Notre Dame du Haut

Published on April 18, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

I came across a sign to Notre Dame du Haut while driving from Zurich Switzerland to Troyes, France today. So, you can be assured this was an unplanned visit, but when I saw the sign for it along the interstate, I had to see it in real life! It cost 8 Euros to visit, and you couldn’t even see and photograph the outside without paying. Usually I find this extremely annoying, but I think this is going to the upkeep of the building, so I consider it both a donation as well as payment for photos I can use when I teach Art History.

Here are a few of the photos I took – quite nice I think. 🙂 Click on the photos to see them larger!

Almeria Spain

Published on March 11, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

We are only spending a few days in Almeria, March 9th – 12th, 2018.

Arrived by bus on March 9th at 2pm. Found our way to the Airbnb by taxi. We stayed in the older district. We have been to Almeria before… back in 2007 (if I am remembering correctly). And we did enjoy the one day/night that we stayed. So, I was looking forward to the visit!

Here are some photos from our visit… including the Alcazaba (free and excellent to go through), The Dona Pakyta Museo De Arte (free and excellent) as well as the Historical Museum (again free and excellent)!! Overall I highly recommend visiting Almeria. Great history and an excellent value.

Almeria Quick facts

Almería is a city in southeast Spain. The Alcazaba is an imposing Moorish fortress overlooking the city. The fortified, 16th-century Almería Cathedral has a Gothic ribbed ceiling. The Museum of Almería displays archaeological finds from across the region. Underground lies a network of tunnels, the Civil War Shelters of Almería. The English Cable is a huge iron pier and symbol of the city’s former mining industry.

Population:
- 193,024

Granada: 3-3-2018

Published on March 3, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Yesterday included a smooth rainy bus ride from Cordoba to Granada. Then with a time mix up and waiting in the rain for an hour to get into out airBnB. We ventured out to get food. After a long walk in the rain we found the Grocery store closed! More search for groceries led us to meet a local who invited us to their families nightclub with very good drinks… thus to dancing and a good end of a very wet day. Which brings us to today, our first full day in Granada. Tried we finally found a store and got food in the morning … and then ventured off to explore the following 2 places:

House of Zafra – Calle Portería Concepción, 8, 18010 Granada
Free of charge. Nasrid palace built at the end of the XIV century. The Catholic monarchs ceded it to their secretary Hernando de Zafra. At his death it became part of the foundation of the convent of Santa Catalina de Zafra. The convent conserved the palace between 1527 and 1946, year in which it passed to public ownership. Noteworthy are the decorative elements, especially the plasterwork, the carpentries and the remains of mural painting.
José Guerrero Center – Calle Oficios, 8, 18001 Granada
Free of charge. This is home to some of the Granada-born artist’s best works and organizes cultural activities as well.

Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba

Published on February 27, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Going to the Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba is free every morning from 8:30 to 9:30 am, after that the entrance fee is 8 euros each. So, my husband and I went 2 mornings in a row (Feb 26th and Feb 27th). It is very worth getting up early to see. When the time is up, the guards chase you out. For some unknown reason, they chased us out 10 minutes early today.

The history of the building is very interesting, historians believe that there had first been a temple to the Roman god, Janus. That is easy to believe if you see the Roman bridge very close to the site – which is amazing! In 572 the temple was converted into a church by invading Visigoths who seized Cordoba. It is stated that when Muslims conquered Spain in 711, the church was first divided into Muslim and Christian halves. I find that highly doubtful

The mosque in Córdoba, to 23,400 m2, was the second largest in the world after that of Mecca, until in 1588 the Blue Mosque in Istanbul exceeded.

The mosque is divided into two distinct parts: the patio or portico sahn houses the minaret beneath the Renaissance tower, which is the only intervention that Abd al-Rahman III was in the mosque. This part also is the prayer room or haram. The second part of the mosque is the interior of it. It is characterized by the set of columns and arches that define bicolor. These make a very distinctive color and formal whole. The inner area is divided into five parts, each corresponding to the successive enlargements that the mosque has had throughout its history.

