Roman Ruins In Spain

Each year, thousands of Spaniards and tourists buy tickets to watch traditional bullfights which are held throughout Spain, in rural villages in big cities alike. According to Faiola (2013), bullfighting has a long history in Spain and can be traced back to the early Middle Ages (8th century CE). For centuries, Spain has been famous for its lively bullfighting events and many tourists flock to the country each year to partake in this long held tradition. (Beilin 2014). Crowds cheer as the matador, dressed in a highly ornamented suit and donning the traditional red-cape, battles the bull and attempts to kill it in the 20 minute time frame. Bullrings are mostly sustained by tourists, many of whom visit out of curiosity and want to embrace this unique aspect of Spanish culture. For the most part, locals have largely stopped going to the bullfights and, most of the time, the arenas are filled with out of country tourists.

Spain, a place of majestic artwork and structures that truly embrace and utilize the beauty of its homeland. Not only does Spain offer a stunning scenery, there are other activities that can be experienced whilst in Spain. Spain is home to many isolated and unique structures that testament the engineering wonder that the Roman Empire birthed into the world; such as, The Aqueduct of Segovia and the city of Merida.

Bullfighting is a so called “tradition” in Spain, Portugal and some Latin American countries like Mexico and Venezuela. Reality is bullfighting is only a constant torture to a poor bull unable to defend itself. So that you can understand me better I am going to tell you about the Spanish-style bullfighting:

From sandy beaches to rocky mountain ranges, astounding big cities to mosques and gothic cathedrals, vibrant festivals to the theatrical historic bullfights, Spain has about everything. Spain has been the center of culture in Europe for thousands of years. Spain is an astonishing place with rich heritage and lively festivals and art. Spain is not just about the flamenco dancing, bullfights, and the religious festivals, it has so many things to offer. Even Lenny Kravitz the American singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer said, “It’s like a dream to come to Spain and stay a for a couple of years and get somebody to teach me Spanish music.” Today I am going to inform you about the well-known features of La Siesta in the Spanish culture, the creative and energetic Flamenco dance, and the historic subculture of Basque.

Mahatma Gandhi once stated that “A nations culture resides in the hearts and souls of its people” This holds evident in the European country of Spain. Spain is a country of long time tradition in which people work hard to continue on with a culture they created long ago. Spain is a very colorfully cultured country with many famous and important traditions one of which is, the art of flamenco dancing.

Finally in 1491 the citadel surrendered and evacuated the Alhambra in 1492 to Ferdinand and Isabella. It is at this point that the palaces begin to fall prey to the new owners who like the old ones wished to place their own mark on the complex. And though it is important to note the changes the new monarchs implemented it still depresses me to think that only 3 of the original 7 palisades are still standing in the Moorish style. However it is not solely do to the two original Christian monarch who destroyed the palaces and much of the Moorish infrastructure. Ferdinand and Isabella built their own quarters within the existing Medina as well as destroying many of the plaster roofs and replacing them with a more traditional style roof emblazoned with their sigil in the “Sala de los Mocárabes.” But these changes are very superficial compared to what Charles V decided to construct next to the Nasrid palaces. Once he gained the throne Charles V originally wanted the capital of Spain to be in Granada, and as such as ruler he wished to construct his own palace that usurped the old rooms in size and style. So in 1526 building commenced on his palace which was meant to emulate the Pantheon. However midway through the construction of his palace he

Spain has a rich history on Roman ruins. For example, the Calat Alhambra was built as a small palace but was left abandoned. In the 13th century, Muhammed ben Al-Amar rebuilt it and later in 1333 Yusuf I turned it into a royal palace. Mid-1500s came and Alhambra was abandoned again but was never destroyed. The Calat Alhambra went through the Spanish War of Independence and later ended up being “declared a national monument”.

hispanics (spaindars) like to spend their free time watching Bullfighting. they do not see it as sport only. they as a form of art. Bullfighting is one of the most famous sports in Latin America

The completion of military conquest in the “New World” marked the end of the indigenous peoples’ way of life and made way for Spanish rule under Catholic authority. The land that was conquered was retitled “New Spain” (Mexico) and the crown hoped to use monastic orders to convert the populace and establish Christian authority. The monastic orders sent to New Spain helped build the foundation of colonial life. The founding of cloisters symbolized the “triumph of Christianity over the pagan beliefs of the indigenous peoples.” Convents in particular provided women with a certain amount of socio-economic power in a patriarchal society.

