The Road Goes Ever On

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Tarragona Cathedral, 2

Continuing our visit to Tarragon's cathedral...

Wandering a bit, here we are behind the altar...

And now in the treasury; has anyone ever retold the St. George story from the
dragon's point of view?

"Put your snout under the spout where the Gospel comes out"

Great preservation all around

Sumo double-flutist, back in the cloister

Best funny face

The rats' funeral procession...they're carrying a dead cat

But the cat then springs to life...the theological point is lost on me; something
about resurrection?

Beautiful and beautifully maintained cloister

Tower from within the cloister

Killing the three guys

More interesting capitals

Celtic, yes?

A brother trying to escape?

Now in the cathedral's museum (!); mosaic from a nearby villa

Sarcophagus of Apollo and the 9 Muses

Moorish arch

Nice Christian sarcophagus of a couple gazing at each other

The museum...a large barrel vault

Tarragona has a beautiful cathedral, begun in the 12th, partly Romanesque, mostly Gothic, built on top of a Roman temple, a Visigothic curch, a mosque...the usual Iberian pedigree. Originally a monastery, it has a cloister that is one of the most beautiful we have seen.

The cathedral complex is hemmed in by so many buildings it's hard to get a decent
exterior view

Room for four more apostles...the facade was never finished

Built-in sarcophagus

The archivolts have been left to the birds

For me, hope arises for funny faces within

"I can't believe I'm sharing top billing with a dog!"

Inside: here's one Spanish cathedral that got the memo from the Council of Trent
about taking down the screen; stem to stern view; big church

A bit of the elevation, choir, organ

The nave is fairly plain; it's in the numerous side chapels that one sees the Baroque
extravagance

Here and there, bits of the old paint job

St. Centaur on one of the capitals

In the chapel of St. Helen (Constantine's mom)

Restoring a huge but unidentified painting

More old paint job

Dome

Dusting, polishing the choir

Have these all been sanctified? we wondered

Altar

Now in the gorgeous cloister

Holy cow

Beautiful old floor throughout

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Tarrragona: Augusto Tarraco

In a Barcelona TI we'd seen posters of a beautiful Roman amphitheater by the sea, in Tarragona, an hour down the coast. Other things we'd read suggested Tarragona, the ancient Augusto Tarraco, was well worth a stop. Spain's second largest concentration of Roman ruins. Between the beautiful campground and the beautiful city, we ended up spending a couple nights there. Augusto Tarraco began as a military center for Augustus, later his capital of the province of Spain. The place is littered with Roman remains.

Beginning with this triumphal arch, built 15-5 BC as a tribute
to the emperor, on the Via Augustus, 12 miles out of town

We checked into Camping Las Palmeras, a very large resort
campground right on the beach

Nice beach too

Nice site; after a long walk on the beach we decided to spend an
extra night

We took the municipal bus into the city; here, looking at the
Torre del Pretori, originally a Roman building

A young Augustus?

First glimpse of the amphitheater

In the adjoining garden; a sign said the rose was the Romans'
favorite flower

More pix of the anfiteatro, including the underground bits used
for housing beasts, gladiators, vending machines, vomitoria, et
cetera

We've seen our share of Roman amphitheaters, circuses, odeons,
etc., but never one with as scenic a setting as this; the Greeks
were uncannily good at siting their theaters, always with a view,
but then their performances were boring

More Roman bits, walls, towers

Interestingly (to me), the upper floors are
plastered over, but the lower story or so is
left uncovered, presumably to show its very
old construction...some Roman-style bricks
plainly visible