Our first excursion was to Toledo, in the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha.
Entrance to the Old City
Toledo’s Old City, which sits atop of a mountain, was a charming maze of streets that wound around historical sites that reflected the dynamic culture of ‘la convivencia.’ Since the city’s visitor center charged three euros for a map, we eschewed the guide and wandered around the city, getting lost on a semi-frequent basis. Although we did not visit the city’s library, which was an Roman Palace and an Alcazar in the 15th century, or its Cathedral, which houses works by El Greco, Velazquez, and Raphael, our methodology proved to work well in discovering smaller finds around the city.
Three particular locations come to mind.
First, the city’s Museo de Santa Cruz de Toledo featured an contemporary art exhibit of Simeon Saiz Ruiz’s work titled J’est un Je. The exhibit was a collection of paintings that enlarge and distort the pixels of photos and video screen shots of victims of violence from the civil conflicts in the Balkans during the mid to late 1990s. Although the paintings initially overwhelm the viewer with a kaleidoscope of muted colors, one begins to realize the subjects of the photographs as the pixels for the outlines form the contours of victims lying in stretchers.
Seeing that the trials of the war criminals responsible for these crimes against humanity revolved around attempts to diminish and distort the scope of suffering of the victims captured in these photos, it seems appropriate that an artist would use a visual medium to demonstrate how the violence and suffering of the individuals in the photos persist even in blatant efforts to distort the image in the eyes of the viewers, and, by extension, international human rights law.
Not all the finds were depressing, however. Julia, who wanted to purchase marzipans for her family, happened across a convent with a small, modest storefront that sold artisan baked good and sweets baked at the nunnery itself. The area consisted of a counter, which was attended by a nun, a few shelves of ‘pastas,’ small pastries, lining the walls behind the counter, and a display case of other baked goods that stood against the wall in the customer’s area.
As it turns out, the bakery sold marzipans at very reasonable prices, giving Julia an opportunity to purchase a few boxes. Unfortunately, I did not ask the nun whether the sales fund livelihood of the women at the convent while Julia was buying the sweets. My guess would be yes, given that Trappist monks in Belgium have brewed and sold beer for centuries to maintain their livelihoods.
Finally, the city’s location on the top of a mountain hill provided a lovely view of the area around Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha. The weather was perfect: clear blue skies, large nebulous clouds, and large open plains reminiscent of the Midwest and California’s central valley. When one gazes out at the open plains of La Mancha, it becomes clear why Miguel Cervantez chose this area as Don Quixote’s home. Aside from Toledo, La Mancha is akin to Kansas in the Spanish mind. Consequently, a story about an idealist from a small town only reinforces the novel’s humor and pathos.
My next post on the trip will discuss my day trip with Julia to Segovia, which featured amazing Roman and Medival sights as well as one of the most impressive modern art exhibits in Spain.
A Few Historical Facts about Toledo
After a period of domination by the Romans and the Visigoths, Toledo flourished under the rule of the Caliphate of Cordoba, which conquered and controlled Spain during the 8th and 9th centuries. This period marked the age of ‘la convivencia,’ where the city’s Jewish, Muslim, and Christian populations were equal participants in a lively civil society. This period came to an end during the Reconquista and Inquisition, which expelled the cities’ Jewish and Muslim populations in 1492 and 1502, respectively. The city experienced a cultural revival under the rule of Alphonso the X in the 15th century, however. Incidentally, El Greco moved to Toledo in 1577 and resided in the city until his death in 1614.
No comments:
Post a Comment