La Seu D'Urgell, Cathedral of Santa Maria. Facade, entries, interior doors

History of La Seu D'Urgell.  In the middle ages, in 988, the Counts of Urgell gave control of the area we know as the tiny Pyrenees country of Andorra to the Bishops of the See of Urgell;  power from the secular to the religious.  The lovely cathedral in Urgell had been consecrated far earlier, according to the earliest known document, in 839.  See http://www.world66.com/europe/andorra/history. 

This town was already a major seat of influence.  The Andorrans, who, it is said, received their rights through a grateful Charlemagne whom they helped, wanted ongoing control of themselves, and did not take to intervention easily. The point is that this area is old, and so well preserved by being off the usual tourist routes, as to make a splendid trip. Today, locations of fine old churches are crowded in with surrounding streets, as perhaps they were then, as well. 

 Santa Maria, Romanesque. Facade, La Seu d'Urgell, Spain

Romanesque as a style is far more approachable than Gothic, with its spear-like spires and overkill on gew-gaws.  In some areas, the bulky Romanesque doubled as a place of refuge against invaders.  In this area, against the Moors.

Here, at the main door, is the simplicity of a few columns, an old door with smaller entry-doors, and graceful rounded arches drawing the eye around and into the door, not up and out somewhere to distract.  The courses break up the flat facade, scaffolding holes still there from the old construction. 

Main door, Santa Maria, Seu d'Urguell, Spain.  Romanesque.

From the inside, the door at Santa Maria is still reinforced with metal plates against invaders.  Is it close to original?  Solid beams bar it from the inside.

Main door, fortified, at Santa Maria, from the inside, See of Urgell, Spain

Why should a side door be more ornate in its surround, and the columns more numerous, with faces going around the arches?

Side door, Santa Maria, Seu d'Urgell.  Smaller door, but more and fussier columns

This entry may well be a later addition, when trinkety Gothic came in, and the old Romanesque was seen as outdated. Could that be? The faces around the arches recall a similar arrangement at the Cathedral at Sibenik, Croatia.  There, we were told that it represented a later time in Gothic where the common person began to take precedence over the old stylized arrangement of saints.  See http://croatiaroadways.blogspot.com/2006/06/sibenik-cathedral-faces-market-day-and.html

Faces, ordinary people, archway at Santa Maria, Seu d'Urgell, Spain, cathedral

Love old doors.  Here, the worn spot below the handle represents what kind of wear?  Multiple reinforcements. 

Door from inside, Seu d'Urgell, Santa Maria Cathedral, reinforcements.

Love secret doors to where? This one is barred from the inside, and up a little set of stone stairs,  so not even nice tourists can peek.

Interior door to where? Barred. Seu d'Urgell, Santa Maria, Spain.

Often a decorative entry barrier would be constructed with side entries and a center entry, for more flexibility in exit or entrance.  Here, the carvings are simple, geometric.

Seu d'Urgell, Spain.  Interior door system leading to the main fortified door.

This takes a professional, a real historical architect, to decipher.  Are our tentative conclusions, from guides here and there and not clear English and our Spanish very sad, close or not?

Monastery, down street from Cathedral of Santa Maria, Spain

More interior doors.  See the strong hinges.  Where does this one go?  There were, we understand escape routes out of the church.  This is not in a location where a crypt would normally be accessed, or a mere sacristy. 

Interior door, ornate hinges, Santa Maria Cathedral, Seu d'Urgell, Spain

Now, here is what we missed. 

There is a 9th Century Beatus, the Urgell Beatus, located at the Cathedral archive, the Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, but it does not circulate and was not referenced in our guidebooks.  See http://microfilms-and-facsimiles.medieval.library.nd.edu/catalog/facsimile-430/  These early texts are important in seeing how they, in meaning and illustration, have changed.  There is another uncirculated early Codex in Austria, at Kremsmunster Abbey. 

Cannot the entire Beatus -- as well as thte Austrian Codex -- please be scanned online? Do an Images search for Beatus Urgell and find some there, such bright colors, designs all over the page, and many in Wikimedia Commons.  We would like the entire thing.

More Archives:   look up Google street view and find us waving at the Google car in Seu d"Urgell, and its top camera, on our way back to the parking lot.  We could not locate us, but we did show enthusiasm.