The minaret was built in times of Abderramán III and today is kept in the interior of the bell tower. Damaged after a storm, it was arranged by the Cathedral Chapter in 1593 to demolish part of the old minaret and built the bell tower. In the seventeenth century the clock was added. Faced with the danger of collapse are all better cemented by the end of the century. In 1664 the campanile was completed.

Pantheon, Rome Day 3

Published on February 11, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

February 11, 2018:

The Pantheon from Greek Πάνθειον Pantheion meaning “[temple] of every god”) is a former Roman temple. It is now a church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). The present building was completed by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated about 126 AD. He retained Agrippa’s original inscription, which has caused confusion over its date of construction as the original Pantheon burned down, so it is not certain when the present one was built.

The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with a central opening (oculus) to the sky. Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet (43 m).

It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, in large part because it has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a church dedicated to “St. Mary and the Martyrs” informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda”. The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda. The Pantheon is a state property, ruled by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism through the Polo Museale del Lazio; in 2013 it was visited by over 6 million people.

The Pantheon’s large circular domed cella, with a conventional temple portico front, was unique in Roman architecture. Nevertheless, it became a standard exemplar when classical styles were revived, and has been copied many times by later architects.

See photos here:

Day One in Rome, Italy

Published on February 10, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Today was our first day in Rome and we walked from our tiny studio AirBnB to the Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. It was a 7 mile round trip walk (just going straight there and back). With all the extra tours and a total of 7 hour trip, I estimate close to 10 miles for the day!

The Colosseum is an oval amphitheatre in the center of of Rome, Italy. Built of travertine marble, tuff (a light, porous rock formed by consolidation of volcanic ash), and brick-faced concrete. It is said to be the largest amphitheatre ever built.

Address: Piazza del Colosseo, 1, 00184 Roma RM

Construction started: 70 AD

Opened: 80 AD

Height: 48 m

More interesting info: The Colosseum was used for workshops, housing, a quarry, a fortress and even as a Christian shrine.

Piazzale Michelangelo

Published on February 6, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

This is a bronze copy of Michelangelo’s David! It is at a Piazzale Michelangelo – which is very high on a hill! It overlooks Florence – Awesome!!! We walked from our Apartment across the river then up a very steep hill to see the Piazzale Michelangelo. It was worth it, but I was afraid I wouldn’t make it due to my very bad knees.

It rained the whole way and by the time we got to the top we were freezing and stopped in a very nice restaurant to have drinks. We got warmed up and dry then walked back to our apartment.

Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore: Day 3 in Firenza

Published on February 5, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

February 5th, 2018: Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower

The building started in 1296 and was completed in 1469 with the placing of Verrochio’s copper ball atop the lantern. The façade was finished in the 19th century.

still the largest masonry dome in the world.

Day Two in Florence: Accademia

Published on February 4, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude

Accademia in Florence is also called the Museum of Michelangelo. Created by the Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1784 as a place of study for students of the nearby Academy of Fine Arts (Accademia di Belle Arti) which was the first academy of drawing in Europe. The Academy Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence contains one of the most important sculptures by Michelangelo – “David.”

Accademia, though not easy to find, was absolutely amazing! I highly recommend going, if you go to Florence, Italy! It was well worth the entrance fee of 9 euros. The way they display Michelangelo’s David was extremely well designed. When you enter the corridor that houses David at the end. On each side of the corridor are unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo. The wall color and scale of the hall and dome are perfect to display the color of the marble.

There was also another display of plaster copies of sculptures in another large corridor off to the left of David that was very interesting. Here are some photos from that area of the museum.

Accademia Address:

Galleria dell'Accademia - Via Ricasoli 58-60 - 50122 Firenze, Italy

Sketching David

Published on February 4, 2018May 7, 2024 by joannaalmasude