Asturias

Asturias ("Asturies" in Asturian language) is nowadays one of the "autonomous communities" in Northern Spain, but its history as a kingdom stretches back more than a thousand years.

Did the Romans drink cider?

Actually, already back in the first centuries CE the Roman power had a stronghold centered in the harbour of Gijón (named Gegionem at the time; Xixón in Asturian) in the region; today, there are remains of the ancient Roman wall as well as Roman baths, next to the church of St. Peter and the 5km-long beach of San Lorenzo.

St. Peter's church, in the old Cimadevilla quarter of Gijón

San Lorenzo beach, Gijón

One of the attraction points of this city, the industrial capital of Asturias, that I most enjoyed was the public park in Cimadevilla ("upper town") overlooking the Cantabric sea and crowned by the famous "Eulogy of the horizon" sculpture by Eduardo Chillida. At the bottom of Cimadevilla, next to the sport marina, I also found a more modern art piece, perhaps an "Eulogy of cider", though I could find no name plaque. Cider is Asturias 'national' drink and, in contrast to other places where it is also popular, here it is traditionally served by pouring it ("escanciar") from a ~1m height into the glass to get air bubbles into the drink, making it slightly sparkling.

"Eulogy of the horizon" by Chillida, overlooking the Cantabric Sea from the top of Cimadevilla

Unnamed monument next to the sport marina, formed by hundreds of empty cider bottles

Lastres/Llastres, a beautiful fishing town with steep streets

After spending the morning in Gijón, I decided to enjoy this sunny day by going to a nearby town called Lastres (Llastres), well-known for its beauty as well as its steep streets. Luckily, the bus from Gijón has two stops in the town: I got off at the first one, on the upper part of the hill from where I took this photo. After walking through the narrow, cobbled streets and visiting the harbour --that used to be an important whaling port in the 19th Century-- I got on the return bus from the second stop on the lower part.

Oviedo: 1000+ years within walking distance

The next day I spent visiting Oviedo/Uviéu, the capital city of Asturias and my base camp during these holidays. Oviedo was the capital of the Asturian kingdom between 9th and 10th Cent., before it was moved to León with the expansion of the king's domains. During this period, it was also an important religious center, playing an role both as a spot on the Way of St. James towards Santiago de Compostela, as well as a focus of Christian power on its own, as testified by the quantity and 'quality' of the relics kept in its Cathedral. As a testimony of this power, I visited two pre-romanic buildings that are within walking distance of the city center: Santa Maria del Naranco and San Miguel de Liño (or Lillo). These buildings are impressive examples of the characteristic local style before the unifying power of Romanic style spread throughout Europe and have been included in UNESCO's World Heritage list since 1985. 

Santa Maria del Naranco - initially (9th cent.) a civil palace, it acquired religious use after partial collapse of San Miguel de Liño

San Miguel de Liño, built in 9th cent., it suffered a partial collapse in the 12th or 13th cent. whereby two thirds of the original structure are missing

One of the things that I liked from Oviedo is that, in not more than 10 min walking distance, one can see signs of how it has evolved in the last few centuries, all forming a coherent environment. Close to the Cathedral, one finds beautiful little squares with colorful houses, such as Trascorrales of El Fontán. The limit of this old part of the city is perhaps the Campo de San Francisco, a large park on the site of an ancient monastery. Next to it is the main street of the city, Calle Uría, where wealthy families got their houses in the early 20th century, some of which still survive. At the end of this street, one finds the train station; going left, one finds some modern, colorful 'cubic' buildings, while going right one reaches Calle Gascona, "the boulevard of cider", and the Fuente de Foncalada - a water spring dating back to the 9th century!

Plaza de Trascorrales. Don't miss the various sculptures around!

Elegant houses along Calle Uría

Modern buildings next to the train station

Don't leave Asturias without trying the local delicacies and sweets!

The birth of a Kingdom

I started this post talking of the 1000+ years of history of Asturias, and we've gone as far back as the 9th century, when Oviedo was its capital. But if you ask anyone, they'll tell you you're still missing the main historical site of Asturias: Cangas de Onís and Covadonga. Covadonga (Cuadonga) is nowadays the site of a small basilica in the Sella valley on the Northern side of the Picos de Europa mountain range where. As the story goes, in 722 CE a battle took place here that would signify a important victory for the local Christian forces against the ongoing Islamic control of the Iberian peninsula. Though it would not immediately lead to a Christian kingdom fully independent of Muslim power, this victory has been traditionally seen as the "start of the Reconquest" of Iberia, and its winner, Don Pelayo, as a founder of Spanish monarchy.

Of course, such a victory in such a context could only happen with divine help ("Divine providence brings forth the King of Asturias" as the Chronica Albeldense puts it), which is symbolyzed by the Cross of Victory that accompanies Pelagius in any sculpture, as well as under the bridge over the river at Cangas de Onís (Cangues d'Onís), the small town where Alfonso I but soon afterwards locate the capital of the kingdom. Both Pelayo and Alfonso are buried within the Holy Cave at Covadonga.

