Baiona

 This ancient town, from which many expeditions to the Americas were launched,  we stayed in and enjoyed.  The town is interesting and fully modernized yet very old, the Parador of Baiona is situated in an amazing fortress that sits on a prominence above the town and the entrance to the port.  The gardens surrounding the parador are extensive and beautiful.  The parador overlooks at the boats in the harbor protectively on one side and faces the wild Atlantic with its trade routes and foreign invaders, on the other.

The fine folks of Barcelona (and La Merce)

The city of Barcelona celebrates an Annual Festival called La Merce.  

This year celebrated its 150th official celebration. The festival is centered on the Feast day of Our Lady of Mercy, which in Catalan is "La Mare de Déu de la Mercè", and has done so since 1871 shortly after the Pope recognized the Virgin as the "Patroness of Barcelona".  (It should be noted that the city had bestowed this title on her, specifically on a revered statue in a church in the Gotica district, 200 years before.) The feast itself has been held on September 24th since the middle ages, possible as far back as 1218 with the founding of the Order of Mercy by two Saints, Saint Peter Nolasc and Saint Ramon de Penyafort, and King James the Conqueror. 

Being here in Barcelona this year, I had pointed out to a few of my Barcelonian friends that Judy's birthday is also September 24, and, to a person, they all agreed that the festival was also to celebrate Judy's birthday, and that the fireworks display that was a major part of the activities was also to honor Judy on her Birthday.  I have letters from them that confirm this. (I think these are among the most generous people I have ever met . . . )

Therefore, a small shot of "Judy's" fireworks can be seen below.

The full 28 minute movie is available here:

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN0hdcIV06Yv5EfAisYXPuzPg_KFtO7PyOvKfX2

https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_de_D%C3%A9u_de_la_Merc%C3%A8

The Royal Monastery of Santa Maria of Pedralbes (Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedrables)

 This Royal Monastery is beautiful and in excellent condition and well worth the visit.  We have a few pictures below but what is really interesting is a little bit of Spanish history and culture that we learn when we begin to look at it.

First the history:  This Monastery was founded in 1327 by Queen Elisenda de Montcada with the support of her husband King Jaume II.  It was dedicated to Santa Maria, and was offered to the protection of the "Poor Clares" (the second order of St. Francis), women who foreswore all worldly possessions, and was placed near Sarria, a small village just outside of Barcelona, but near enough to be available to the Queen. During its construction she also built herself a small castle adjacent to it so that she could live there in private retirement when she retired from court.  In its founding she granted it rights and privileges that it still enjoys today, but also obligations that tie it to Barcelona.  This mutual relationship, as we shall see, has been beneficial to both.

The Cloisters

A pool in the center of the cloister.

The Door to the monastery

The later added (16th century) walls and gates to the monastery can still be seen.

In short, worth a detour to visit.  It is beautiful and in perfect condition, but as I said what may be more interesting are two other bits of its history.

1) When Ferdinand II (son to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) had a dalliance that produced a baby girl she was given a home in the the Monastery, as a member of Royalty, to protect the purity of the royal lineage by assuring that she would never have a child.  This is recorded, but how often did this happen?  (I suspect the politics in such situations as this is more common than we know.)

2) During the Civil War of 1936 (to 1939) the Nationalists (Francoists) and the Republicans (a mixture on non-nationalist groups) fought a very bloody, very brutal battle for control and many Churches were torched because the Church sided with the Nationalists.  Catalonia was staunchly Republican and it protected the Monastery from all harm.  In return just before Barcelona fell to the Nationalists the monastery became a refuge/archive for many of Catalonia's most important art and artifacts.  These were later returned to the Catalonian state when it was safe to do so. 

An interesting point in this regard is the involvement of Catalonia before the Civil war.  In 1931 the elections (held in the fall of 1931 ) returned an unexpectedly large plurality of Republican politicians (against-the-crown), and the President of Catalonia announced the following day that Catalonia was a separate state within the "Iberian Federation of States". The King of Spain responded violently to this announcement and Catalonia ultimately acquiesced to theoretically greater degree of self-governance to remain at peace.  I suspect that Catalonia was not alone in this desire to succeed, we still see this motivation not only in Catalonia and the Basque country, but also in Gallicia (and I suspect more if I knew where to look).  In Barcelona it is not uncommon to see the Catalonia flag flying from private balconies,  I have only seen the Spanish flag above government buildings. 

https://monestirpedralbes.barcelona/ca/monestir/hist%C3%B2ria/segle_xiv_fundaci%C3%B3_del_monestir