Saturday, April 20, 2013

Leon City Highlights

Part of today was spent visiting the Cathedral de Santa Maria de Leon. The interior stained glass windows are colorful and I enjoyed looking at them in the morning sun. My focus was on the interior and to be honest is was difficult to take a picture that would do the exterior - or interior - justice.

I have included some interesting elements including a picture of a statue of a pregnant Virgin Mary and an up close one of a panel featuring the Golden Fleece legend. It turns out that the 13th Century builders included elements of Roman and Greek mythology in their decoration. The attitude to allow this changed. Some was later removed during renovations and little remains.

I also visited the Plaza San Marcos. The main building here houses an upscale hotel but it also has served as a pilgrim hostel and the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of Santiago who protected the pilgrims along the Way. The church at one end has many scallop shells that symbolize the pilgrimage as part of the decoration on the walls.

No comments:

Post a Comment