Category: Small Group Discoveries

MediterraneanSmall Group Discoveries

Treasures of Constantinople

on December 10, 2018

Istanbul is one of the rare cities on the globe to straddle two continents, Europe and Asia. Strolling its captivating streets offers an exotic glimpse of two worlds, east and west. Thanks to its location on the Bosporus Strait, it has also served as a crossroads of culture and history. Today, massive relics from its days as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires take the breath away.

Bosporus Strait. Centuries ago, camel and horse caravans carried goods through Istanbul en route to Europe or Asia. Today, the constant funneling of ships between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara do the job. Indeed, Istanbul hasn’t lost its touch as a vital link between continents thanks to the Bosporus Strait, the world’s narrowest strait that supports international shipping.

Blue Mosque. This mesmerizing building is 400 years old. Upon completion, it was called the Sultan Ahmed Mosque after the ruler for whom it was built. It’s said that Ahmed I ordered its construction in order to calm God after the sultan lost a war with Persia. With its overwhelming size—a main dome, eight smaller domes, six minarets, and a complex of buildings surrounding it—you can imagine that the deity’s temper was easily subdued. The mosque earned its less formal name from the 20,000 ceramic tiles that adorn its cavernous interior, each one handmade at Iznik.

Hippodrome. In the year 324, Roman Emperor Constantine the Great moved the government of the Roman Empire to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople after him. He expanded the city greatly, and one of his major accomplishments was the Hippodrome, a vast U-shaped chariot-racing track that could accommodate 100,000 spectators. The site was also the center of the city’s social and political life.

Hagia Sophia. Another proud monument to Istanbul’s religious history is Hagia Sophia, which stands adjacent to the Blue Mosque. It was originally built as an Eastern Orthodox Cathedral in the sixth century. With its massive dome, it is considered by many a shining example of Byzantine architecture and is even thought to have altered the course of architecture in general. In 1453, the conquering Ottoman Turks converted the cathedral to a mosque; it was secularized in 1935 upon its transformation into a museum. Today, a small room is allocated for Christian and Muslim prayer, and the hypnotic call to prayer is sung from the minarets twice a day.

Grand Bazaar. In the 15th century, the Sultan Mehmet II wanted a fortress erected that would be dedicated to textile trading. This would become the core of today’s Grand Bazaar, and it would shape the culture and wealth of the city for centuries. Today, it is one of the world’s oldest and largest covered markets, a thrilling maze of 61 streets and more than 3,000 shops. A few hours browsing and roaming its markets reveals Istanbul at its most vibrant.

Topkapi Palace. The seat of sultans for almost 400 years, the Topkapi Palace is a sprawling monument to Turkey’s Ottoman past. With a splendid location overlooking the Bosporus Strait, the complex was home to up to 4,000 people during its heyday, with mosques, bakeries, a mint, and a hospital within its walls. Today, the most important of its hundreds of rooms are maintained as a museum that features, among countless other relics of the Muslim world, Mohammed’s cloak and sword.

We invite you to explore the treasures of Istanbul for yourself during our Turkish Odyssey adventure!

MediterraneanSmall Group Discoveries

The Changing Face of the Kibbutz

on November 18, 2018

About 100 years ago, small pockets of Israel lay dormant and unused. The Galilee was a swampy marshland.The Judean Hills were rock-strewn. And the Negev’s desert landscape was largely inhospitable. To waves of Jewish immigrants from Russia,Eastern Europe, and beyond, these seemed the perfect places to start Utopian communities. 

The Jews who came to Israel during the First and Second Aliyahs wanted to be farmers. But they detested the class structures they had seen elsewhere. Instead, they wanted to create a community of equals. Their vision for communal settlements would not come easily: Most of the colonists came without any farming experience, and they learned quickly enough that this was an unwelcoming region that was often the target of hostile nomadic Bedouins.

They had to stick together. Living collectively in a commune-type environment provided the perfect security. Everyone contributed equally—with sweat equity, skills, and financial resources—to ensure the success of the group. Remarkably, these pioneers also received financial support from around the world as the Jewish National Fund, which was founded in 1901, placed “Blue Boxes” in Jewish communities everywhere; proceeds from the boxes helped to purchase land that came to belong to the entire Jewish population.

Settlers reclaimed the marshes and hills and desert, converting much of it for human development. They planted trees, drained swamps, and converted the soil into productive farmland. To encourage continued donations into those Blue Boxes, word got around about a miraculous transformation in Israel: “The desert,” so the gossip went, “was blooming.”

