Graus. Puente de Abajo; Bridge, Rivers, After hours

Late afternoon. The medieval bridge, over the River Esera.  On a smaller scale here, the pointed arch resembles the bridge at Mostar, Bosnia.

Puente de Abajo was built in the 11th Century, wide enough for a cart to cross.  Repairs were made in the 14th century.

Graus, Spain. Puente de Abajo; medieval bridge

Graus: where the River Isabena meets the River Esera.  This is the Esera.

Graus, Spain. River Esera.

There is white water rafting on the Esera River, but not here.

Gorge, outside town.  Relax.

Graus, Spain; after hours

Graus. Church of San Miguel. Religion Repurposed?.

Church of San Miguel, Graus, Spain.

Architectural Clues to History.

Religious site.  Romanesque first, then Muslim? Back to Roman Catholic.
Interior of San Miguel.  And the Steeple-Minaret.

Church of San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Minaret / Steeple.
teeple?

The Church of San Miguel in Graus is on a side street, Romanesque in style, easily overlooked. Romanesque. That does not tell us much about its history. Romanesque as an architectural style covers an era ranging from 600-1000 AD. But Moors occupied Spain, beginning 700 in the south, and moving out and around until they were defeated by the Catholic Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492. Moors occupied the Huesca area, Graus included, since the 800's.  See http://clio.missouristate.edu/chuchiak/HST%20350--Theme%207-Maps_of_the_muslim_conquest_of_s.htm.  Until the Reconquest, that is some 700 years of Muslim rule in the area. What is the earliest date for a construction of a religious structure on this particular site?  The history of Spain: Visigoths were the Christians before the Moors, is that so? See http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=ecs

That presents an issue in identifying origins, or repurposing of buildings.

• Repurposed buildings.  Moors occupied Spain (700-1492). So, was this building constructed before the Moors arrived in this particular place? Or was it constructed in the older style, after the Moors had prevailed. There are elements of Christian, Jewish, Islam.

• Is it, instead, an early Romanesque structure, repurposed into a Mosque, then repurposed back. Do parts of it predate or coincide with the occupation? For a primer on Romanesque, see http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Romanesque_architecture.html.  The steeple part looks more like a minaret than a Romanesque steeple. Did a mosque repurpose an old Romanesque Church, or did the church repurpose a mosque?

1.  Could religions really coexist. We don't do well now.  Did earlier groups do better?

We know that Christians and Jews could practice their religions under the Caliphate, the Moorish occupation from 700-800 to1492, give or take, with tax and status restrictions, under that Muslim rule. Interesting. 

Muslims conquered most of the Iberian peninsula, but did not respond against the locals by forcing them to leave, or forcing them to convert to Islam.  Any who did not convert could remain, subject to some but not onerous restrictions, compared to death.  The Muslims did not expel Christians or Jews, but incorporated their talents, again with restrictions if they chose to remain.  See http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/spain_1.shtml.

• Digression. Who really started persecution against other religions, Christians in Europe, with their heretic persecutions and killings; or Muslim, who offered choices, including remaining and practicing one's own religion, but with taxation and status restrictions. Or leave.
•   It was only with Spain's Catholic Ferdinand and Isabella, and the reconquest in 1492, that Christian approved history adopted formal forced expulsion of Jews from Spain, those who would not convert to Catholicism. Nice. Who is more "Christian" - the coexisting Muslims over 600 years; or the Christian persecutors forcing their ways on others.  And, confiscating their property.  Leave, but with nothing.

2.  Dates. So, what is the date of this Church?  It has undergone several periods of change.  The exterior remains simple and Romanesque, see http://www.spain.info/en/que-quieres/ciudades-pueblos/otros-destinos/graus.html

Wait for the baptism to conclude, and then explore further. The interior worship area at the front, the apse-end, is not Romanesque in appearance, except for the rounded arches. It looks traditional Christian. This rite is totally Roman Christian.  We sat through it. This section looks like any Catholic Church anywhere.  Fungible.

Church of San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Baptism. Altar panels, Crucifix.

The altar panels are Gothic, and date from 1450-1500.  The crucifix was donated in honor of Graus' patron saint, San Vicente Ferrer, in the year 1415.  San Vicente Ferrer:  Big festivities bubble and dance up the town, with the town's signature sausage, annually, see September fiesta that we missed.  Overviews at http://articulos.altoaragon.org/i_osca87.htm
San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Mural.  Dedication. Details?

