From Mérida, we travelled 120km / 70 miles to Seville. This post looks at a monument/place to remember, a painting, a fountain monument and a park.
Let us walk into the streets of Seville. It is soon Christmas the sun is sharp the shade is cold. Silver and pink decorations fill one of the streets with a special joy as families walk together, couples arm in arm. Tourists and locals who have come to enjoy their city with us, the visitor. Here is our first ‘place to remember’.
Here she sits and this is what I found out:
In 2007, the Ministry of Development launched a ship and named it ” Clara Campoamor”.
In 2011 due to the Centenary of Interenational Women’s Day, the National Mint and Stamp produced a commemorative silver coin valued at €20. This coin shows the picture of Clara Campoamor.
In 2016 Norwegian Airlines named one of its new Boeing aircraft ‘Clara Campoamor’ with her photo covering both sides of the plane’s fin.
In 2021 the European Parliament named one of their buildings in Brussels ‘ Campoamor’ in her honour.
Why?
She was born in 1888 in Madrid and died in exile in Lausanne Switzerland in 1972. She became a lawyer and writer and was one of the first women to realize and argue for a woman’s right to vote. She was an activist.
Here she sits, her nose in a book with toys all around. A fine story to stumble across.
Then for a painting in the Museo de Bellas Artes. I looked and then looked again. Why? The man on the left looked so convincing as he spoke to a pale warn out Jesus.
I wonder which thief I really identify with. Here are their lines.
Thief 1: If you are the Christ, save yourself and us. ( Sandy: If you are the Christ, why don’t you do something about this?)
Thief 2 speaking to thief 1: Don’t you fear God seeing as we are both in the same position as Him but we are guilty and He is not?
Thief 2 then speaks to Jesus: Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Sandy remember to have this faith, the thief died and Jesus died but they had faith in the Kingdom of God.)
Jesus: Honestly I say to you today (,) you will be with me in paradise.
In Greek there were no commas. If Jesus says today Friday you will be with me in paradise we know He only rose on Sunday. If Jesus is saying I am telling you today Friday you will be with me in paradise then that seems logical. The thief is saved!
Look how heavy Jesus head is as they bring Him down.
This painting spoke to me.
Then into a park setting and this
Christopher Columbus’s remains were DNA tested in 2000 and confirmed as his and they are entombed in the Seville Cathedral. He died in 1506 and because Seville was the base for his voyages this is where he lies. He is well remembered in various parts of the city. Here are three things he said:
‘ Following the light of the sun, we left the old world.’
‘ Riches don’t make a man rich, they make him busier.’
‘ I am a most noteworthy sinner, but I have cried out to the Lord for grace and mercy, and they have covered me completely. I have found the sweetest consolation since I made it my whole purpose to enjoy His marvelous presence.’
Christopher Columbus
Parque de Maria Luisa in Seville was built in 1928 for the Ibero- American Exposition of 1929. It is a mix of the following elements: Baraque Revival, Renaissance Revival and Moorish Revival. It is a landmark of Regional Architecture. The architect was Anibal González.
Blue and white in the green. Shade and light, branches and leaves with long views that invite.
Some of the oldest trees in the park have been designated as Monumental trees. It is much like a botanical garden with 140 different species from around the world. Noticeably the Fig trees in their finest size and age.
This entire southern end of the city was redeveloped into gardens and boulevards. A green joy.
Seville, on the same parallel as the USA west coast city of San Jose in Central California and on the same latitude and just south of Athens in Greece, is the largest city of Spanish autinomous Community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is on the lower reaches of the Guadalquiver River in the southwest Iberian Peninsula.
A place of bright winter sun!
Take care,
Roy, Bess and Sandy.