And that’s not all that was blooming. In a society where all were equal and free from exploitation, immense gratification and pride also blossomed. Throughout the 20th century and into this century, the kibbutz movement has grown into a kind of farm co-operative where crops are harvested, chickens are raised, and cows are milked…much of it for shipment throughout Israel and beyond.

Into the 21st Century

Our Israel, Ancient & Modern Culture trip features a two-night stay at the Pastoral Kfar Blum Kibbutz, founded in 1943. Like those before it, this kibbutz sits on land that was once barren, waterlogged, and inaccessible. Its original settlers were from the Baltic, England, the U.S., and Canada.

To stay in tune with the 21st century, the 600-member community has recently privatized. Its farm spreads out over 1,225 acres, where 1,200 tons of fruit are harvested every year, including the famous red grapefruit beloved throughout Israel. Prize-winning cotton is also grown here, as are peaches and nectarines. Each year, the kibbutz ships 3.5 million liters of milk throughout the country.

Pastoral Kfar Blum also supports itself through Israel’s thriving travel industry. Its intimately styled hotel boasts everything from a restaurant and spa, convention hall and Olympic-sized swimming pool to a synagogue, schools, and a center for music and dance. One visit is all it takes to see the community spirit of the kibbutz is still very much alive here.

MediterraneanSmall Group Discoveries

Sifting through Israel’s Rich History

on November 11, 2018

Within Israels’ Emek Tzurim National Park, on the lower slopes of the Mount of Olives, untold treasures are being unearthed. But it’s not only archaeologists who are digging up relics here. It’s a small army of volunteers and travelers eager for an unforgettable educational opportunity.

The Temple Mount Sifting Project was created in 2004. Its founders might tell you that it was borne from an urgent historical necessity. Just a few years earlier, construction crews had dug an entrance to Solomon’s Stables, an ancient subterranean structure that was being converted into a mosque. The site of the stables, however, was adjacent to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount—sacred to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—and the digging proceeded without regard for laws that protect Jerusalem’s archaeological sites. Large chunks of earth were recklessly trucked out, by some counts more than 400 loads.

Dr. Gabriel Barkey and Zachi Dvira, archaeologists working under the banner of Bar-Ilan University, were certain that priceless relics were moved with all that earth. And so, with the cooperation of the Israel National Parks Authority, they founded the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

What’s unique about the project is the reason for its founding. It’s not often that excavation projects are undertaken out of anger over the treatment of historic sites. Indeed, you don’t need a history degree to realize that construction zones in such a historic place must employ onsite experts so that uncovered relics can be labeled by location and context, documented, then removed with great care. Such was not the case here.

Still, optimism surrounds the Temple Mount Sifting Project. Even though valuable knowledge about the historical location and context of centuries-old items has been lost, scholars can still learn information from the artifacts themselves by, for instance, making assumptions about the era from which they came by matching them to similarly styled pieces that were uncovered in “known” spots.

Gabriel and Zachi knew it would be no small task to sift through 400 truckloads of earth. They would need help, and lots of it, to embark on an operation that would take many years. So they created a volunteer organization that embraces the efforts of all—from students to travelers. To that end, a simple makeshift sifting camp has been erected outside Jerusalem’s old city walls.

Since the project’s founding, tens of thousands of people have participated, sifting through buckets of earth to discover pottery, glass vessels, bones, mosaic stones, jewelry, and coins—many from the First Temple Period of the 10th century. Even fragments of mosaic floors, frescoes, and glazed wall tiles have been found.

Discovery Tours travelers have the unique opportunity to help uncover history here. During our Israel, Ancient & Modern Culture trip, we sift through the rubble using a wet-sifting technique. Who knows? You just might come across a priceless artifact.

Dead Sea Jordan
MediterraneanSmall Group Discoveries

Israel’s Astonishing Natural Beauty

on November 6, 2018

When you think of Israel, a vast treasure trove of historic and religious sights undoubtedly comes to mind. But this small country is home to some of the world’s most stunning natural beauty, the likes of which you won’t see anywhere else.

Here, quiet villages are tucked away in fertile valleys. Mountains rise from plains and rocky cliffs soar to the heavens. Starkly beautiful deserts are dotted with Bedouin tents. And serene lakes stretch out like small seas. Throughout Discovery Tours’ Israel, Ancient & Modern Culture trip, you can witness this magnificence firsthand.

