The Castle and the Bridge

by Joan Carroll

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Dimensions

20.000 x 16.000 inches

Title

The Castle and the Bridge

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Photograph

Description

I had a train to catch back to Madrid from Toledo. Looking at the map, I saw a bridge crossing the Rio Tajo that could easily cut off half of the walk that I took from the train station into town the day before. Well, short story long, it cut off half the distance but added at least three times the time to make the walk as I stopped....and stopped again.....and stopped again to photograph this scene every step of the way! The castle on the hill is the Alcazar, a stone fortification located at the highest point in Toledo and dominating the skyline. It was used as a Roman palace in the 3rd century, and restored under Charles I and Philip II of Spain in the 1540s. It is perhaps most famous for the famous seige occurring there in the Spanish Civil War when the Nationalists (Franco's team) held out against the Republicans for several months. The events of the Spanish Civil War at the Alcazar made the structure a symbol for Spanish Nationalism and inspired the naming of El Alcazar, a far-right newspaper that began during the civil war and ended during the Spanish transition to democracy as the mouthpiece for Bunker, a faction of Francoists who opposed reform after Francisco Franco's death. By the end of the siege, the building had been severely damaged. After the war, it was rebuilt and now houses the Museum of the Army. The bridge in the photo is the Puente de Alcantara, an arch bridge spanning the Rio Tajo or the Tagus River. The word Alcantara comes from Arabic word meaning 'bridge'. This bridge was built by the Romans after they founded the city. In the middle ages it was one of the few entrances of the pilgrim into the city. It was declared a national museum in 1921.

FEATURED PHOTO, Spanish Theme Artwork group, 7/11/15

FEATURED PHOTO, Artists Best Five Artwork Group ABFA Group, 6/27/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Spain and The Iberian Peninsula group, 6/26/14

FEATURED PHOTO, Places You Visited and Would Recommend to Others group, 2/12/13

FEATURED PHOTO, Beauty of this World LIMIT 1 group, 2/5/13

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February 4th, 2013

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