The Other Mérida

Regular readers of my blog know that one of my favorite destinations in Mexico is Mérida, the capital of the state of Yucatán.  The city in Mexico, however, is the namesake of a much older city... Mérida, Spain.  On a trip to Spain in 2008, I had the opportunity to visit the original Mérida.

Mérida, Spain, is located in the province of Extremadura, which stretches along the country's western border with Portugal.  Extremadura is a sparsely populated, semi-arid region which was the birthplace of many of the "conquistadores" who set off in the 16th century to find fame and fortune in the Americas.

With a population of around 40,000, Mérida, Spain, is much smaller and quieter than its Mexican sister.  However, its relaxed and pleasant atmosphere reminded me in a way of Mérida, Mexico.

 

The Plaza de España is the center of the city.

 

 

What makes Mérida a worthwhile tourist destination is its history.  The city was founded in 25 BC by the Romans.  Its original name was "Emerita Augusta".  The Emperor Augustus Caesar ordered the construction of the city as a place for retired army veterans to settle.  The town prospered.  It eventually became the largest Roman city in the Iberian peninsula and the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, which consisted of present day Portugal and western Spain.  Today Mérida has more Roman ruins than any other city in Spain.

 

 

The theater of Mérida was built in 15 BC.  It had seating for 6000 spectators.  It is one of the best preserved Roman theaters in existence, and is still used for summer drama festivals.

 

 

 

 

Adjacent to the theater are the remains of the Roman amphitheater.  Built in 8 BC, it seated 14,000 people and was the venue for gladiatorial contests.

 

 

 

 

Nearby the remains of a wealthy Roman home were uncovered.  The house featured beautiful mosaic floors.

 

 

 

 

These Roman columns stand along one of Mérida's city streets.

 

 

 

 

The Temple of Diana was once a part of the city's Forum.  In the 16th century a mansion was built within the pillars of the temple.

 

 

 

 

The Arch of Trajan was probably a ceremonial entrance into the Forum.

 



 

 

Mérida is the home of the excellent National Museum of Roman Art.  The modern, brick building was built to resemble a Roman basilica, and contains an large collection of Roman statuary, mosaics and artifacts.

 

 

 

 

The Roman bridge crossing the Guadiana River is still open to pedestrian traffic.  Consisting of thirty granite arches, it is the longest Roman bridge in existence.

 

 

 



A contrast in old and new... the ancient Roman bridge in the foreground, and the modern span of the Lusitania Bridge in the background.















Toledo

I am not talking about Toledo, Ohio, but the original Toledo... Toledo, Spain.

In a country filled with history, Toledo (pronounced Toh-LAY-doh) is one of Spain's most historic cities.  It is located about an hour to the south of Madrid on the banks of the Tagus River (Río Tajo).  The site of the city was chosen for its superb defensive position, on a hill surrounded on three sides by a loop of the river.

Toledo dates back to the 5th century B.C.  When the Romans conquered Spain, they named the town "Toletum".  Because of its location in the geographic center of Spain, its importance grew throughout the Roman era.  After the fall of the empire, the Visigoths swept into Spain, and made Toledo their capital.  In 711 Spain was invaded by the Moors from North Africa, and Toledo became an important cultural center, a melting pot in which Moslems, Jews and Christians lived together.  In 1085 the city was reconquered by the Christian kingdom of Castile.  The Castilian monarchs and court frequently resided in Toledo, so the city was an unofficial capital of Castile.  The cathedral was the seat of the Church of Spain.  The great Moorish library had survived the reconquest, and a school of translators was established here.  Moslem and Jewish scholars translated the library's texts into Castilian and Latin.  Ancient works of literature, philosophy, science and mathematics, which had been lost to much of Europe during the Dark Ages, made their way back into European culture via Spain.  However, as the Christian faith gained dominance in Spain, religious tolerance fell apart.  Eventually the Jews and Moslems were forced to convert or leave the country.  King Carlos I of Spain (Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire) made Toledo his Imperial Capital in the 1500's.  But the city's prospects for the future were dashed in 1561 when King Felipe II moved the capital to the small town of Madrid.  Toledo receded into the background, but it was a blessing in disguise.  The city remained frozen in time; its architectural treasures survived the centuries.  Today, the entire city is an historic monument. 

These pictures are from trips that I took in 1998, 2004 and 2008.


The walls and gates which protected the city still stand today.

The city is a labyrinth of narrow streets.