The Road to Galilee

The rocky terrain of Galilee seems to stretch into eternity. Dappled in wide swathes of green and soaring to summits of up to 3,800 feet, it’s a breathtaking canvas adorned with streams and flower-laden fields. The climate of this fertile region supports a large variety of flora and wildlife. The Hula Valley Nature Reserve especially thrives with life, including many birds that stop here to rest from their migration between Africa and cooler climates to the north. In one of nature’s most spectacular displays, tens of thousands of cranes pass through here as they make their way from Finland to Ethiopia every winter.

In the west of Galilee on the Mediterranean Coast, white chalk cliffs spill into the sea. Over millennia, the crashing surf has carved a network of spectacular grottoes dimly lit by the sparkle of azure waters. These Rosh HaNikra caves, Hebrew for “head of the grottoes,” are a mysterious and magical place, a maze of subterranean passageways untouched by humankind for ages until divers began exploring them. Today, a cable car lowers you to the grotto entrance, and it is well worth a visit.

From sea level to mountaintop, Mount Bental rises in the eastern region of the Golan Heights. In Arabic, it is sometimes known as the “Mountain of Lust,” so it might not surprise you that it was once an active volcano. Now dormant—as are the other peaks of this mountain chain—it provides incredible views of the Golan Heights and the surrounding region. The volcanic soils have made this a fertile pocket of Israel. Farming communities, kibbutzim, and wineries dot the landscape, and Discovery Tours visits one of them—the delightfully welcoming Golan Heights Winery—to sample some of the local vintages.

The tranquil Sea of Galilee is the focal point of this beautiful region. Contrary to its name, it is a freshwater lake fed by underground springs and by the Jordan River from the north. Aside from its beauty, it has a lot to boast about. It is Israel’s largest and the world’s lowest freshwater lake. What’s more, it is the site of several miracles of Jesus. He is said to have walked on these fabled waters, and to have transformed five loaves and fishes into a feast for thousands here on these shores.

A Sea Full of Salt and a Massive Mesa

Unlike the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea is very much full of salt. So much salt, in fact, that it is impossible to sink in its waters. This is the lowest point of land on earth—1,315 feet below sea. This fascinating body of water is more than nine times as salty as the ocean, creating an environment that cannot support animals, hence its name.

But it is a geographic curiosity for a host of other reasons. With the Jordan River its only significant source of water and with no outlet, tiny springs have formed underneath its shore, resulting in pools and quicksand pits. Further, with so much salt and relatively little water, intriguingly shaped salt deposits form on the shores as water evaporates, from thick multi-layered blankets to tiny pearl-like pebbles, all of them sculpted over millennia. If you’re not completely smitten with the geology of the Dead Sea, then its buoyancy is sure to put a smile on your face. Merely step in, lie back, and relax to enjoy nature’s only flotation device.

Nearby, a giant rocky plateau rises from the Judean Desert. This is Masada, and its magnificent setting helped to shape history. So commanding are the views from atop this mesa—some of its cliffs are 1,300 feet high—Herod the Great built his fortress here just a few decades before Christ. Who can blame him? The vistas of the Dead Sea and the Negev Desert are spectacular. But not everything was serene and beautiful in Herod’s day. When the Roman Empire attacked at the end of the first Jewish-Roman War, 960 Jewish rebels are said to have thrown themselves off the cliffs rather than surrender to Rome.

We invite you to surrender to the natural beauty and irresistible allure of Israel.

Click here for trip details!

MediterraneanSmall Group Discoveries

Jerusalem: City of Pilgrimage for Three Religions

on November 3, 2018

The history of Jerusalem stretches back to 4000 BC and the Copper Age. We so readily associate the city with religious history today, it’s hard to believe that millennia passed before events unfolded here that would alter how humankind thinks of spirituality, morality, and its own place in the world. Today, a mix of historic fascination and pious devotion bring people to this city. No matter what brings you here, you’re sure to be mesmerized and captivated.

Jerusalem is the center of three of the world’s major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. No other city in the world boasts such a dense concentration of religious sites, each more moving and powerful than the last. Little wonder: the history of Judaism here dates back 3,000 years, Christianity stretches back 2,000 years, and Islam echoes back 1,400 years. The city is home to about 1,204 synagogues, 158 churches, and 73 mosques.

The most rewarding visit to this ancient and celebrated city looks on all of its sacred sites with equal fascination and respect, regardless of their meaning to any one faith. After all, no other place in world means so much to so many.

City of David

The City of David, one of the world’s most magnificent archaeological sites, lies just outside the Old City of Jerusalem. It is a spectacularly preserved place, and marks the spot where King David established Jerusalem as his capital in the 10th century BC. Since then, it has been the ancestral and spiritual home of the Jewish people.

