On Saturday we ducked out of going to Seville as thunderstorms were forecast for the whole day and everyone else came home soaked. We pottered into Anteqera to see the museum and were delighted. It is in an old palace with a wonderful courtyard and the antiquities are displayed in rooms around the courtyard. There is a new four storied building at the back where all sorts of other treasures are displayed. But first the historic exhibits. There are several displays relating to the dolmens (2000 BC) including flint arrow heads and axes, and painted pottery. But the most impressive display is of Roman items. Cases of glass flasks, mostly whole, mosaics from villas, painted stucco from villa walls, some first class inscriptions in wonderfully clear fonts, sacrofagi - and The Ephebe. This is a life size bronze statue of a young male and it is very good indeed. The upper floors are mostly paintings but they have a Treasury which is really a bank vault! In there they show and keep the jewellery belonging to three Madonnas (three different churches) which the statues wear when paraded round town. The jewellry was very ornate, emeralds, rubies, diamonds. All very interesting.
After spending a long time there, we walked back to the hotel in the sunshine - not thunderstorms! In the evening there was a flamenco display which was not what I expected. I had thought of it as being like the tango but it is much more a display dance than that. At least what we saw was.
Today we went to Ronda in the mountains which is one of the white towns. Mostly on a plateau surrounded by a gorge over which there were three bridges, Roman, Arab and New (1750). The town is very pretty and nice to walk round which we did happily until 1300 when the wind got up and the rain came in. After that we had a very long Spanish lunch and came home!
The Arab bridge at Ronda seen from the New bridge which crosses much higher up. The Roman bridge is round the corner to the right.
All the houses in Ronda have to be white washed once a year and have the wrought iron painted. This is a typical first floor balcony of wrought iron.
We were taken into a private house which had a wonderful Moorish garden (but by this time it was too stormy for photos). But they had a good vase in the patio.
As Dorothy saus there has been a dearth of textiles on this trip but just to show I have not been idle
You've managed to visit some of my favorite places in Spain - Cordoba, Granada, and Ronda! I hope you have enjoyed the trip as much as I enjoyed mine (back in 1974...).
ReplyDeleteI loved Ronda - despite the weather. Howling gales and horizontal rain. Even though it was Sunday afternoon, the fire brigade was everywhere, removing broken trees and taking down the city flagpoles in case they came to harm. We did manage to get a first rate Spanish lunch with a good local red wine. This was obtained by one of our party asking for 'a good red wine from Ronda'.
DeleteMy sister and I are thinkinbg about coming back for two weeks and renting an apartment. Ww are arguing about where!
And while I am replying to you, 'Big Sur' is on a chest propped up against the wall while everyone who comes to the house argues about where it should be hung. At least it is seen by everyone where it is!