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The undisputed highlight of Cordoba (and arguably of Southern Spain) is the magnificent 'Mezquita', the former Great Mosque that since the Spanish reconquest of 1236 has served as Cordoba Cathedral, a unique marriage of styles and cultures and one of the World's greatest architectural masterpieces.
The site dates back to Roman times, the pagan temples giving way to the first Visigothic cathedral which stood here in the 7th and 8th centuries. After the Islamic conquest the church was divided between Christians and Muslims until the Christian side was brought for conversion into the first mosque. In the following centuries the mosque was rebuilt and enlarged in ever more magnificent form up to around 987.
The Great Mosque continued to function until the Spanish reconquest of 1246 when it was converted back to Christian use as the city's cathedral; luckily the unparalled beauty of the Islamic architecture was recognised and largely respected, though new additions were made in various places adding further stylistic layers to the complex, initially in gothic, then Renaissance and latterly Baroque styles.
The biggest alteration came at the end of the Middle Ages when a more recognisable cathedral structure was erected over the centre of the multi-aisled former prayer hall. Begun as a gothic church, it was completed as a largely Renaissance structure with rich vaulting and a low dome over the crossing. Though it required the removal of many of the superb arcades and columns to erect it, the structure's impact is less apparent from within as one might expect, since it has few lower walls, literally growing from the Moorish colonnades.
The complete structure of the Mosque/Cathedral covers a vast rectangular area with an open courtyard to the north with the Baroque bell tower (the former minaret reclad)and the seemingly endless columned halls of the interior, with some 856 columns (many reused from Roman buildings, themselves reused in the previous church). Various chambers and chapels of varying dates and styles open up making the internal layout somewhat confusing to follow. The centre of the complex is dominated by the Renaissance cathedral, whose soaring interior flooded with light actually contrasts well with the more intimate, darker areas of the mosque, if making the experience somewhat surreal and other worldy. One can wander this ever changing interior for hours and still feel like one has barely scratched the surface.
The most notable parts of the Islamic structure are the magnificent double rows of scalloped arches, with multiple cusps and alternating bands of red and white. There are also some truly gorgeous ceilings, masterpieces of Islamic design, including the domes over the former mihrab niche, parts of which retain rich mosaic decoration.
In other areas the contrast of Islamic and Christian styles is quite bizarre, with the perimeter of the building lined with chapels, Moorish in style but many filled by huge gilded Baroque altars, somewhat at odds with the original style.
All in all the Mosque / Cathedral of Cordoba is one of the wonders of the World and for me was the highlight of this trip to Andalusia. As a fascinating fusion of faiths, styles and first rate architecture, there simply is nowhere else remotely like it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral%E2%80%93Mosque_of_C%C3%B3...
I was pleased to find that the Northern Flickers were going to reuse the nest they built last year. They appear to be more comfortable with my presence than last year, so I'm looking forward to getting some more fun photos here.
I'm fairly sure when I took this shot, the eggs were already laid, for after twenty minutes of quiet waiting, this male's head popped out and stayed out until the missus arrived. Then with a quiet chortle of greeting, they quickly swapped spots. The male flew out before the female landed under the nest.
When I checked on the nest yesterday, I was pleased to hear that the chicks had hatched. When a parent returned and entered the nest hole, the tiniest of chicks squeakings could be heard...begging for first dibs on feeding.
This will be my last upload for awhile...again..., as I'm behind on a great many things...including writing an article for a local magazine. More on that to come. So, until next time, enjoy your week/weekend and thank you so much for all your support, faves and comments. They are always appreciated!
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, etc. without my permission.
Not too bad for a picture where I put my camera over a security fence and had no idea what it would turn out like. Renovations on this historic building are coming along nicely
According to the Oxford Dictionary upcycling is reusing discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. Birds are masters at this and here a Red-billed Oxpecker is collecting plant fibers from dry elephant dung to use in nest-building. Red-billed Oxpeckers are collective breeders and we saw two of them sorting through the dry dung and flying off with material to a nesting cavity in a tree trunk close-by. Unfortunately the driver of another vehicle decided to drive between us and the birds where they were working next to the road and scared them off so we could not get more images.