The Calat Alhambra is stationed in Granada the history goes back for more than 1,100 years. In 889 the Alhambra was built as a small fortress and palace but later on it was abandoned. In the 13th century the Alhambra was rebuilt by Muhammad be Al-Amar who was a Moorish Emir for the Emirate of Granada. 1333 the sultan of Granada , Yusuf I turned the Alhambra into a royal palace and construction was completed by Muhammed V and stayed a place for the Muslims use until 1492 when it became use to the Christian court. In mid-1500s the Alhambra was abandoned but it was never tore down. During the Spanish war in the 1800s Napoleon’s army took control of the Alhambra and use for barrack. When the soldiers were leaving they destroyed it by putting bombs in towers. In 1870 the Alhambra was declared a national monument and also led to UNESCO as a world Heritage site in

The historical site I have selected is La Plaza De Cultura Y Artes. The Plaza shows the terrific Mexican culture and its connection to Southern California and most importantly in Los Angeles. According to their website lapca.org, The Plaza De Cultura Y Artes was founded in 2011 and is located near where the City of Los Angeles was founded on. The Plaza is a center for excellence with Mexican and Mexican-American culture. Again according to lapca.org, the Plaza facilitates numerous artifacts that detail the history of Mexican culture from the earliest natives in California to the most recent Mexican-American contributions. La Plaza de Cultura Y Arte prides itself on providing unknown Mexican history to its visitors. The Plaza also is located by a large garden that surrounds the beautiful historical museum. La Plaza de Cultura is an excellent historical gem that many people in Southern California have not discovered.

“Medieval Society” helped to give a better perspective on what Rome was like during Medieval Times. The article explained the collapse of The Western Roman Empire, and makes things easier to comprehend by breaking it down by countries/ parts of the empire. By using this method, it makes it easier to understand the fall of the Roman Empire by going in depth and explaining all the different causes for each empire's downfall. It also showed how medieval Europe inherited many of it’s traditions and institutions, for example, Christianity. I thought this article was well written and gave enough details and information to fully understand the main concept of this article.

Particularly in the Roman times, funerary relief did not be used solely for commemorating the deceased, but rather it was used as a public demonstration of identity of certain group of deceased people. Moreover, the relief itself represents the spirit of the Roman. According to the article In Commemorationem Mortuorum: Text and Image Along the ‘Streets of Tombs,’ written by Michael Koortbojian, the Roman funerary relief is fully filled with Romanitas, which refer to the collection of political and cultural concepts, practices, and value by which the Romans defined themselves. The article focuses on three different types of sculpted funerary monument: wall-mounted grave relief, stele, and altar, dedicated to freedmen and freed women during the Republican and Imperial periods. Except for portrait bust type of wall-mounted grave relief, these funerary monuments are based on the Hellenic models. Even though the Roman artists borrowed basic formulas from them, the final products of the monuments are totally transformed and crowded with Roman artistic characters. Koortbojian claims that certain visual settings on the picture plane are commonly carved on the monuments as a means of representing artistic Roman-ness and the ideal Roman. Moreover, rather than mythical subjects, most funerary reliefs belonged to the freedmen represent profession of the dead in naturalistic manner. Also, he points out physical location of the monuments that they were erected outside the city walls as

The regional pastime of the running of the bulls in Pamplona is an exciting tradition that involves a group of bulls that are lets loose in the streets of Pamplona. The main purpose of the run is to transport the bulls from the corrals into the bullrings, where they will be killed. This run takes place for seven days in San Fermin, Pamplona in Spain. It started in the 14th century. Today the running of the bulls attracts many tourists from around the world that like to participate. Many participate by joining the bulls, and running along side of them. This is very dangerous, many are injured and some are even killed. Others participate by dressing the part and cheering. Runners wear the traditional outfit of a white shirt and pants. Some have a red scarf or handkerchief, some wear red belts. Runners also have with them a newspaper to draw attention away from the bulls just in case.

History comes in all shapes,sizes and forms. When being interested in history, it is often hard to find actual artifacts from the past. Spain is one of the many places where the famous, epic Roman Empire took control and actually built some of the cities and buildings there. There is really no need to only go to Italy to see Roman ruins. The Roman Empire stretched far out and left a good amount of ruins in Spain that is preserved to be a look back into old Rome. Spain is a wonderful country to visit in order to see Roman ruins because of the conserved artifacts, history, and Toledo,Spain diverse cultures.