The Parador:  Do treat yourself to a fine lunch, tablecloths, waiters waiting, at the fine Parador here.  Paradors are fine state-run hotels often in very old settings, and quite affordable if not used all the time. This Parador utilizes the cloisters of the old Cathedral, see http://www.paradoresofspain.com/detail.php?item=35

Burgos - Way of St. James, Pilgrimage Point, Cathedral

Burgos, Cathedral, Spain


The Romans took possession of this area around Burgos, while it was "Celtiberian" - the Celts were all over Europe, with first roots perhaps in Eastern Europe. See ://www.watson.org/~leigh/celts.html

Founded as a town in 884, as part of an effort to consolidate where Christians lived, it was part of the Arab Muslim empire for a short time (Arabs held all of Castile, "land of castles," built for the defense of Christians).

There is a beautiful Gothic cathedral, begun in 1221, and work on it continued for 300 years. But Burgos is not the birthplace of El Cid, despite Burgos' tourist claims in attention-getting headers. Even in the fine print of this site you read that El Cid was born in Vivar, a/k/a Bivar, or Bevar.

We had made a special trip over to Bivar before coming to Burgos, and it is a tiny town between Segovia and Burgos. There is a statue there and memorial tower. See post at Spain Road Ways, El Cid at Bivar. See://www.spanish-living.com/regional/Castilla_Leon_Burgos.php. Read about El Cid at ://www.kellscraft.com/elcid.html. Read about Burgos development, wars, alliances and breakups with Navarre and Leon and Aragon, and other major events at ://www.geocities.com/burgosweb/ancient.htm; but remember two things:

1. Time your arrival before 1PM or after 2PM, sometimes 3PM.

Long lunch period, for the main meal of the day and a rest and all is closed; and this is so in many places. Change your eating habits, check the guidebook for times, and enjoy the plaza; and

2. Write down where you park.

Better yet, take a picture of the nearest cross streets and your car if you have a digital camera. By the time you find a space, and walk back through the wonderful, twisty streets, you are among the truly, truly lost. The irritation is just in the time spent - but change your perspective on time, and enjoy where you find yourself.

Burgos is also on the famous pilgrimage route, The Way of Saint James, to Santiago de Compostela - see ://www.thewayof-stjames.com/camino-frances-pyrenees-to-santiago/burgos---leon.html. Pilgrims were given special safe passage, at least that was the idea, and carried or wore a scallop shell to identify them. See pilgrimages and scallops at ://www.stjamesirl.com/html/pilgrimage_shell.htm.

Toledo - Sephardic tradition; and the Visigoths. The Moors

Toledo, Spain, city walls

Toledo is listed as a town as early as the 4th Century BC, as a Roman town, conquered by later "Alans" and Visigoths. It became the capital of the Visigoth kingdom., and was taken over by the Moors, or Muslims, in 711. Alfonso VI reconquered in 1085. , see ://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/quote3.html. History compressed.

The city is prominent in the heritage of the Sephardic Jewish tradition. See muweb.millersville.edu/%7Ecolumbus/data/art/TOLEDAN1.ART. With a car and Toledo, get out of it as fast as you can. Streets too narrow. We stayed at the first little hotel we found that offered parking - in the old Jewish quarter. Perfect location. A view, as here, of only the outer wall area is misleading - inside is a large city with tiny streets, twisting all over.

Cathedral, Toledo, Spain

Here is the Cathedral at the end of one of the little streets. Apparently, vistas of great buildings were not important from a distance.

The city is bounded by a bend in the river and cliffs. Jews, Christians, Muslims lived here peacefully for centuries. ://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Arte%20y%20Cultura/Conjuntos%20monumentales/G/TP/0/Ciudad%20Historica%20de%20Toledo.htm?Language=en

How Toledo fell to the Moors, a/k/a Muslims (are Moors the same as the Arabs and Berbers who initially conquered, or is there a difference with the Ottomans, and is "Moor" any number of those after all the intermarriages who were Muslim?)

. The Visigothic Count Julian had sent his daughter to the palace of the Visigothic King Roderick, where - the King had his way. Count Julian, in his anger, told the Moors who were attacking the city how to get up a hidden path to enter the city. They did, and the rest is history. muweb.millersville.edu/%7Ecolumbus/data/spc/RECON-MD.SPK. Revenge. Other versions have the daughter bathing and the King sees her, etc.

Toledo food: see www.red2000.com/spain/toledo/gastro. There is a fine Parador (government sponsored hotel - see post on Paradors) here, but we stayed in the old Jewish quarter instead in order to be right at street level.

Spanish place names (like Toledo, Ohio) in the US: For anyone with family origins in Spain, look at all the places named for Spain. For a listing of the United States place names from Spain: see factmonster.com/spot/spanishnames.