3.  History shows not in the apse, at the altar area, but in the "cross beam" of the cruciform structure now in place for the shape of the church, and in the lower upright beam of that kind of structure. Rounder churches from earlier days were forcibly recreated to look like crosses after the Roman system prevailed.  

Cruciform churches had not been the rule before the rise of Rome's version. In earlier times, there were round churches in Christendom.  Mostly.  Charlemagne's chapel is round, so are many others.  See Egalitarian.  The priest equally accessible, all sides, all people.  No secrets. The cruciform imposition came with dogma and hierarchy.

Older dates. The more interesting elements of San Miguel are the older traces of times past:

San Miguel, Romanesque portion remains.  But note pointed as well as rounded arches. 

Were the pointed arches because the building was originally a Mosque?  It is claimed to be Romanesque, so these would not have been Gothic structures.  Both Muslim and Gothic used pointed arches. And Muslim and Romanesque used rounded.  This is why we go to less-travelled sites. Find traces without agenda added.

San Migue, Graus, Spain.  Pointed arches are also Muslim, or later Gothic.  Was this structure originally a mosque? or iwas it, for a time, repurposed Romanesque Christian.

3.  Look up, at the apex of converging arches. Whose symbolism visually, if not struturally, anchors the arches?

San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Apex, Repurposing. Non-Convergence of arches. Is this a representation of a Pilgrim, Way of Saint James?

Is that a pilgrim hat, for the Way of Saint James, one of the medieval (and contemporary) pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. at the Portuguese end of Spain, north, west.

Keep your eyes off the glitz of the Gothic, there at the Baptism area, and instead focus more on the older areas for roots.Then look up again.

 This apex symbol, again where Romanesque-Muslim arches converge, the contact point looks dogmatic; looks Celtic, even Irish.  There is a central Crucifix form, then the heraldic-shaped shields, with target in two, shield triangle in one, and cross in another. This looks old, but that assessment would take an expert. What are those symbols?

Saint Michael, Graus, Spain.  Apex of vaulting, Crucifix, then sheild heraldry, enclosed triancle, cross, target circles?

Showing the old history of changes, the arches seen from inside are off-kilter, suggesting repurposing, rebuilding, reconstruction. From what? Which came first?  All the changes at The San Miguel Church, cannot all be reconciled.  See how the arches here do not meet at the same point.  which is before, which is later.

San Miguel. Graus. Spain. Arches do not converge.  Which experts can trace origin?

Then look agaom at eye level.  Find different symbolism at a side area:

First, the Ten Commandments, and then a coat of arms.  The Ten Commandments.  Both Jewish and Christian.  What is the Koran position? No idea. So, was this Jewish-Christian tradition. When was this circular apse on the side constructed?  See the Ten Commandments, and then, below, another representation.

San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Mosaic, large tile, Ten Commandments. And, lower area, a coat of arms

The lower symbol:  It looks like a coat of arms. Which?

Now: Peer at the shape on top of that lower symbol.  Is that the large-brimmed hat worn by pilgrims on the Way of Saint James?  If so, we would expect a scallop shell to firm up the identification.  Coat of arms is in four quadrants, check the elements.

This is the Coat of Arms of Alonso of Aragon, Archbishop of Zaragoza and Valencia, and Lieutenant General of Aragon  looks like the symbol in San Miguel, Graus, found at Wikimedia Commons.  Tassles, not scales, not bells. Now, what cross displays the double bar?  Recall that in early "Christian" expansion days, popes and clergy went off to war and killed like anybody else. See Roncesvalles, Song of Roland (Charlemagne era).

Coat of Arms, Alonzo of Aragon, ArchbishopWikimedia Commons

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/Coat_of_Arms_of_Archbishop_Alonso_of_Arag

This may be Saint James, scallop shell suspended on the shaft, large brimmed hat.  Graus, as other towns in the Province of Huesca, is on the route of the Way of Saint James, all finally converging after Pamplona.  The Way itself is many routes.  The Spanish consider the Pyrenees to be the real beginning, those arriving from France being preliminaries.  On the way: to Santiago as El Camino de Santiago 

San Miguel Church, possible St. James statue, Way of Saint James

What is this coat of arms?

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San Miguel, Graus, Spain. Baptismal font? But not Christian symbolism?

Graus. Old, Ordinary Purpose Structures Survive.

