Seville

This city in Spain holds a special place in my heart. It will be the home of my internship this summer. I cannot wait to be back in Spain!!! The following is a brief history of Seville from aboutseville.com: 

"Seville is located in the South of Spain. A provincial capital, seat of the government and parliament of the Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía (Regional Government). It has more than 700,000 inhabitants, nearly half the population of the whole province. The city of Seville is located on the plain of the Guadalquivir river which crosses the city from North to South. The river can be navigated from Seville all the way to its outlet near Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic coast. In the past the port of Seville played an important role in commerce between Spain and the Americas and it remains today one of the most active river ports of the Iberian peninsula.

The Tartessians were the original founders of Hispalis. Next to this settlement, in 207 B.C., the Romans built Itálica. It was the centre of their Western Mediterranean dominions for seven centuries until the Roman empire was overrun by Northern barbarians at the beginning of the 10th century. The long Moorish occupation of the Iberian peninsula, from 711 A.D. to 1248 A.D., left indelible traces in Seville as in all of Al-Andalus. La Giralda, the tower of an important mosque, is the most well-known of the remaining Islamic monuments. In 1492 Seville played an important role in the discovery and conquest of America. The 17th century was a period of artistic splendour in Seville. Painters such as Velázquez, Murillo and Valdés Leal, and sculptors like Martínez Montañés were born in Seville and left behind important works. The city also assumed an important role in world literature and was the birthplace of the myth of Don Juan. On two occasions in the 20th century Seville has been in the spotlight of the world's attention. In 1929, it hosted the Latin American Exhibition, which left important urban improvements in the city. More recently, Expo 92 reinforced the image of Seville as a modern and dynamic city.

Don't miss out on the tapas. The city is credited with the invention and has more than a thousand bars where the choice of food, is virtually unlimited, from seafood to ham and sausage and from vegetable to cheese. The Sevillians actually make a meal of. them, moving from bar to bar and trying one dish at a time."

Tapas are probably one of the best things you will encounter in Spain beside the beautiful sights, gorgeous men (or for you guys, the women) and not to mention the divine wine! One of the blogs to come will be all about Spanish Cuisine and I will definitely touch on the art of tapas. :) 

Religion

Religion varies all around the world. Whether you are in the far east or in the west, many countries believe in various things. However, when you venture into Spain, you find one of three things:

1. 59% of Spanish citizens say that "they believe there is a God"

2. 21% say that "they believe there is some sort or spirit or life force"

3. 18% say "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force"

According to Kwintessential, the following is a short summary of the main religion Catholicism, the decline of Catholicism into a more secular country and the influence of Muslims in Spain. 

Catholic religion in Spain

The religion of the majority of the population of Spain is Catholicism. The Catholic religion in Spain has strong roots spanning centuries and is still present in Spain today. The head quarters of the church of the Catholic religion in Spain today are in the Spanish city of Toledo. From here, the Spanish Catholic Church continues to pronounce religious edicts on matters not confined to religion, but often society. Because the government of Spain is now a secular one, it can no longer be said that the catholic religion is the official religion of Spain; however, the church of this religion still receives special treatment in Spain. Among the privileges meted out to the Catholic religion in Spain is the fact that it is the only religion in Spain that still receives some official state funding from the government.

Decline in power of the Catholic religion in Spain

Like the rest of Europe, Spain is now largely a secular country which means that inevitably religion in general, and the catholic religion in particular has lost power in Spain. There seems to be a confrontation taking place between the guardians of the Catholic religion in Spain and the Spanish government. The Spanish government in recent years has forwarded moves to legalise same gender marriage and promote abortion, both of which are strictly forbidden according to the Catholic religion and go against traditional Spanish culture. The Church has in turn responded by asking professionals such as doctors and lawyers who are adherents to the Catholic religion not to become involved in divorce cases or abortion practices in Spain.

The Muslim religion in Spain

The Muslim religion reigned supreme in Spain for four hundred years bringing with it great advances in civilization. When the Muslim religion was the official religion of the ruling class in Spain, a policy of freedom of religion was implemented in Spain which allowed, among other things, followers of the Jewish religion to flourish in Spain. The legacy of the Muslim religion’s presence in Spain is still visible in the gardens and palaces of Cordoba built during that era; however, upon the Catholic conquest of Spain adherents to the Muslim religion were either forced to convert to Christianity or leave Spain. This means that in modern Spain there are no indigenous Spanish followers of the Muslim religion (apart from recent converts to the Muslim religion). There are, however, over half a million followers of the Muslim religion in Spain today, most of whom are recent immigrants to Spain who originally come from Morocco.

The Language

"Spanish is, after Mandarin Chinese and English, the third most spoken language in the world, with an estimated 400.000.000 of native speakers throughout the planet. Its origins, however, are much more reduced, both geographically and numerically.