The sacred Talmud goes into great detail about Jerusalem’s significance to Jewish heritage. King David’s struggle to capture the city and his desire to build the Jewish Temple there hold deep personal meaning for the Jewish people. The temple was completed by David’s son, King Solomon, in 957 BC, only to be destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. But the Babylonians didn’t rule for long and The Second Temple was built by Persian leader Cyrus the Great. It not only served as an economic center, but it’s also believed that the word of God came from its hallowed halls and resonated from here to all nations.

The Second Temple survived several centuries of occupation—by the Macedonians, Ptolemies, and the Hellenic Empire. But it too was destroyed in 70 AD as the Roman Empire moved in to claim Jerusalem. (In the Book of Matthew, Jesus prophesied its destruction 37 years earlier.) The Romans proved victorious and banned Jews from Jerusalem.

Today, the Western (or Wailing) Wall is the only structure that remains from the Second Temple. Here, devout Jews gather to insert their written prayers into the nooks and crannies of its mortar. Of course, this is not the only site that draws Jewish people from all around the world. Temple Mount is said to shelter the Talmudic source of life, the site from where God gathered dust to create man. Because of its sacred power, many Jews will not walk on the Mount for fear of disrespecting the divine presence there. Jews within the city pray facing in the direction of the Mount. The Wall and the Mount are among the holiest and most pensive places on earth, and we’ll examine them as closely as religious law allows.

City of Christ

Jerusalem holds a critical place in the Old Testament. But it played its most pivotal role in Christianity in the life of Jesus. As a child, he was brought to the Second Temple to be presented. When he was only 12, he astonished the Jewish theologians here with his extensive knowledge of the Torah. He also attended festivals in Jerusalem and preached and healed in the Temple courts. He is believed to have had his Last Supper in an upper room, or Cenacle, on Mount Zion. This is also where the Apostles stayed when they were in Jerusalem and, by some accounts, the location of the very first Christian church.

Jesus was arrested in Jerusalem and put on trial here. He is said to have walked along the city’s Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrows, while bearing the cross. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher (revered as Golgotha or the Hill of Calvary) is traditionally believed to be the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It’s an especially moving experience to visit here, and pilgrims have been doing so since at least the fourth century.

Jerusalem holds additional significance to Christians. When Christianity was still new and had fewer followers than it does today, the devout were outcast by Roman rule. To identify each other, they etched the fish symbol onto their homes or shops. But even that was risky: Christians who were “outed” could have been killed. All that changed once Constantine took the throne of the Roman Empire. The powerful emperor claimed Christianity as his faith, creating a fertile environment for the religion to flourish.

City of Muhammed

According to Islamic tradition and the holy book of the Qur’an, the prophet Muhammed—said to have been a messenger of God—came to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque from Mecca on his famous “Night Journey.” He was carried through his physical and spiritual journey upon the white horse Buraq, who transported the prophets at their bidding. Upon arrival, he tied Buraq to the Western Wall while he prayed at the mosque. When he finished his prayers, the angel Gabriel ascended with him to heaven, where Muhammed led several other prophets in prayer. His travels complete, he returned to Mecca that very same night. For many, the gleaming Dome of the Rock at Temple Mount marks the spot from where Muhammed ascended.

It’s an inspiring story that has earned Al-Aqsa mosque a place as the third holiest site in Islam, even though it was the second to be constructed after the Masjid al-Haram, the massive complex in Mecca. It carries huge significance to the Islamic faith because it was mentioned in the Qur’an. Al-Aqsa is also the original qibla of Islam, or the focal point toward which Muslims face when they pray. The mosque was held in such reverence because it had been the sight of Muhammed’s ascension. Even after the great Muslim migration from Jerusalem to Medina in 624 AD, the prayerful continued to kneel in the direction of Al-Aqsa during prayer. Today, the Islamic qibla is Mecca.

But it is not Muhammed alone who has elevated Jerusalem’s significance and holiness to Islam. To dig more deeply into the inclusive messages of Islam is to see Jerusalem in a new and magnificent light. In the eyes of Islam, David, Solomon, and Jesus are also prophets of their faith. Why? Because according to their faith, God sent messengers to all nations and instilled in them a belief that they would then embrace and teach. And ultimately, every prophet preaches the “oneness” of God. It’s a comforting message, and one that is befitting of the holiest city on earth.

Experience the deep spirituality of Jerusalem during our Israel, Ancient and Modern Cultures trip. Click here for trip details!