Red-billed Oxpeckers also collect the hair of their impala hosts to line their nests. See here.
Kruger National Park, South Africa.
© Gerda van Schalkwyk. All rights reserved.
Some of the contents of a large plastic box in our kitchen drawer where we put our recyclable items such as plastic bottles, magazines, flyers, food tins and drink cans. When it's full I take it out to the garage & tip everything in a big wheelie bin. This gets collected by a private company fortnightly, the other week they take our actual rubbish (trash) away, thankfully we don't produce much of that so often that wheelie bin only goes out once a month. Glass has to be taken to a bottle bank. I use to take gardening & bird watching magazines to our GP surgery for others to read but those days are gone.
We compost all our newspapers, cardboard packaging/toilet rolls etc & I reuse suitable plastic food trays to stand plant pots in. All available windowsills currently have trays with small pots containing tomato/chilli/pepper/courgette & sweetcorn seedlings, waiting for the current cold snap to pass so I can plant them out in the polytunnel.
For Macro Mondays theme "Trash" HMM!
El Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid es la sede principal del Museo Nacional de Escultura. Es uno de los mejores ejemplos de la arquitectura del periodo de los Reyes Católicos. En particular, su patio y su portada son célebres por su refinada ornamentación, las elegantes proporciones y una ostensible simbología del poder.
Igualmente interesante es su historia como institución docente. Destinado a colegio de Teología para frailes dominicos, adquirió una notable autoridad doctrinal y actuó como un semillero espiritual y político de la España renacentista y barroca.
La Universidad de Valladolid fue fundada en el siglo XIII durante el reinado de Alfonso X el Sabio; como en otros países se potenció la aparición de centros colegiales, de modo que tardíamente se creó el Colegio de San Gregorio, que actuaron en paralelo o complementariamente con relación a la vida universitaria. En Valladolid se creó además el Colegio de Santa Cruz también a finales del siglo XV
La creación del Colegio, bajo la advocación del doctor de la Iglesia San Gregorio, fue obra del dominico Alonso de Burgos, obispo de la diócesis de Palencia y confesor de los Reyes Católicos. Alonso de Burgos condicionó su fundación a la obtención de la comunidad dominica de San Pablo de los terrenos para la construcción de su propia capilla funeraria, que serviría igualmente para el alumnado del Colegio. Tal petición se vio satisfecha en 1487: consigue el espacio necesario, lo cual fue confirmado por el Papa Inocencio VIII.
Las obras se iniciaron en 1488 aunque se había comenzado ya la construcción de la capilla funeraria, cuya puerta de entrada se percibe en el crucero sur de la Iglesia conventual de San Pablo.
La fachada fue concebida como un telón o estandarte (arquitectura suspendida). Su compartimentación se organiza con elementos vegetales que evocan los arcos triunfales construidos con madera y enramada, reforzándose su carácter civil y urbano. Dada su significación simbólica, la explicación de los diferentes motivos y elementos que la integran ofrece una gran dificultad, tanto individualmente como en su totalidad y en la relación entre los diferentes elementos.
En el tímpano principal y sobre el dintel decorado con flor de lis aparece la dedicatoria y la ofrenda del Colegio por parte del fraile dominico Alonso de Burgos a san Gregorio Magno en presencia de San Pablo y Santo Domingo.
Destacan las figuras de hombres silvestres cubiertos, o no, de pelo, y con garrotes y escudos; o bien aluden a la costumbre cortesana de disfrazar escuderos con ocasión de fiestas, o bien representan la imagen mítica del «hombre natural», tal como se discutió por esas fechas y entran en diálogo visual con esculturas de caballeros, vestidos con armaduras y portando lanzas y escudos, encarnando la Virtud.
La parte central superior está ocupada por un pilón hexagonal, rebosante de agua, que puede evocar la especulación intelectual como Fuente de la Vida. En torno al pilón, se arremolinan parejas de niños y de él arranca el tronco de un granado, en posible alusión a la Fuente de la Vida y al Árbol de la Ciencia, aparte de la celebración de la reciente conquista del Reino de Granada. Todo el relieve central de la fachada se constituye con esta representación simbólica de un microcosmos, a imagen del Paraíso, lugar hacia donde deberían dirigirse los hombres mediante el conocimiento de las Artes y la Teología.