Together with other initially European languages such as Portuguese, French or Italian, the linguistic roots of Spanish make it a Romance language. This means that Latin, or more specifically, Vulgar Latin, constitutes its most important linguistic base.

The constant contact and mutual influence of the Latin basis with other linguistic traditions and cultures has led to the formation of the different Romance languages as we know them today. In the case of Spanish, there are, for example, characteristics that come from the Iberian and Celtic traditions.

There is also a great amount of Greek vocabulary that was first adopted by Latin speakers and then brought into Spanish. Words such as “escuela” (school) or “huérfano” (orphan) all belong to this tradition. And we should not forget the seven centuries of Arab domination of the peninsula. This has left, among other things, an important legacy of lexical elements that have been incorporated into the Spanish language. A surname you probably know which exemplifies this is “Almodóvar”.

Spanish is, especially in the bilingual territories of Spain, also known as castellano (Castilian), because of its origins in the region of Castilla. Castilla is situated in the north-central part of Spain, and it was once the neuralgic center of the Spanish empire that would take the Spanish language to more than twenty other countries.

The establishment of a linguistic unity of Spanish as a common language for the state of Spain was parallel to its territorial unity. This union was only possible after the Reconquest of the peninsula from the Arab settlers, at the end of the 15th century. The kingdom of Castilla, and also its linguistic variety, expanded to the practical totality of the Iberian Peninsula. After the marriage of Isabel I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragón, the Spanish state was born, and Castilian language and culture became its most dominant identity. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through a series of linguistic evolutions and normalizing changes, the language of the Spanish state became what is nowadays known as Modern Spanish.

It is important to remember, however, that spoken Spanish is not identical in the different regions of the Spanish state. In fact, its pronunciation and lexical characteristics can vary to a very significant extent from one place to another. However, the maintenance of a unified, standard, version of the Spanish language and of its written form is guaranteed by the Real Academia de la Lengua Española. The Academia sets the rules to follow in order to speak and write in a way that is accepted by all the different Spanish speakers."

                                                               - The Babylon Idiomas Blog

Food for Thought:

"Buenos dias" (Good morning) is used in the morning until lunchtime, and "Buenos tardes" (Good afternoon) from lunchtime until dark. You can greet people with "Hola" (Hi) or "Que Tal" (How are you?) any time of the day. 

Greetings vary according to how well you know someone. It's polite to shake hands, both when you meet and say good-bye. Good friends sometimes give each other a hug, and women kiss each other on the cheek. 

Did you know? There are four forms for "you" (taking different verb forms): tu (informal/singular) and vosotros/ vosotras (informal/ plural: only used in Spain) are used for relatives, children, close friends and between young people. Latin American countries use ustedes to address more than one person formally or informally; usted is the formal singular form of ustedes. 

Map of Spain & Merida

From Toledo, we move our way down to the western part of Spain to the city of Merida. Merida was one of the most famous Roman capitols of the Iberian Peninsula, and features some of the best preserved Roman ruins in Europe. This city was held to be the traditional boundary between Moorish and Christian Spain. Merida was passed between Christian, Moorish, and even Portuguese control. It is a beautiful city to walk through and resembles her conquerers very much. Many say it is a smaller Rome and combined with the Moorish touch, it is an ancient sight one much see. 

Merida is known for six main ancient sights to see; however, the crown jewel of her Roman heritage is The Roman Theater. This landmark was build by Agrippa in 18 B.C. and can seat 6000 people. During the months of June and July, plays are often staged here. 

The next of Merida's preserved Roman sights are the Aqueducts. There is over 5 miles of aqueduct running through Merida. The most complete is found on the northwest side of town and feeds into two nearby man made lakes. It is called the Acueducto de los Milagroson. 

The Roman Bridge consists of 64 granite arches and is the longest bridge in Roman Spain. Now, you will find the bridge serving as a footbridge over the Guadiana river. A modern bridge was built behind to take the load off the ancient Roman Bridge. However, it was not until 1993 when the old bridge was decommissioned as the main entrance into town for vehicle traffic. 

Directly in the center of town, you will find the Temple of Diana. It is a rather odd looking Roman ruin that consists of many columns. During the 17th century a nobleman built an extraordinary large home inside these columns, using four of them directly as the structure of the house. 

There are incredible views from the top of the Alcazaba which is located near the Roman bridge. In 835, the Alcazaba was constructed as a Roman fort to protect the bridge and the city. 

Last but not least, one cannot miss the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (National Museum of Roman Art). This museum opened in 1986 and provides a rather sublime display of statuary and other antiquities used by the Romans. It is located near the entrance to the theater and amphitheater.