EuropeSmall Group Discoveries

9 Things You Don’t Know About La Sagrada Familia Cathedral

on October 20, 2018

There is no other house of worship on earth quite like Barcelona, Spain’s towering Sagrada Familia Cathedral, Antoni Gaudi’s masterwork. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has raised the eyebrows of art critics and inspired millions of visitors. Here are some fascinating facts about it that might surprise you:

  1. They’ve been building it for 136 years. Its current estimated completion date? 2026, the centenary of Gaudi’s death.
  1. When asked why the building was taking so long, Gaudi replied, “My client isn’t in a hurry.”
  1. By the end of his life, when Gaudi worked on nothing else, he was dressing in rags instead of buying new clothes, so that all his income could go the project, which was being funded entirely by donations.
  1. At the Paris Exhibition of 1910, crowds formed long lines to view the plaster model of the building in progress, which then included stone cherubim with wind-propelled wings that would ring bells.
  1. The interior pillars start square as the base, become octagonal, then circular, before transforming into tree-like limbs interlaced at ceiling height, to emphasis that nature is elevated over the handiwork of man.
  1. The existing completed towers each bear words that together spell out a Latin prayer. When told that no one could read the script, Gaudi replied, “The angels can.”
  1. The cathedral has its critics and its fans: George Orwell called it hideous and Pablo Picasso said it was a monstrosity, but Salvador Dali declared it “as sensual as a woman’s skin.”
  1. Anarchists in the Spanish Civil War didn’t dare destroy the beloved building, so they destroyed all the renderings and models to make it impossible to finish.
  1. A computer whiz in the 1980s took scraps of remaining plans, handwritten notes by Gaudi, and photos of the existing construction to solve the puzzle of what the rest was intended to look like, speeding up construction.
EuropeSmall Group Discoveries

The Seductions of Iberia

on October 16, 2018

“Seductive” may well be the best way to describe the rich and vibrant cultures of Spain and Portugal. Sultry music, mouthwatering foods, ruby-red and bubbling wines, and architectural wonders that stir the soul provide a provocative glimpse of the passions of the Iberian people. Join us, and give in to the seduction when you sample these cultural touchstones:

Wines

In terms of acreage, Spain boasts the most vineyards of any nation in the world. It’s only because of its relatively low yield that it falls to third place in actual production. Rioja in northern Spain is best known for its red wines; Rias Baixas in the northwest is beloved for its white, including the fizzy cava. In Spain’s relaxed culture, wine is commonly enjoyed with lunch and dinner.

In Portugal, fortified port wine is the prize. These typically sweet vintages, grown in the Douro River Valley, are a potent blend of wine and brandy—the latter was added to bottles in the earliest days of wine production to prevent spoilage during long journeys to England and other nations.

UNESCO Treasures

Spaniards and Portuguese cherish their long and rich history. Nowhere is that history better represented than in their combined 59 UNESCO World Heritage Sites—44 in Spain and 15 in Portugal. These cultural treasures, protected by their United Nations status, stand as architectural masterpieces that define their era. In Spain, Discovery Tours travelers visit the hilltop city of Ubeda, Granada’s Moorish fortress of the Alhambra, the Seville Cathedral, and three of Gaudi’s masterworks in Barcelona: Casa Mila, Casa Battlo, and portions of La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. In Portugal, we’ll visit Lisbon’s Jeronimos Monastery and the quaint city of Sintra.

Music

Many associate the Spanish flamenco strictly with the fiery dance. But flamenco also encompasses the music—the song, the specific style of guitar playing, and the hand clapping. The performance art originated in Andalucia, more specifically Seville, among the Romani population in the 18th century. Several of today’s artists are descended from these gypsies and keep their tradition very much alive in dance halls and on the streets of Spain.

In Portugal, a very different style of music fills the clubs, though it is equally sultry and dripping with passion. The style of fado is mournful and full of resignation and longing. In fact, the term is believed to have originated from the Portuguese suadade, or “longing.” Earliest fado—from the 1820s or before—centered on the sea or on the lives of the poor, but today’s songs could be about most any form of loss.

Food

Tapas is perhaps the most familiar form of Spanish cuisine. In Spanish cities, tapas bars seem to dot every corner. These small plates pack big flavor and varied textures, creating a noshing delight made all the more sumptuous by any number of wines. Dishes might be as simple as spicy meatballs, as hearty as croquettes, or as exotic as a fried quail egg over bread with a hot strip of red pepper. Paella is also hugely popular in Spain. Typically prepared in a large pot, the traditional dish has strong Moorish and farm origins and consists of rice, green vegetables, saffron, and rabbit, chicken, or duck. Popular versions are also prepared with prawns and mussels instead of meat.

