Burgos Cathedral, 2

More of Burgos...

In one of the chapels, numbered floor tombs; let's see, 18,
14, 19, 15...defensive backs obviously

Back side of the altar, some restoration going on

Christian graffiti

In the large halls around the cloister green

Casket of El Cid; it's a long story; not in the movie

Bishops' gallery

Visigothic Bible, 960AD

Play of light in cloister hall

Killing Moors; at least it's not in the altar...

Mine's bigger than yours department: present footprint
super-imposed on former Romanesque church

Burgos especially needs a model to be intelligible

South-side plaza

Burgos Cathedral, 1

We decamped and drove on to Burgos to see its famous cathedral. The town itself is beautiful but not very RV friendly. We wound up parking in a large free lot out by some new apartment blocks. Still only 1.5k from the cathedral and historic center.

I am still processing Burgos cathedral. It was begun in the early 13th century, but it was not completed until the 16th; it is of moderate size, is flamboyant Gothic inside and out and very impressive to look at from the outside.  It's on the inside that I have problems. In most such churches, you can see the extent of the place, and, normally, are humbled and awed. In Burgos, the choir and chancel are of such size and height that you simply can't see from one end to the other. Disappointing, especially when the exterior is so impressive. Moreover, the church is literally surrounded by 15 different and sizable chapels, again limiting or distorting one's sense of the larger building. And then there are the cloister, itself beautiful, and assorted out-buildings that complicate matters. Whatever Burgos was/is, it is not a church for the worshiping masses. There's no place for them. On a more positive note, I should add that of all the cathedrals we have visited, Burgos had by far the best presentation of itself, via an excellent audioguide, its museum, and a variety of other historical exhibits. Most cathedrals have little or nothing, and certainly not in English too. Burgos was superb in this respect.

Along the downtown river-front in Burgos

Main gate to inner city

Burgos Cathedral, from the southwest; there are actually two of the giant towers
on the west facade

Inside, the "fly-catcher," opens his mouth on the hour

This is what I mean: the damned choir takes up almost the whole nave; where
would the people be? 

Burgos was built was a hill-side and thus the port side is a couple floors higher
than the starboard; and thus these golden staircases; note the parade float on the
lower left, with the largest (silver) hood ornament I have seen apart from Dali

Thus

At the crossing, the tomb of El Cid and wife, the Cid-ess

Looking up from the crossing

Closer up

Nice, but roped off

Detail

You have to stand in the side-aisle to see the length of the
building, and this is all you can see from the chancel to the
stern; I rest my case

Salamanca's Museum of Art Nouveau and Art Deco

We nearly blew this off. What could they possibly have way out here in the sticks? Were we wrong! The collection is impressive, the building rivals anything else of the art nouveau genre. We wanted to stay late to see it all lit up from within, but the bus service was limited because of the holiday.

This is the back door!

It's all in the old Casa de Lis; except for the cafe, there is a no fotos policy; this
is inside the cafe; we were in the building quite a while, viewing the collection,
before we realized that every exterior window, even some interior, and every
skylight, was stained-glass; what a visual treat!

Cafe

Lamp in cafe

Cafe door

Tile painting in a stairwell

Arcade overlooking the city and countryside

Central two-story glassed-in atrium...

In the doll collection, two items I couldn't resist: a doll with
removable heads

And some Janus-faced (happy/sad) swivel head dolls

The gift shop was pretty good too

Front of Casa de Lis, from the street below; imagine it at night, all lit up from
within... [see later posts from Salamanca, https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2017/05/
salamancas-museum-of-art-nouveau-and.html]

Salamanca

We skipped Salamanca in 2010--the winter weather was closing in--and our visit this year was attentuated. It was Castillla y Leon Day and, again, the buses were operating on a severely reduced schedule. (We stayed at Camping Don Quijote). But we saw the main bits, the Plaza Mayor, the cathedral, and the university area. Plus, next post, Salamanca's extraordinary Museo Art Nouveau y Art Deco.

In Salamanca, you actually get two cathedrals, the old and
the new; this is the new, which was built originally to keep
the old one from falling down

Choir of the new cathedral; turns out the old cathedral was
 closed since it was C y L Day

Nave ceiling from choir; very different
vaulting; well, ornamentation...

Crossing, rotunda, way up there

Outside, starboard side, where the two cathedrals meet

We gave the cathedral(s) short shrift so as to get here well
before its 2PM closing: the Museum of Art Nouveau and
Art Deco (next post)

Salamanca's Roman bridge; long, but no truck traffic

And now we are in the university district (it's all one piece
really); a dorm

In the U's main quad; in the olden days, successful doctoral
candidates' names were painted on the buildings in the blood
of a bull "sacrificed" on the occasion; as a graduate student
I often thought it would be my own blood...enlarge to read
some of the names

Entrance to Old Main; among the many
reliefs, in addition to Ferdinand and Isabel,
there is one of a frog; if you can find the
frog on your first try, success will be yours
at the University; I couldn't and so am
consigned to a continuing lifetime of
nightmares about graduate school...

Casa de las Conchas, a Salamanca landmark

Salamanca abbey church, whose monks apparently helped
convince F y I to fund Columbus' voyage; or maybe not

Tower on old city wall; just about all of
Salamanca is built of this beautiful light
sandstone, much of it beautifully carved;
apparently there is little rain or erosion;
the bull's blood signatures have become
the town's official font and graphic design
and are quite attractive and distinctive

Salamanca's real pride, justifiably, is its Plaza Mayor; every
city in Spain has one of these; most are boring or seedy;
this one is beautiful and lively, with real people; another
city living room; we spent a couple pleasant hours there,
just watching from a cafe (we'd missed the bus)