The Bridge of San Martín, built in the 14th century, is one of several bridges spanning the Tagus River.

The Castle of San Servando, on the other side of the river, was built in the 11th century after the Christian reconquest. It once housed a Benedictine and then a Knights Templar monastery.

The Alcázar fortress, built in the 1500s on the highest spot in Toledo, was the scene of a bloody battle in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.  Today it is a military museum.

The city is dominated by its Cathedral.  Built between 1226 and 1493, it is considered one of the greatest Gothic cathedrals of Spain.

The Tránsito Synagogue is a reminder of the once flourishing Jewish community in Toledo.  It was constructed in 1356 with the permission of King Pedro I of Castile.  After the expulsion of the Jews, it served as a church and then a military barracks.  Today it is the Sephardic Museum, which documents the Jewish history of Spain.

 

 

 

 

Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand ordered the construction of the Church and Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in 1477.  By building it in the heart of the old Jewish Quarter, they were obviously making a statement about the supremacy of the Church... Fifteen years later they would order the expulsion of the Jews.

 

The building is an example of Isabelline Gothic, a highly ornamented style of architecture popular in Spain during Isabella's reign.

 



For centuries Toledo steel was famous for its high quality, and the swords manufactured here were considered the finest in the world.  The Moors brought with them the art of damascene.  Steel is etched with intricate designs.  Gold filaments are then laid into the design.  When placed into an oven, the steel turns black, but the gold remains beautifully brilliant.  All over the city you will find souvenir shops selling all sorts of items of damascene... jewelry, plates, ornamental objects... and, yes, even swords.

 

 

 

I would be remiss if I did not mention one of Toledo's most famous residents... the great artist El Greco.  Although he was born in Greece (his real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos), the painter spent most of his life in Toledo, and many of his greatest works are found in the churches and museums of Toledo.  In an earlier post I mentioned his masterpiece, "The Burial of the Count of Orgaz".  It is in the Church of Santo Tomé.  Another one of his famous paintings, "The Disrobing of Christ", is to be found in the sacristy of the Cathedral.

 

(image from the web)

 

 



My New Toy

I'm a bit of a dinosaur, and it took me years before I switched from a film camera to a digital camera.  I would always take slides of my travels.  I would show them in my classroom as a teaching tool, and I would invite friends to the house for slide shows.  Many of my students seemed to enjoy my pictures.  As for my slide shows at home, I don't think my friends were saying "Oh, no!  We have to go see more of his darn slides!"  They all seemed to truly enjoy the armchair travels.  To this day I still think that there is nothing like sitting in a dark room and seeing the pictures projected on a screen.

However, when my film camera died, I had to make the transition to a digital camera.  Since 2011 I have been taking digital photos.  I do admit that there are advantages.  I don't have to lug dozens of rolls of film with me on my travels.  I can snap as many pictures as I want, and then select the best ones when I get home.  My digital camera captures pictures inside churches and museums and night scenes that I would have never been able to take with my old film camera.

However, I have literally thousands of slides that date all the way back to 1973 when I made my first trip to Mexico as a college student.  Today I bought an apparatus that scans my slides and uploads them to my computer.  I just tested it out, and the images seem to be of pretty good quality.  Now I will be able to share with you pictures from past trips!  And I'll be spending way too much time scanning slides and adding posts to the blog!

Toledo,, Spain

 

Here's the first slide that I scanned.  Not bad!

April, 2013 - Huichapán

While on a trip to Mexico in April of 2013, my friend Alejandro took me on a day's excursion to the town of Huichapán which is located to the north of Mexico City in the state of Hidalgo.

Huichapán was designated as a "Pueblo Mágico" (Magic Town) by the Mexican Secretariat of Tourism for its historic and cultural qualities.  Although Huichapán is much less touristic than the other "Magic Towns" that I have visited, it was a pleasant and interesting excursion, and it was definitely a place that the typical "gringo" tourist does not visit.

Most Mexican towns have a "zócalo" or central plaza, and Huichapán is no exception.

Facing the plaza are two chapels and a church which date back to colonial times.

 

The interior of the church...

 

 

 

Outside of town is Huichapán's most unique site.  This colonial aqueduct was built to bring water into the town.  Where it crosses a small canyon its arches are more than 100 feet tall.  It is supposedly the highest aqueduct in Latin America.

 

 

 

Today visitors can walk along the top of the aqueduct, following the channel which once carried water.

