Path of the Pilgrims. Part 5
Day 8
Our path lay in Leon, the capital of the province of the same name in Spain. Although the coat of arms of the city of Leo, but the name comes from the Roman word "legion", because. the city was founded by Roman legionaries before our era.
The city again saw the magnificent Cathedral of Santa Maria Regia of the 13th-16th centuries with simply amazing stained glass windows. The architecture of the cathedral is similar to Burgos Cathedral, because. built under the guidance of the master Enrique, who also built the cathedral in Burgos. Unfortunately, many details of the cathedral are now falling into disrepair, due to the too soft structure of the stone.
In Leon there is also the Casa Botines (name of the customer), designed by Gaudí
The maestro himself is also sitting nearby
Well, in the evening we got to Madrid. On the Plaza de Españ a, the same Cervantes with his immortal heroes.
And figures of famous matadors near the bullfighting arena of Las Ventas
And this is the goddess Cybilla on her chariot
Day 9
This day was completely devoted to Madrid. Part of the group went to Toledo, part to Segovia, and since we recently saw these wonderful places, we decided to spend the day in Madrid.
In the morning we drove with a group to the Royal Palace. We looked around from the outside, although it was necessary to spend time queuing and visiting the palace. But they left it for the next trip.
Not far from the palace is the Almudena Cathedral. In Madrid, there was no cathedral for a long time, because. it was not the seat of a diocese. Only at the end of the 19th century did the Pope establish a diocese in Madrid, and the construction of the cathedral began, but due to various reasons, the cathedral was built only in 1993.
I heard from many tourists that they don't like Madrid. And I really like it, even if it is inferior in beauty and originality to Barcelona, Prague or London.
Puerto del Sol Square and the symbol of the city Bear with strawberry tree.
Competent sun awnings
Central street - Gran Via
On Mondays from 12 to 16 free admission to the very good art gallery of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which is almost opposite the Prado Museum. The rich collection covers the period from the Renaissance to Picasso and Dali. You can't list all the great masters: Raphael, Durer, Van Eyck, Caravaggio, Titian, Rubens, Tintoretto, Rembrandt, Renoir, Van Gogh, Monet, Chagall. Great museum!
Photographing masterpieces is a thankless task, anyway you can’t take a decent picture from your hands, it’s better to look on the Internet or buy a guidebook.
In the evening, we decided to continue the cultural program in the Prado, but for now we had a picnic on the grass in the largest park in Madrid, Buen Retiro.
In the park there is the Crystal Palace of the architect Velasquez, the namesake of the great Spanish artist.
The park also houses the world's only monument to the devil, the Fallen Angel.
There was still time until evening and we visited the Atocha train station. In front of the station there is a tragic monument "Day and Night, in memory of the victims of a series of terrorist attacks in 2004. These are two children's heads, one with open eyes and the other with closed eyes.
The station itself struck me with a winter garden with a huge number of turtles.
Well, it's time to run to take a queue at the Prado, again I see no point in taking photos of masterpieces