La presencia del escudo de los Reyes Católicos, sostenido por leones y por el águila de San Juan podría tener una significación política o podría ser una alusión a la dedicación del edificio a la Monarquía, a la que Alonso de Burgos nombró heredera y patrona del Colegio.
El patio del Colegio es de planta cuadrada y representa una de las joyas de estilo hispanoflamenco. Sus dos pisos se levantan sobre pilares helicoidales decorados sus capiteles con medias bolas y lises separados ambos por el tema de la cadena.
En las arquerías del piso superior se encuentra toda la decoración mediante calados pretiles de tracería gótica y cortinas pétreas que al abrirse originan arcos geminados de guirnaldas y follaje, entre los que juguetean niños, concebido con una talla muy plana próxima al estilo renacentista. Un friso de yugos y flechas y las gárgolas es lo único que se conserva de su antiguo coronamiento.
El acceso al piso superior se realiza a través de una sola escalera con pretiles góticos a los que se suceden los paramentos almohadillados de su caja decorada también con el timbre heráldico del fundador y con un artesonado mudéjar, en cuyo friso se pueden observar las iniciales de los Reyes Católicos y que cierra todo su ámbito.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura
The Colegio de San Gregorio is an Isabelline style building located in the city of Valladolid, in Castile and León, Spain, it was formerly a college and now is housing the Museo Nacional de Escultura museum. This building is one of the best examples of the architectural style known as Isabelline, which is the characteristic architectural style of the Crown of Castile region during the Catholic Monarchs' reign (late-15th century to early-16th century).
Among other sections highlights its courtyard and its facade for its refined decoration, elegant proportions and the number of symbologies. It was founded as a teaching institution. Aimed at College of Theology for Dominican friars, it has acquired a doctrinal authority and acted as a spiritual and political hotbed in the Central region of Spain's Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The University of Valladolid was founded in the 13th-century during the Alfonso X of Castile the Wise's reign; as in other countries, the emergence of college centers was potentiated, then belatedly was created the Colegio de San Gregorio, who performed in parallel or complementarily in relation to university life. In Valladolid the Colegio Mayor Santa Cruz was also created also in late 15th-century.
The creation of the College, under the title of the Doctor of the Church Saint Gregory the Great, was work of Dominican Alonso de Burgos, the Catholic Monarchs's confessor and Bishop of the dioceses of Córdoba, Cuenca and Palencia. The foundation of the college was confirmed by with Papal Bull of Pope Innocent VIII in 1487, and accepted as Royal patronage by Queen Isabella the Catholic in 1500, after the founder's death.
It attached to the Convento de San Pablo, which Friar Alonso had been its prior, its foundation was subject to the assignment of the Capilla del Crucifijo (Crucifix's chapel), attached to the Epistle's arm of the Dominican church, to become his own funeral chapel, which later acquired dual function to also serve as a chapel for college.
Work began in 1488 in a process from the inside to outside, being the main facade the last in lift. The Royal shields in the corners of the Large courtyard still do not present the Granada's symbol suggests that this part would be completed before 1492. The building is assumed to completed in 1496.
The facade, plain facing and topped with a crest, stands out above all for its spectacular main facade, which by its stylistic features it sets regarding the workshop of Gil de Siloé, a Flemish origin artist, who was at that time in Burgos dealing with the royal sepulchers of the Miraflores Charterhouse and is known to have been commissioned to make the defunct altarpiece of the chapel, very in connection with which the sculptor had made in the Conception's chapel or of Bishop Acuña in the Cathedral of Burgos and has obvious similarities to the upper of the main facade of San Gregorio.
Perhaps evoking the triumphal arches of the architectures at that time were developing in Central Europe, or perhaps the Islamic Madrasas, architects of this building applying an individually decorated of the Castilian late-Gothic (Isabelline), it has a complex symbolic significance in that mix contemporary figures, saints, allegories, wild men, abundant symbolic of power, etc.
