Cromleque do Almendres

By far the largest known cromlech on the Iberian peninsula is the

Cromleque do Almendres, the Iberian Stonehenge; it is a few

miles from Evora and is dated at 5,000BC, in age certainly

rivalling some of the oldest megalithic monuments elsewhere

on the Atlantic; there's Vicki, waving from the middle

A little perspective; Portugese archaeology is pretty much

playing catch-up in identifying, interpreting and protecting

the many neolithic sites in these parts; the same can be said

of Spain

The stones are highly dressed and many have
low-relief carvings, mostly of shepherd's crooks

About a mile away, deep in an old olive grove (see illustration above) is

 

The Menhir do Almendres; it and the cromlech are aligned to the
summer solstice sunrise

Chapel of Bones

So, in the 15th century, things were pretty good in Evora. A local boy was king, Portugesers were conquering the world, or at least enslaving as much of Africa as they could get their hands on; in the name of God. Everybody was getting rich and enjoying life. So three Franciscan monks, Mauritius, Laurentius, and Curlius, decided a more serious and contemplative attitude was needed. (This is so ironic in that Franciscans are really among the more fun-loving of the orders; according to me). Anyhow, they went out and dug up the bones of 5,000 graves. Most graveyards are on church grounds and the department of sanitation was told not to interfere; or else. And then they used the bones to decorate the walls of a chapel, since called, imaginatively, the Chapel of Bones, the idea being that seeing all these bones might make you think about mortality, your own, and thus you would live less extravagantly and give more money to the Holy Church. People, including us, continue to flock from all over the world, to plop down their 2 euros (plus an extra 1 if you want to take photos), to see the bones and think about mortality. This is called Cultural Tourism, the ecclesiastical version.

Le Chapel des Bones

Cranium city

This could be you

Nice ceiling work

And, for those of you whose school districts stopped
offering classical languages, this says something like
"our bones are waiting for your bones"

Evora

Evora was a Roman city, then Visigoth, then Moorish, then Portugese, indeed, the home of the House of Avis ("we try harder!"), who were Portugal's rulers in its great years of discovery and exploitation, I mean, exploration. (OK, of just about any town on the Iberian peninsula you can say it was first Roman, then Visigoth, then Moorish....). We were interested primarily in the many megalithic sites near Evora, in the region known as the Alentejo, but Evora itself is of interest.

Amish Cathedral (nyuk-nyuk-nyuk)

Lots of cork souvenirs available, cork everything, really;

but I prefer to get mine out of bottles

Evora central square and church

Temple of Diana, the town's main draw, and in pretty good

shape too

Vicki outside the public library, which was originally the public

jail (tiny reading rooms...)

Old city walls, turret

Back to Portugal

After Avila, we drove back west through central Spain, heading for Evora and its--you guessed it--megalithic sites--staying at an aire east of Merida.

Stork nests and storks all over the Spanish countryside

Free range pigs; these are the ones that make jamon iberico;

muchos dineros

Just outside Evora, Gypsies on the move

Nativity Scenes

The Spanish take their time about doing Christmas. Moreover, where other Christian cultures do nativity scenes--living or dead, life-sized or miniature, you know, a manger, a cow and a donkey, maybe some wise men--the Spanish do nativity towns or even nativity cities. (Collect the whole set!). They are definitely worth a look.

At a park in Toledo

A store in Madrid

At El Escorial

A whole nativity country!

But in Segovia, here was a whole nativity city set for sale

Parents beating a child

Jews preparing a pig for slaughter (it was circumcized, right?)

And--holy crap!--a nativity out-house!

Avila

Avila has the finest old city walls in Spain. The weather was really closing in, and, in our headlong dash to get south, we took some pix of them on the way. Unfortunately, maybe, we had to omit Salamanca from our itinerary. We have already seen a few university towns, and how good could the best plaza in Spain be? After Xian, how good could Avila's walls be? Just a thought...

Avila

Walls

Fun In Segovia

Vicki at the potato chip factory

Yum; carbs...but they were good, very good, the very few she shared with me

This is the church where Isabella (yes, of Ferdinand and 
Columbus fame) was crowned; now shares space with the 
office of tourism and the laundry; sic transit, Gloria...
major big-time gloria

The House of 1000 Beaks

Every town and city in Spain has its own special pastry thing; in Segovia it is 
the egg-yolky ponche; very tasty

The line to buy lottery tickets

Segovia

We drove into Segovia the next day, lucked out on the parking, and spent a pleasant morning just walking and exploring.

Segovia is said to be like a ship, the fortress at the bow, the cathedral amidships, 
etc; this from the nearby hill where we parked for the night...

Its most famous emblem is the Roman aquaduct, still quite intact, in use until 
the 19th century

Note the tong holes in these huge stones; not a dab of mortar 
in this construction, just gravity and friction and ingenuity

In the Plaza Mayor, the Segovia Cathedral

Down the street, another church with apparently Moorish origins

Beautiful Moorish facade

The alcazar, on a cliff 

Ditto; said to be the model for Cinderella's Castle at 
DisneyLand/World; I am not so sure...

El Escorial

Phillip II was Spain's most powerful king at its richest and most powerful time. He was married to the Queen of England and then was nearly the nemesis of England's next queen. He himself was relatively ascetic, ultra-religious ("most Catholic of kings"), a bit of an enigmatic figure. He built El Escorial in the later 16th century, primarily a monastery (he wanted lots of people praying for him) but also the royal residence. A century before Versailles, it has that kind of overwhelming size, massive grey granite throughout, although it is stark and anything but opulent. It houses one of Spain's finest collections of paintings, just about all religious in nature.

Cooler (sub-freezing) weather had been forecasted for Castile, so we decided to accelerate our visit, driving first to El Escorial and then on to Segovia.

We visited on a cold, gray, rainy day that somehow seemed

just right...here, you are approaching the main cluster of

buildings, with the church dome just in view

No pix are permitted in El Escorial, but we did sneak just a

few, including this of the gardens

Central courtyard, looking at the church

Its incredible altar

The king and his family in the wings, in gold....

In the huge Biblioteca, still an important

research site for old manuscripts

No late fines at this library: you get excommunicated!

The astrolabe, "proving" that the solar

system and stars revolve around the earth