Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Benabarre; Castle at Benabarre, La Seu Vella Cathedral, Lleida


Start the climb to the castle, up the stairs of the town, and look much farther to the top, tower just visible.  This site originally had been Romanesque, then a castle was built by Moors to protect their positions against Christian Counts.  It became a military landmark, see a page translation for http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=fcf710c3-e4ef-460f-a6ff-df3fe5fa08c5.  Some castles in Spain are defensive against Moors, others are defensive against Christians.

The parish church, Santa Maria, is also here, 15th century.  The bell tower is 16th Century, built on the earlier Romanesque church.  Build, destroy, build, destroy.

We were running out of time and breath, and did not go up. Pedro Garcia de Benabarra, renaissance artist, painted a panel of a large altarpiece then installed at Lleida, below, and now at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. See http://www.gardnermuseum.org/collection/browse?filter=artist:3296


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