It has two bodies framed by two buttresses. The lower hosts a vain lintel decorated with fleur-de-lys, the founder's symbol repeated often enough, covered with three-centered arch in turn covered by another ogee trefoil.
It draw attention to the "savage men" of the jambs and buttresses, a total of sixteen. Theories about the significance of these figures, present in many buildings of 15th-century, are varied and should be put in relation to the context in which these appear. One of its functions would be simple heraldry sculptures. It is also said that, dressed with shield and mace, were the guardians of the building, beastmen guaranteeing security. Or these could allude to the custom of disguising the squires and lackeys in Court (nobility) festivities in which it presented the "savage" as inferior, in relation, for example, the chivalric romances, which mentions hair covered wild men, degraded men, estranged from the civilized world, not Christianized, and could here be in visual confrontation with the knights who also appear on the main facade, with armor, spears and shields, that would be interpreted as allegories of Virtue. On the contrary, these could also be a positive allusion, the mythical image of man in nature, unpolluted, symbol of purity that evokes the time in a perfect and happy world, with prototype to John the Baptist.
Those on the lower part, flanking the main facade, are completely covered with long hair, carrying weapons and the shields are decorated with demonic figures except in one, which has a Knight order of Calatrava's cross, the same motifs of the soldiers's shields of the second floor, the same iconography already seen for over a century.
However, in the top of the main facade are completely different, with the same attributes but without hair on the body and even two hairless, with a more human aspect, and there are authors who consider the oldest representation in Castile of an American Native, reflecting the effect of the Americas's arrival in the European imagination.
The tympanum, on a lintel, seems to represent the offering of the college by Friar Alonso de Burgos to Saint Gregory the Great in the presence of Saints Dominic and Paul, patrons of the neighboring Dominican convent, a somewhat disconcerting scene, unbalanced, with disproportion between the figures and Saint Paul with a cruciferous nimbus, an exclusive attribute of Christ. It seems to be earlier work than the rest, or even reused from other site.
The upper body is divided into three sections, with the center occupied by a hexagonal pylon which starts a pomegranate tree, referring to the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada's conquest in 1492, swirling around putti playing and jumping. It could be a Fountain of Eternal Youth's representation, hence the children, of the Tree of Knowledge, in relation to the building dedicated to the study, an allegory of the Paradise, the place to which men aspire to reach through the knowledge, an allegory of the Golden Age, in relation to the historical moment that was occurring to the Spanish monarchy.
The pomegranate tree is topped by a big shield of the Catholic Monarchs with the St. John's eagle held by two attitude lions and below the Catholic Monarchs's symbols also appear: the beam and arrows. And the use of the royal heraldry with propaganda purposes in this period reached prominence hitherto unknown, present not only in buildings directly promoted by the Catholic Monarchs but also in many that of their closest collaborators, in that way showing participation and acceptance in the political project undertaken by Isabella I and Ferdinand II in relation to the establishment of a modern state with which to control and organize all their territories under their unique power.
Upper body's side sections have the founder's heraldic decoration and two kings of arms placed at height of the central shield.
Distributed among the distributed arboured throughout the main facade are seen multiple scenes related to the defects to be overcome with the study, in relation to the search for truth and rejection of heresy, the triumph of intelligence over force or the strength to overcome temptation.
(Large courtyard) The Patio Grande was the access to the most important stays of the set. It considered a Hispanic-Flemish (Isabelline) gem, is set in relation to Juan Guas for its similarities to Palacio del Infantado in Guadalajara, although have also located abundant motifs that Bartolomé Solórzano, an active artist at that time in the area, used in the Cathedral of Palencia, seat of the Friar Alonso's bishopric.
It is square with two floors, the lower with slender pillars, perhaps a Solomonic reference in relation to a building as a "temple of wisdom", with capitals of average balls and fleur-de-lis sustaining segmental arches, and the upper with one of the most decorative Isabelline galleries, with parapets openwork with Gothic tracery and geminare arches riddled with garlands and foliage among those appears children playing and where already shown Renassaince influence, of midpoint and a form that goes be more flat.
