Graus, Plaza Major, Around Town. Joaquin Costa, El Cid

Graus.  A city of arches, pointed or rounded, both reflecting the Moorish period, and it is hard to determine which was originally Romanesque, which influence absorbed whom.  Find in Graus famous people:  find Joaquin Costa, an intellectual who was interested and skilled in so much, and find, we think, or is it legend, El Cid also here, medieval nobleman and military leader.

Graus has preserved its heraldry. Heraldry. Coats of arms. This is the head of a knight above the shield, shield with two zigzag horizontal stripes, curlicues surround.  Meaning? Where to find a comprehensive heraldry catalogue for families of the area.  This is from house #27, Plaza Major, Graus.

Ancestral houses included the Mur, and the Solanas of the 165th Century.  Stonework shows elegant shields.  Can we possibly identify any of these?  House of Mur.  Hose of Solanas.  Experts, to your clickings. 

Heraldry, house, Graus, Spain. Plaza Major

At the battle of Graus, 1062, Aragon (under Sancho Ramiro I) lost to the Moors from Zaragoza (under al-Muktadir).  El Cid is said to have fought under Sancho, see http://www.heritage-history.com/www/heritage.php?Dir=wars&FileName=wars_castilian.php.  Moorish designs remain.

Find the Moor on all sides.

Moorish arch, Graus, Spain

Change happens fast now. One day, note the ruin half destroyed between two finely renovated home structures in the main square.

Graus, ruins amid renovations. Spain.

Next day, find repair work already beginning.

Graus, Spain. Reconstructions ongoing.

And what is this bit of heraldry?  This heraldry looks like a winged dragon with bird feet above a chivalric helmet, plain shield with five vertical partitions.

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Doorways show great variation.

Who came and went.  This shows a scallop shell (apparently) theme above the double door, symbol usually of pilgrims on the Way of St. James, to Santiago de Compostela.

Doorway, Pilgrim's Scallop Design, Graus, Spain. Plaza Major

Streets are narrow.

Dan Widing, narrow passageway, Graus, Spain

Enjoy the square.  No need to find a hotel that does dinner, because dinners in fine restaurants are everywhere.  Here, children were playing soccer in the square, nearly empty because the time to dine is well after sundown.

Plaza Major, Barrichios, Graus, Spain

Dinner begins at 9PM, and all is quiet in the late afternoon. 

Dodge soccer balls if dining early at Plaza Major, Graus, Spain

Houses on the square are each different.

Dan Widing at arcades, Plaza Major, Graus, Spain

On an opposite side, the theme may be colors rather than architectural difference.

Plaza Major, Graus, Spain.

And frescoes -- Casa Pintada.

Casa Pintada, Graus, Spain

Some doorways are below the sidewalk level, showing great age.

Graus, Spain. Inside the door.

Passageways and passageways.

Passage from Plaza Major, Graus, Spain. Arches.

Is this the same as the square of Coreche, where there is a door of the old enclosure wall, dating from 1569.   

Now, find the individuals, some of them, who made this place memorable. And, for a meal early, the famous Graus sausage at a tapas place on the market street beyond the passageway. Longaniza sausage: with its own special day annually -- the endless sausage.  Dry, natural cure. 

1.  Joaquin Costa, 1846-1911, was born in Graus, and died here.  He was self-educated, and rose from his peasant background to become a distinguished intellectual, a lawyer, a politician, a historian and an economist. He sought social and educational reforms.

Joaquin Costa Memorial, Graus, Spain

We chose Graus because we understood there was a great battle here, the Battle of Graus 1063, and that El Cid saved the day.

El Cid:  Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. The birthplace is also spelled Bivar.

El Cid, Vivar, Spain. Birthplace. He went on to fight at Graus, so they sayl.

 We visited Vivar, El Cid's birthplace, during an earlier trip.  See his many battles at http://perso.wanadoo.es/ibg3/med/cid.html/  The tourist helper in Graus said that any number of towns claim El Cid, and we found no tribute to him at Graus.  Surely here is a gap to be filled.  A figure who played both sides from time to time, in an era where that was the way to survive.  See Spain Road Ways, Bivar 

El Cid.  No statue that we could find in Graus, but the stories absolutely must be believed: that he nobly fought here.  Then look no further.


Outside the square are other displays, of early production of what?  A grinding wheel?  A press?

Graus, Spain. Display of early machinery. For what product? Grinding wheel?

Graus, Spain. An early press of some kind.

Overview: http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/otros-destinos/graus.html

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.

Bivar. El Cid, at Bivar (a/k/a Vivar, Bevar)

Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar. El Cid. El Campeador, or

The Champion.

This heroic, enigmatic figure is well remembered, in this little, off-track town where he was born, withfresh flowers right there.

El Cid, Vivar, Spain. Birthplace.

"Cid" comes from the Arabic meaning "sir" or "lord."  This El Cid was the standard-bearer and commander under King Sancho II, heir to King Ferdinand I. He conducted an unauthorized raid into Toledo, angered the new King Alfonso, brother of Sancho (then deceased), was exiled, and then began to serve the Muslim ruler of Saragossa (Zaragoza).

He engaged in much back and forth between sides, then El Cid aimed for control of Valencia, for himself. See http://www.historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwcid.htm. 1043?-1099. 11th Century.

El Cid is also of movie fame. See the 1961 film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054847/. 

He had two swords: Colada and Tezone, see Names of Swords, at http://www.squidoo.com/famous-swords-list.  Colada.  Pina colada?

He is the subject of epic poetry.  See El Cantar de Mio Cid, "The Lay of the Cid,"at //omacl.org/Cid/; and the Arab Alqamah's records of the conquest of Valencia by El Cid. See more on El Cid at ://www.gksdesign.com/atotos/cid/cidhistorical.htm; still trying to find an English Alqamah. Do a search.

In myth, he is a brave knight who fought the Muslims; in reality, probably a mercenary or "soldier of fortune" who was often in conflict with the Christian King. Still, talented, and as honorable as any other good knight of the time. See http://www.enotes.com/middle-ages-biographies/cid-el

Visit his birthplace at Bivar, or Vivar, or Bevar. See www.who2.com/elcid. It will take you up some back roads, and to a tiny village.  There is a well-kept memorial with fine tower to climb up and see the countryside. See historymedren.about.com/library/who/blwwcid.

Some sites say he was born in Burgos, not far, www.azureva.com/gb/espagne/magazine/esmag8burgos.php3, but we found his monument here. Even a Burgos site that claims in one place to be the birthplace later states that Bivar is. See Spain Road Ways, Burgos.

Read about his life at this curriculum site - www.medievaltimes.com/images/Chapter1.pdf

Choose any destination off the beaten track and go there. Best way to learn some history as well. We fill in details at home.

For more on the legends surrounding El Cid, see legends.dm.net/paladins/cid. A paladin is a chivalric model, see http://www.thefreedictionary.com/paladin - and, that site says, the name given to any of the 12 peers of Charlemagne's court. Have honor (?) will travel. See ://www.thrillingdetective.com/paladin.html