A fascination in Graus is the riches of old structures, especially ones used by ordinary people, or for routine purposes such as warehousing, storage.  How were these buildings constructed, how did they stabilize arches, lintels, why does the wood still hold. Look at the ingenuity of construction.

Look at the number of courses of rubble, rock, worked stone, all mix.  Moorish round arches, the rounded arch = Qoos ( قوس ) are found in the main square and look just like the Romanesque or Roman round arch, but for lesser folk, did the simple lintel, as used here, suffice. 

Old row house. Or storehouse? Graus, Spain

Row structure entry, wooden lintel doorway, Graus, Spain

Do these log ends mean a floor inside is propped by these as floorboards?

Log ends, for floorboards inside? Graus, Spain structure.

Barred window, storage structure (or homes?), Graus, Spain

Log in wall, Graus, Spain

 Doorway, storage structure or servant-class home, Graus, Spain

Graus. The Bishop's Palace. Palacio del Obispo, and Hotel Palacio del Obispo

Graus had been the capital of the region, and old opulence in buildings remains.  This fine hotel, Hotel Del Palacio Obispo, Palace of the Bishop, is at the historic district, and offers glimpses of the past in its 15th Century structure.

Bishop's Palace, Palacio del Obispo, now Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Inside is sleek, modern.

Interior, Hotel Palacio del Obispo

With echoes of the old.

Bishop's Palace Hotel, eclectic mix.

A town landmark is the Basilica of the Virgin of the Rock (Virgen de la Pena) clinging to the cliff just outside town.  See it from the hotel room.

View, Basilica de la Virgin of the Rock, from window of Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Wait for the sunrise to catch the summit, Basilica de la Virgen del Pena, Graus, Spain, from the hotel window.

Room at hotel (Bishop's Palace), view, Basilica of the Virgin of the Rock, Graus, Spain

Look down.  There is a small courtyard, with a mural of the Basilica.

Courtyard mural, Hotel Bishop's Palace, Graus, Spain.

Then take a closer look at the Basilica.

Basilica de la Virgen de la Pena, Graus, Spain.  Virgin of the Rock.

The concierge and his wife may even take you to the basement, what would the Renaissance palace-builders have called it?  Rustication was in vogue -- stonecutters cutting masonry blocks, beveling edges deeply, and leaving the central area, the face, in a rough condition.  See http://www.answers.com/topic/rusticate.  With those skills, what is mere walling with masonry, and what is the result of rustication?

Original wall, and original concierges, at Hotel of the Palace of the Bishop, Graus, Spain

Now, to the basement.

Door to basement, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Down the steps.

Dan Widing, in basement of Palacio del Obispo, Graus Spain. Hear something, Dan?

Tried to do a closeup of the coat of arms. Color is not orange.  Must go back and adjust. Camera is old and I, amateur. 

Still, parse the quadrants of the coat of arms. Top left, unclear.  Top right, looks like a rearing elephant. Bottom left, profile, bottom right, 8-pointed star -- or a compass, same configuration; or representation of the sun. Tassles and roping, three heads, look alike with mustaches, caps, and we speculate that is the Bishop Himself. Who was he? Or was he just a secular noble?

Coat of arms reproduced in wall, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, basement.

The elephant may refer to Hannibal who, in the Second Punic War, led his elephants across Hispania to get to Rome, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_Spain/. Is that a turbaned head, lower left?  that could refer to the era of Moorish occupation. The official coat of arms for Aragon also shows a turbaned head, with side ties hanging down. Do search in Images for Aragon or Huesca or Graus coats of arms.


This appears to be rustication as well as original rubble and rock and mortar, but an expert would have to examine.

Masonry, rustication? Hotel Palacio Del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Vaulting:

Vaulting, Bishop's Palace Hotel, Graus Spain; and modern climate control

Now, back to our room.  Elegant.

Hotel Palacio del Obispo, room entry, Graus, Spain

Rusticated walls? Original wall? Note that we travel light.

Room, Hotel Palacio del Obispo

Excellent.

Room, Hotel Palace of the Bishop, Graus, Spain

We have seen many wall mountings.  This, at the hotel, caught every change in the light.

Wall mount, Hotel Palacio del Obispo, Graus, Spain

Applaud the repurposing of this historic 15th Century structure, the Bishop's Palace, Palacio del Obispo. For road trippers, the added advantage to having such fine accommodations, is the parking.  Right across the street.

There are other hotels, including the Hotel Lleida, but we wanted to be closer to the old parts, away from busses.

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