Then follows a frieze of yokes and arrows on highlighting the imaginative gargoyles.
It has abundant emblems of the Catholic Monarchs and the kingdoms of Navarre and Granada, incorporated into the Crown of Castile during the erection of the building.
The only staircase that connects both floors is rectangular of two sections, Isabelline base, decorated walls with padding of Renaissance influence with the founder's heraldry; an impressive Mudéjar roof on a frieze with the Catholic Monarchs's initials; and neo-Gothic parapets with same trace that the base, added in works in the 1860s to replace the wooden fence that had.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_San_Gregorio
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Escultura,_Vallad...
From Wiki: The rufous hornero breeds in the austral summer, laying eggs between August and December, raising nestlings soon after, and the young may stay in their natal territory until the following breeding season. The species is monogamous and the pair bond is long-term, sometimes for life. The nest of the species is typical for the genus, a large thick clay "oven" placed on a tree, or man-made structures such as fence posts, telephone poles, or buildings. Pairs remain together throughout the year and will work on the nest during that time; nests can be constructed in as little as 5 days but usually take longer, occasionally months, to complete. A clutch generally contains two to four eggs. The eggs are laid every second day and incubated for 14–18 days. Chicks are fed for 23–26 days before fledging; young birds remain in the parental territory for around 6 months after fledging and sometimes until the following breeding season. Both parents incubate eggs and feed the young. Horneros may or may not reuse nests, therefore it is quite common to see several nests close to each other (or even atop older nests) at the same nesting site. However, a formerly unused nest may be repaired for a new breeding season.
Day 151. This is really just an excuse to reuse a tablecloth I picked up at an opshop a while ago :-)
My local grocery store, Harmon's, has a pretty concerted program to eliminate plastic grocery bags and replace them with reusable ones like this. They even give a five cent credit on your bill for each bag you use.
I'm not a big fan of these cheaper ones and use canvas tote bags so often given as premiums on PBS and NPR. They work very well and don't tear like the single use plastic ones do.
5986: Amazon Ancient Ruins
A set that involved a lot of details, but it was worth it in the end.
I reused the rock base design I had made for the 2019 version. But most of this is a complete redesign.
Originally I didn't want to go for an Aztec pyramid design. But I wanted to have some accuracy to the architecture. With a bit of a twist.
In the first picture you can't see it fully. But the entrance to the temple is a giant stone mouth, it's a nice little feature to have to make the temple look a bit more imposing.
Inside the temple there is more treasure than just the sun disk. And a strange glowing crystal within that seems to be connected to the face in the treasure room. Could it be a portal? Or is it just for spooky effect? Who knows...
Below that is just a cavern section with a few unfortunate remains.
Below the bridge lies the remains of a conquistador in a small cavern. Looks like he was after some gold.
And up on top of the temple is Achu's throne. The angler fish headpiece really adds some nice detailing to the design.
The car is a tweaked variant of the treasure raiders car. I really wanted to incorporate a yellow car in one of these adventurers revamps.
The small river boat has stayed the same. Just with a different hull colour.
And that wraps up the jungle subtheme of Lego Adventurers. The only set I didn't revamp was the River raft, I felt like it wasn't absolutely necessary to redesign as it's just meant to be a simple raft.
It's Simple: More Trash=More Environmental Problems!
Change Your Life Style=Change The World!
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Here we are - at our first ever Portland Oregon morsbags pod meeting. Morsbags are reusable cloth shopping bags. Read more about them at morsbags.com
HMM… the them for today, 4/23 the day after earth day, is plastic. how smart to cause us think about how we use plastics and more importantly what we do when we’re done with them or how can we cut down the useage of the one-time use things that litter our oceans and our lands.
These are grocery bags that have a second life doing "you know what". When the dogs hear me pull out a "poobag" they know it's time for a walk! So it's a double effort....I reuse the bags and I clean up after my dogs.
FGR - Earth Day
An adapted emergency boat reused ad an house along the Regents Canal, London, September 2016
Original shots taken with an Asus Padphone Mobile with 8 Mp camera, various post processing