I was at the Carmen de los Martires the other day and it was a reminder of how it is usually individuals who create beauty, not government committees. This was, long ago, a convent, but the gardens are mainly nineteenth century and since more than half a century this has been for the people of the city to enjoy, not private property. But the materials – marble, stone, water, tiles, etc – are gorgeous, the arrangement of passageways and of fountains and avenues and wooden benches on which to recline – is lovely. For a hot and arid climate it is a space of reflection and retreat and renewal. If only Perth had more such spaces. Europe can do this kind of thing so much better than Australia. And yet it is not contemporary Europe that I thank for this kind of thing. It is Europe of a hundred years ago to a thousand years ago… (The contemporaries generally build thing just as ugly and money-saving as they do in Australia.)
In Carmen de los Martires… Simple wooden benches with this shape are so relaxing to sit on and would be cheap and easy to introduce into public spaces in Australia – why don’t we do it?Sacromonte Abbey, a steep walk up the valley behind the town, leads to this beautiful cloister where you can catch your breath.El Monasterio de San Jerónimo – In this monastery I found a stone basin where the monks would wash themselves to purify themselves – Wash me entirely, says the Latin motto. The third monastic cloister in the city, La Cartuja (the charterhouse) was a Carthusian monastery. Again its beautiful cloister is graced by orange trees and make the perfect place to sit and reflect. Spain had its driest April in recorded history, but May brought some rain. Glistening cobbles on old European streets are still charming to me…Relaxing in the patio of the Hospital Real – you can see the river stones used to create flooring in Granada’s courtyards.Cat on a warm tiled roof…
Some of my favourite places here… The gardens of the Carmen de los Martires: I am often found sitting here, feeling tranquil and serene amid the greenery and the water flowing from the fountain, and the absence of noisy crowds of tourists (they are over at the Alhambra).
The day before I had discovered the Carmen Victoria – again I had sat and read and felt well and connected and grounded – all from a well designed and planted and built garden space, connected to history and with a view over the valley to the Alhambra on the other side.
Carmen de los Mártires, donated to the city and now free to enter, has plenty of flowing water. Here the lambent orbs or oranges are reflected amongst the water lilly. Carmens are traditional houses in Granada with orchard gardens. Here I stand in Carmen de la Victoria and look to the Alhambra.Respecta el silencio – quiet and peace in the University of Granada’s library in the 16th century Hospital Real building. I feel relief seeing some ageing beauty in Spain – in richer places like Australia anything old is instantly repaired.Old doors, portals to something or other, surely significant.Outside my window people eat, drink and socialise. Its not a visually beautiful part of the city, but there is so much social interaction in this Spanish barrio compared to Australian suburbs. In the background you can see the way ugly high rises ring old European cities – on the plus side over seventy percent of Spanish people own their own home.Looking upstream along the Rio Genil, which runs through Granada.Shadows of the elaborate stone work of the Royal Chapel, shadows that have been falling for over 500 years old.
Cordoba is one of those places that was full of Moorish culture and learning back in the 800s when my English ancestors were living in societies with less access to knowledge and cultural sophistication. These days of course its full of tourists. When you enter the Mezquita, built in the 800s and after, you are moved by the forest of granite and marble and the beautiful double arches with their alternating white and red brick patterns. All seen in the dimness of a softly lit undercroft ambiance. Endless beauty and magnificence is suggested by the sheer number of these precious columns of stone. As I moved through them I was bewitched. You must move, the experience of this cultural achievement can’t be captured by photographic reproduction. One of the high points of human architecture.
Outside the Mezquita I saw women dressed up for feria… Feria in Cordoba (its like the royal shows of Anglo tradition, but with more fun and flare).The Mezquita of CordobaThe double arches of this former mosque are one of highlights of the history of global architecture.Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, was born in Cordoba, and this statue graces the city.