In Portugal, one of the most prevalent dishes is bacalhau, a dried and salted cod. This plentiful fish has been on European menus for 500 years. Centuries ago, the dish was created out of necessity in order to preserve the fish. Over generations, it has become a staple of the local diet. Many Portuguese even have an affectionate nickname for it—fiel amigo, or faithful friend. Today, it is prepared in hundreds of ways. From seaside to countryside, the Portuguese also love their caldo verde, best prepared fresh off the farm. This simple soup includes potatoes, collard greens or kale, and olive oil and is usually served with slices of chorizo sausage.

Olive Oils

Olive groves blanket the countryside of the entire Iberian Peninsula. But the largest in all of Europe surrounds Ubeda, featured on our Spanish & Portuguese Heritage itinerary. It is impossible to overstate the significance of the olive tree to Iberia and to the Mediterranean culture as a whole. Its oil carries great symbolism for the three major world religions, with the ability to heal, cure, and cleanse. Today’s culinary uses may overshadow its religious meaning, but its history gives us lots to contemplate.

EuropeSmall Group Discoveries

Spanish Genius

on October 13, 2018

If Spanish artists have proven one thing over the centuries, it is this: Great art breaks convention. It speaks out against the establishment and turns on its head the mainstream notions of self-expression. Here are six ingenious Spanish artists that define six crucial periods in art history, and six remarkable eras in their country’s past. All these artists—with the exception of Gaudi—are represented in El Prado, Madrid’s repository of art.

Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

Without question, Picasso and Gaudi created works that represented a shift in artistic sensibility. But another artist, Salvador Dali, took that shift into an entirely different direction—surrealism. Dali is most famous for his painting entitled The Persistence of Memory, in which a quartet of pocket watches melts in a cartoonish, lifeless, desert landscape. The work was meant to shake up our ideas of time and space. Interestingly, it may well have been the scientific advancements of his day that inspired Dali’s work; it followed on the heels of Albert Einstein’s theories that suggested the relativity—and the fluidity—of time.

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Though Picasso is often associated with the bohemian artistic wave that washed over Paris in the 1920s, he was Spanish through and through. Nowhere is this made plainer than in his masterwork, El Guernica. In this huge canvas—measuring 11.5 feet by 25.5 feet—he depicted the German bombing of the Basque village of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War with horrific images of suffering and terror. More generally, Picasso is known as one of the founders of the Cubist movement, the avant-garde style in which the subjects of paintings were broken apart and reassembled on canvas in an abstract form. It’s considered by many art historians as the most influential artistic movement of the 20th century.

Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)

A contemporary of Picasso in his later years, Gaudi’s Art Nouveau architectural work enlivens the streets of Barcelona. His most famous work remains unfinished, La Sagrada Familia Cathedral. True to the spirit of the great cathedrals of Europe, its construction has been undertaken by generations of builders—the first stone was laid in 1882 and it is slated for completion in 2026 on the centenary of the artist’s death. Overall, Gaudi’s work defied convention with its curvilinear approach. He achieved a new language of architecture, resulting in a lyrical optimism ripe with color and energy and intense ornamentation. The beauty of his work and its depiction of the Roman Catholic faith have earned him the nickname, “God’s Architect.”

Francisco Goya (1746-1828)

Though Goya was the official painter of the Spanish Royal Crown, he harbored a subversive side. During his service to the king and queen, he painted portraits and undertook other royal projects, but he drew a series of dark and violent sketches that protested the horrors of the Dos de Mayo Uprising (the May 2, 1808 insurrection against French forces) and the subsequent Peninsular War. Later in life, he retired to the Quinta del Sordo just outside Madrid. In this country house, he painted 14 “Black Paintings” directly on its walls. The most famous and disturbing of these is Saturn Devouring His Son, a gruesome work based on the Greek mythological figure who consumed each of his children out of fear that they would overthrow him. Scholars believe these paintings stand as profound outrage toward Spain’s civil conflicts of the day.

Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velasquez (1599-1660)

If it’s an intimate portrayal of the 17th-century court of King Philip IV you’re after, look no further than the works of Velasquez. The baroque-era painter has been called the chronicler of Spain’s Golden Age. He was a true insider, a trusted confidante of the royal family who painted dozens of portraits in the realist fashion. Just four years before his death, he painted Las Meninas (translated as The Maids of Honor). This is the most recognizable of his works, and one of the most analyzed paintings in Western art. In it, the royal child Margaret Theresa is doted upon by an entourage in a large room of the Alcazar of Madrid. Some of them gaze out toward the viewer as if in snapshot, while Velasquez himself stands at an easel gazing at the viewer, as if he is painting this scene by looking into a mirror. In its play on perspective and point of view, it is a brilliant depiction of the philosophy and intent of art that is years ahead of its time.

