Segovia Part One

One of my former students and yearbook EICs, Greg Mees, told me that we absolutely had to visit Segovia when we went to Spain. I'm so glad he told me about this lovely town because we probably wouldn't have known how wonderful it is and wouldn't have made the day trip there without his recommendation. Greg, I will be forever in your debt because of all the things I loved in Spain, and I think Segovia was the highlight. Thanks Greg!!!

I'm going to break this up into two posts because it's so photo heavy--sorry!

We started our day with breakfast at this lovely panaderia. 

As usual, we had to try their version of chocolate only this time I ordered borros instead of churros.  Boy, am I going to miss that! We also had delicious pastries with ham and cheese in them.

We then took the fast train to Segovia. 

When we got there we walked through town to see the Roman aquiduct built over 2,000 years ago. It is huge and still carries water to the town at certain times of the year.  Over the centuries, people have just built the town around the existing Roman works. Here are a few pictures:

The dark specks in the sky are hundreds of small black birds that continuously swoop around the aquiduct and surrounding streets. 

We then proceeded to walk through the town to the Plaza Mayor and the cathedral. 

The cathedral was built between 1525 and 1768, but is the third to be built on this sight and the older buildings' remains were incorporated into the building of the cathedral. The design is both Renaissance and Gothic because its construction spanned so many periods. Like many cathedrals, the main alter is in the center surrounded by individual gated chapels for the rich and powerful to worship in private. 

When you first enter you can see the side fence to the main alter on the right as the mini-chapels curve around the center to the right.

This is the main alter which is surrounded on the front and sides by a tall fence while the back is stone up to the roof.  I took this thought the bars as you can see on the right.

The congregation sits in pews on each side and directly facing the alter, but outside of the gates. The choir and the organ are directly behind the congregation, and they are also enclosed by the housing of the organ on the back and sides and the fenced wall in the front that you can see on the right in this picture. 

The little spiral stairs on the left of the above photo lead to a private box for important people to watch mass away from the little people below. At least that's what I surmise since they really didn't say anything about it in the walking tour.  

The organ pipes are exposed on both the outside and inside of the sides. 

The choir seats were saved from an earlier cathedral and date to the 1400s. These are the ones directly below the first picture of the pipes.

This is the exterior of the back of the choir area.

Here are a few examples of the mini-chapels. Some are much older than others.  Also, as is the case in cathedrals and many places of worship, lots of rich, important, or pious people are buried here. If you were really important, you got a slab in the floor with your stats carved on it until it's gets walked on for so many centuries that it starts to get worn down.

Many of the mini-chapels had stained glass windows since they created a ring around the perimeter of the interior. All of the ceilings of the mini-chapels were highly decorated and beautiful. 

Here a few more highlights from other parts of the cathedral. 

Lori for scale.

This last picture is important for a few reasons.  It is the tomb of a child--the son of a nobleman--and has a snake with a human head wrapped around the cross that's at his feet. I would love to know the meaning of the symbolism behind that! I'll research it and get back to you. 

Stay tuned for part two...