cortes' conquest of the Aztecs. The name is from Arabic al-qaṣr ‘the castle’ (ultimately, from Latin ‘castrum’).” (Alcázar of Toledo, Wikipedia)

San Francesco

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“San Francesco” (Saint Francis) by Harry Marinsky, 2000
Via Martiri di Sant'Anna
Pietrasanta, September 2021

Catedral de la Almudena

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Catedral de la Almudena (Almudena Cathedral)
Plaza de la Armería
Madrid, September 2022

“Almudena Cathedral (Santa María la Real de La Almudena) is a Catholic church in Madrid, Spain. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. When the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the seat of the Church in Spain remained in Toledo and the new capital had no cathedral. Plans for a cathedral in Madrid dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena were discussed as early as the 16th century but even though Spain built more than 40 cities overseas during that century, plenty of cathedrals and fortresses, the cost of expanding and keeping the Empire came first and the construction of Madrid's cathedral was postponed. Making the cathedral the largest that the world had ever seen was then a priority. All other main Spanish cities had centuries-old cathedrals, and Madrid had its own old churches, but the construction of Almudena only began in 1879. The cathedral seems to have been built on the site of a medieval mosque that was destroyed in 1083 when Alfonso VI reconquered Madrid. Francisco de Cubas, the Marquis of Cubas, designed and directed the construction in a Gothic revival style. Construction was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, and the site lay abandoned until 1950, when Fernando Chueca Goitia adapted the plans of de Cubas to a baroque exterior to match the grey and white façade of the Palacio Real that stands directly opposite. The cathedral was completed in 1993, when it was consecrated by Pope John Paul II.” (Almudena Cathedral, Wikipedia)

Synagogue of Pisa

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Synagogue
Via Palestro
Pisa, April 2022

“Pisa’s synagogue is documented as having occupied the same building since the end of the sixteenth century. Initially rented, the complex was purchased in 1647 and first renovated in 1785. In 1861-65 it was renovated again, to a project by the architect Marco Treves. Treves was a Jew from Vercelli who was working in Tuscany at the time, where he designed some major works for his Jewish clientele. The façade was redesigned, and is simple with classical forms. The main hall of the synagogue, situated on the first floor, was raised, and Treves added the second order of windows, and the large pavilion vault adorned with understated neoclassical decorations. The furnishings were rearranged to reflect a new layout that had become popular during the emancipation era, inspired by Catholic churches. The tevah, enclosed by a semi-circular balustrade in walnut wood, was now placed next to the area of the aron hakodesh, creating a single focal point, similar to the chancel in churches. The central space was entirely occupied by pews, arranged in two sectors of parallel rows facing the aron. On the opposite side, above the entrance, is the women’s gallery.” (Synagogue of Pisa, Visit Jewish Italy)

Double-tiered arches

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Columns and double-tiered arches
Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba
(Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba)
Calle Cardenal Herrero
Córdoba, September 2022

“The original mosque had a roughly square floor plan measuring 74 or 79 square meters per side, equally divided between a hypostyle prayer hall to the south and an open courtyard (sahn) to the north. As the mosque was built on a sloping site, a large amount of fill would have been necessary to create a level ground on which to build. The original mosque's most famous architectural innovation, which was preserved and repeated in all subsequent Muslim-era expansions, was its rows of double-tiered arches. Much speculation has been offered on the inspiration for this particular design, including the alleged similarity of the arches to a forest of palm trees from Abd ar-Rahman's youth in Syria; however, a more technical motivation may have been the fact that the available columns being reused from previous buildings were not tall enough on their own to raise the ceiling to the desired height. The precedent of multi-tiered arches was also already present in the Iberian Peninsula thanks to remaining Roman aqueducts (e.g. the Milagros Aqueduct at Mérida).” (Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, Wikipedia)

New Renaissance

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New Renaissance by Giuseppe Veneziano, 2021
Piazza Carducci
Pietrasanta, September 2021

Carmen la Cigarrera

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“Carmen la Cigarrera” by Sebastián Santos Rojas, 1973
Paseo de Cristóbal Colón
Seville, September 2022

“Carmen is a story known worldwide about love, passion and jealousy, located in Seville. Written by the French author Prosper Merimé in 1845, it was catapulted to fame thanks to the opera adaptation by Bizet. Its premiere on the 3rd of March 1875 was a failure. Nevertheless, it set the basis for a new type of opera and has become one of the most represented and best known French operas in the world. The story in the novel is set in Seville at the start of the nineteenth century and the lead characters are Carmen, a beautiful gypsy with a temper who works in the Royal Tobacco Factory in Seville and Don José, a former soldier who falls so deeply in love it drives him crazy. Some of the incidents in this renowned opera happen in the most representative locations in Seville, a route which can be explored.” (A walk through Carmen’s Seville, Hotel Ribera de Triana)