El Greco (1541-1614)

Though the painter, sculptor and architect Domenikos Theotokopoulos is most closely associated with Spain, he was born in Greece (hence his name, El Greco) and studied his craft in Venice and Rome. It wasn’t until age 36 that he moved to the hillside city of Toledo—at the time Spain’s religious capital—where he was commissioned to paint some of his best-known work. He was most influenced by the Mannerism style of the Renaissance, in which proportions are elongated and “subjects” pose in a highly stylized or exaggerated manner. Many historians, however, say that El Greco’s style is so unique that it cannot be categorized. Much of his work came to adorn the church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo, but his most famous is The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, which portrays a philanthropic local hero being buried by Saint Stephen and Saint Augustine while astonished citizens look on and heavenly images float above.

EuropeSmall Group Discoveries

Toro! A Brief History of Bullfighting

on October 11, 2018

To Spaniards, it may well be the greatest show on earth: The matador strides into the ring, dressed in the traditional traje de luces, or suit of light. His sequined buttons and cuffs glint in the Andalucian sun and his black montera hat hovers over his ears like a bull’s horns. Then there’s the cape, la capote, silken and extravagant and blood-red. He stops center ring and raises his arm to the cheering crowd. Then a gate swings open, a bull appears, and one of the oldest contests between man and beast begins.

Prehistoric cave paintings depict men facing the bull with lances. Many ancient writings—including the Epic of Gilgamesh—help scholars date bullfighting to the days before Christ. And Romans famously put their gladiators up against fierce creatures for spectacle. Of course, history and fiction alike would have us believe that in Caesar’s day the Coliseum crowds rooted for the beast. Today, they cheer for quite the opposite.

Come the 1600s, bullfights were incorporated into religious festivals and royal weddings. The setting for these contests was the city plaza—much like jousts were performed for king and queen on open fairgrounds—and the “matadors” (who were most often noblemen exhibiting their skills to the monarchy) kept the upper hand by attacking the bull from atop a horse. Once the warrior got off the horse, perhaps in an attempt to exhibit the utmost bravery to the king, bullfighting’s popularity soared. Even commoners wanted some of the thrill of going up against el toro. To contain the chaos, the bullring was born.

Bullfighting is still popular in Spain. And clifftop Ronda is its historic focal point. Here, the oldest bullring in Spain—built in 1784—hosts an annual festival. Ronda is also one of Spain’s most popular cities thanks in large part to Ernest Hemingway, who captured the bullfighting tradition so brilliantly in one of his finest works, The Sun Also Rises. He wrote that it was “a great tragedy—and the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and takes more guts and skill and guts again than anything possibly could.” Hemingway’s loving portrayal of Spain and the bullfight etched the country into the public’s imagination.

Recently, bullfighting has come under fire from animal rights groups, igniting the debate about whether the tradition is an art or a sport. Supporters say it is of vital importance to the Spanish identity, a fully realized art form that shares the Spanish stage with the country’s most famous painters like Picasso, its fiery dances like the flamenco, and its music like the rich romantic strings of the Spanish guitar. Critics, however, call it a blood sport. They see it as an act of cowardice disguised as pageantry that results in the great suffering of bulls and, in some cases, the horses that share the ring.

No matter your view, bullfighting holds a rich place in Spain’s history and culture. And you will learn much more about it during our Spanish & Portuguese Heritage program.

EuropeSmall Group Discoveries

The Courage of Sailors, the Growth of Empires

on October 6, 2018

Historically speaking, the Iberian Peninsula has been the rudder to Europe’s leviathan. In fact, the tiny country of Portugal ruled the first global empire in history, with colonies stretching as far east as today’s China and as far west as Brazil. The Spanish Empire grew to gain an even broader reach—from today’s California in the west to Indonesia in the east—and has left a cultural and linguistic legacy unrivaled by any other country. How did these two nations expand their reach to the farthest reaches of the earth? One word: Spice.

Discovering the Spice Route by Sea

It might be hard to believe in the 21st century that spices could hold such economic power in the world. But in the Middle Ages they were among the most expensive products on the market. More than food enhancers, spices were used as medicines, in religious rituals, as cosmetics and perfumes, and as preservatives. And some of the most desirable ones were imported from Asia and Africa.