 







Different Flavors of Spanish

English as it is spoken by a Londoner is noticeably different from American English.  Therefore it should come as no surprise that the Spanish spoken in Madrid is distinct from what is spoken in Mexico City.

Throughout my schooling and my years as a teacher, standard Spanish-American Spanish was always taught.  Given our proximity to Mexico that is understandable.  And just as an American in England will have no trouble being understood, a person speaking Spanish-American Spanish in Spain will be understood.  However an American tourist in Spain, schooled in the textbook language as it is taught in the U.S., might have a bit of difficulty when listening to the Spanish of a person from Madrid.

Obviously, the Spanish language originated in Spain, more specifically in the central Spanish region of Castile (Castilla) which includes the capital city of Madrid.  The most noticeable difference in Castilian Spanish pronunciation is the use of the Castilian "zeta".  ("Zeta" is the Spanish word for the letter "z".)  The "z", as well as the letter "c" when followed by an "e" or an "i" is pronounced like our "th" sound.  So a word like "civilización" sounds like "thi-vi-li-tha-thión".  To our ears it sounds as if the person is lisping.  In fact there was an old wives' tale that Queen Isabella spoke with a lisp, and everyone in the royal court began affecting the Queen's way of speaking.   However, if that were the case, then why isn't the letter "s" similarly pronounced like a "th"?

It should be noted that the Castilian "zeta" is not used universally throughout Spain.  For example, it is not typical of the Spanish regions of Extremadura and Andalucía.  The fact that a large proportion of the Spanish conquerors and colonists who went to the New World came from those areas of Spain, explains why the "zeta" never took hold in the Americas.

There are also differences in vocabulary.  Again, that should not be surprising.  Think of how the British refer to the hood of a car as the "bonnet" or a baby carriage as a "pram".  In Mexico, when you go to the bus station to buy a ticket, you ask for a "boleto"...  but in Spain you ask for a "billete".  In Mexico, orange juice is "jugo de naranja", but in Spain it is "zumo de naranja".  The word "manzana" means apple, but in Spain it also refers to a city block. 

In grammar the biggest difference in Spain is the use of "vosotros".  This requires a bit of explanation.  In the Spanish language there are several words for "you"... there is "tú" which is used when speaking to family and friends... there is "usted", the polite "you" which is used in more formal situations... and there is "ustedes", which is used when speaking to more than one person (comparable to our Southern "y'all").  Are you confused yet?

However, when discussing the differences between Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish, there is a further complication.  In Mexico, if you are speaking to more than one person, you use "ustedes" regardless of whether you are talking to friends or strangers.  But in Spain, you use "vosotros" when speaking to more than one friend.  Not only that, but "vosotros" has its own separate verb conjugations!  So in Mexico, you would say "Ustedes son muy amables." (You all are very kind.)  In Spain it would be "Vosotros sois muy amables".

As a student and teacher of Spanish, I never learned nor taught "vosotros".  We were made aware of its existence, but that's all.  I must admit that I don't even know the verb conjugations of "vosotros", although I recognize them when I read them or hear them.  For the typical tourist in Spain it's not a major issue.  How likely are you to be in a situation where you are speaking to a group of friends?  However, now that I have a circle of family and friends in Spain, I really should become more familiar with "vosotros".  If I am speaking to my cousin Werner and his partner Manuel, I should address them as "vosotros".  Oh well, they realize my Spanish is Mexican.  In fact, Werner has teased me (without any insult intended) that I speak like a Mexican.

I could continue with a discussion of differences between Mexican Spanish and Argentinian Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish... etc., etc.  But your language lesson for today has come to an end!

A Birthday Celebration

This past week I was invited by my sister-in-law Phyllis and her husband Jim to spend a couple days at their home in Columbus, Ohio.  So on Thursday I made the two hour drive down to Columbus.

On the first evening we went to an outdoor concert  of the Columbus Pro-Musica Chamber Orchestra at Franklin Park.  It was a beautiful summer evening, and the concert was very nice.

 

After nightfall, the Franklin Park Conservatory is illuminated in changing colors.

A wonderful setting for an evening of music.

 

 

The reason for the invitation was to celebrate the August birthdays in the family...  my birthday and the birthday of Monika, another family member.  The next evening we went out for supper. 

 

 

 

Monika and I were made to wear silly hats.

Behind us, is Barbara, my other sister-in-law.

 

It was a lovely time, and my thanks go out to Phyllis for her hospitality and for organizing a couple of very enjoyable days in Columbus!