Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
by Joan Carroll
Title
Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes
Artist
Joan Carroll
Medium
Photograph - Digital Art
Description
With the advent of Google maps, getting around Toledo, a city notorious for twisting winding streets, is getting much easier. So I mapped out a walking route from my B&B to the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, a route that wasn't 'the' route that everyone took from the main square down to the cathedral and then to the Monastery. Surely enough, the streets were as narrow and winding as ever, but eventually I rounded a corner and there at the bottom of the hill sat the Monastery! It reminded me yet again how closely churches are integrated into the cityscapes in Europe. This monastery was founded by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I to commemorate both the birth of their son, Prince John, and their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476) over the army of Afonso V of Portugal. If you look closely at the side of the church, at the bottom of the narrow archways, you see sets of chains. The chains were worn by the Christians imprisoned by the Muslims. During the reconquest, the prisoners were freed and the chains were hung in 1494, as a votive offering and a symbol of the triumph of Christian faith. Definitely the 15th century way of saying that �my religion is better than yours�.
FEATURED PHOTO, 1 Weekly All Stars group, 3/28/16
FEATURED PHOTO, Lady Photographers and Artists group, 3/25/16
FEATURED PHOTO, Spanish Theme Artwork Group, 3/24/16
FEATURED PHOTO, I Wish I Was There group, 3/23/16
Uploaded
March 24th, 2016
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Viewed 2,117 Times - Last Visitor from Ottawa, ON - Canada on 04/22/2024 at 11:50 PM
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