But a major historic event in 1453 cut Europeans off from the trade route between Eastern Europe and Asia: The Ottomans defeated the Eastern Roman Empire, effectively bringing an end to a 1,500-year era of rule by Rome. With the rise of the inhospitable Ottomans, land routes became impassable.

As a result, money was to be made in locating sea routes to Asia. Portugal’s explorers headed down Africa’s west coast and by the year 1488, Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the southern tip of the continent. Dias named the point “Cabo das Tormentos,” or Cape of Storms for its rough seas; it wasn’t until later that the cape was renamed the Cape of Good Hope to convey the optimism it inspired in finding a sea route to India.

Ten years later, Vasco da Gama found that very route. He landed at Calicut on the Indian subcontinent in 1498, expanding Portugal’s spice trade to include pepper and cinnamon and other products that were completely new to Europeans. It was a victorious landing for Da Gama…and for world history. His arrival on Indian shores marked the era’s most significant European establishment of trade in Asia and foretold a wave of global multiculturalism. The Middle East and East Asia followed. Soon, Portuguese outposts traced a route from Lisbon all the way to the China coast.

Conflict with Spain

But the 1400s also saw great growth in neighboring Spain, and the scramble to seize spice and trade transformed into a scramble to seize land. As they each sent out their early expeditions, Spain and Portugal inevitably came to blows. Their fighting ended with the Treaty of Alcacovas in 1479. This agreement essentially limited Portugal’s reach to points accessed via a southern route along the African coast, and restricted Spain’s conquest to points west toward what everyone believed would be Asia.

Spain’s Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella had another conflict to resolve before devoting themselves to discovering new trade routes—the Reconquista, taking back Spain from the Moors. The ten-year Granada War expelled the Moors from Andalucia and from the coveted fortress in Granada known as the Alhambra. With the Reconquista complete, the monarchs’ attention turned toward a Genoese sailor named Cristoforo Colombo.

The Italian had his sights set on finding Cipangu (today’s Japan) via a westward sailing route. He had already sought support from King John II of Portugal, but that monarch showed no interest. Eager to secure a piece of Asia via a route that still respected the terms of the Alcacovas Treaty, Ferdinand and Isabella appointed Columbus viceroy and governor of Cipangu and financed his journey of 1492. Of course, Columbus reached today’s Caribbean islands instead of the Far East, and Spain ended up gaining more wealth and territory than it ever could have imagined.

One World, Two Powers

The race was on for new land and ever greater power. With it, another treaty became necessary to avoid conflict. The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas divided the entire globe—parts of it that had yet to be discovered or inhabited by Europeans, anyway—between Spain and Portugal. Six years later, some historians believe that the Portuguese king secretly sent Pedro Alvares Cabral westward, in defiance of the treaty. Cabral landed in Brazil and raised his country’s flag on its beaches. At the time, the story circulated that Cabral had been blown off course and stumbled on those shores by accident.

Of course, the treaty had limited practical application. The vast majority of the land under consideration was unknown to Europeans, which only spurred more exploration. Over the next century, the Portuguese sailed east to claim the “spice islands” of Maluku, sources of nutmeg and cloves. Macau also fell under the nation’s rule. For 80 years, Persian Bahrain was also colonized. The Spanish, meanwhile, sailed west to the Americas. Vasco Nunez de Balboa, upon reaching today’s Colombia, headed north in search of the “other sea” he had heard about. At the Isthmus of Panama, he became the first European to lay eyes on the Pacific Ocean from the New World.

Connecting the Global Puzzle Pieces

If this all sounds to you like the explorers of the day devoted their lives to piecing together a huge global puzzle, you would be pretty close to correct. And it was Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese adventurer who had already sailed to India and heard about the “other sea” off the coast of the New World, who wanted to connect the final pieces. King Manuel I of Portugal refused to fund him, so Magellan accepted support from the newly crowned Charles I of Spain. Sailors, navigators cartographers, cosmographers, and merchants from several nations accompanied him on a voyage of true international interest: They intended to reach the spice islands of Maluku by sailing west.

The voyage was a success, though Magellan died in a battle with Philippine islanders. But his fleet reached their destination in 1521, and one of their ships even returned to Spain.

The courageous men who sailed from the shores of Portugal and Spain began the process of mapping the globe for Western eyes and ushering the world from the medieval age to the modern one. And it all started, in part, because of the European love of spices.

Click here to make your own discoveries on our Spanish & Portuguese Heritage program!

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