Statue of Pelagius ("Don Pelayo") in Covadonga

"Roman" bridge in Cangas de Onís. Note the cross hanging from it. It represents the Cross of Victory, symbol of Asturias

For those less interested in history and mythology, there are other reasons to approach Cangas and Covadonga too, as from these towns one can easily reach the Lakes of Covadonga, a series of small glacial lakes at more than 1100m altitude, and a good starting point to explore many trekking routes of varied difficulty through the Picos de Europa National Park, as well as a typical stage end of the professional bycicle Vuelta a España.

Enol lake in the Picos de Europa

Καλημέρα Athens!

 

Although Athens is the capital of Greece, it possess a small Mediterranean city spirit. Warm, authentic and hospitable. Old part of the city at the skirts of the Acropolis has typical narrow streets.

On the way to Acropolis, I came across to the Roman Forum & Tower of Winds. Here is the second Agora (market place) of Athens. In the 1st century AD, Romans moved the original Agora here. Here is a very interesting place to see. Romans, late Greeks and Ottoman Turks left all their marks.

Tower of Winds

Tower of Winds was build by a Syrian astronomer Andronikos Kyrrhestas in about 50 BC. It is also known as Horologion of Kyrrhestos. It has an octagonal structure and it served as a weather vane initially. The ornaments around the octagon are supposed to be personifications of the winds. Moreover, a water clock inside the tower run by a stream from Acropolis and there supposed to be a sundial on the tower. The tower of winds was used also as a church in the early Christian period and it served as a dervish monastery in the  late Ottoman period.

Fethiye Mosque at the other corner of the Forum is another important mark left by the Ottoman Turks. It was erected in 1456 after conquer of Athens. The name refers to conquer Fetih.

 Fethiye Mosque

As other structures in the Forum, the mosque needs serious restoration. Its minaret is missing, the outer part of it is reinforced faintly. The interior is not open to public.

New Agora

Climbing all the way further up, brought me to Acropolis.

Acropolis Rock and Propylaia

 Propylaia (above) is the grand entrance to Acropolis (high city).

 

Parthenon

 The heart of the Acropolis (high city) is Parthenon. This temple is created in a classical ancient Greek style and according to some historians it replaced a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. During the Christian period it served as a church and during the Ottoman period it served as a mosque. When I visited Parthenon, there was heavy restoration work was going on. According to project description, the architectural members inside were conserved and, where necessary, they were filled in with new Pentelic marble. New titanium clamps and dowels replaced the rusted clamps and dowels of earlier interventions. Well, it seemed to me the restoration work may take some time.

Restoration at Acropolis 

Erechtheion

 

Built in Ionic style,  Erechtheion is named after mythical king of Athens Erechtheus. It was constructed between 431 B.C. - 406 B.C. The construction was interrupted during the Peloponnesian War. The myth says Athena and Poseidon competed over the patronage of the city. During the contest Poseidon struck the rock with his trident and the rock turned into a salt spring. The trident marks tombs of Athenian kings Kekropos and Erechtheus.

 Southern and northern facets of Erechtheion

Erechtheion consists of a rectangular cella divided by two sections. The eastern section was dedicated to Athena Polias and it is at least 3 m higher than the western section. The western section has 3 parts and it was dedicated to Poseidon-Erechtheus, Hephaistus and the hero Boutes. The northern facets of the cella is magnificent with 6  Ionic columns and the southern facets are dominated by famous Porch of Maidens (Korai). Unfortunately what you can see are the copies of them. The originals have been exhibited in British Museum like many other oriental antiques.

Dionysus Theatre

 This mosaic-tiled theatre was dedicated to Dionysus, the god of plays and wine, according to Greek mythology. It was a major amphitheatre of ancient Greece with 15 000 seats capacity.

 View of Athens city from Acropolis

 Temple of Olympian Zeus

The majestic temple of Zeus had been constructed between 515 BC and 161 AD. Construction of it took nearly 700 years! It took its final shape at thetime of Roman emperor Hadrian. There supposed to be a statues of Zeus and Hadrian inside made of gold and ivory. 16 columns left out of 104 original ones.

The ancient Agora

Athens ancient Agora (market place) was built in 6th century B.C. It was the centre of all kinds of civil activities such as philosophy, commerce, politics, arts and religion for about 1200 years. Socrates met his public here and here is accepted as the birth place of democracy as well as western civilization.

The Stoa of Attalos

The Stoa of attalos, a gift of Attalos II, King of Pergamon, to the Athenians was constructed on the east side of Agora in the 2nd century B.C. This building served as a meeting place and as a commercial centre to Athenians.

The Agora is a museum now. The commercial places are moved in front of Agora. For shopping authentic goods and gifts etc., I visited Adrianou. An antique book shop was especially interesting to visit, the shop of Mr. Korovessis. The shopkeeper who also translated books into Greek was a very hospitable person. I found there very nice prints and lithos of old Athens. If you cross Adrianou don't miss: Adrianou 7, 10555 Athens. Unfortunately, I lost the prints and the records I bought at the airport:(

A narrow street with stairs

Don't forget to make stop and taste the local food.

A lovely record shop at Gazi

Although some tourist guides state Gazi is not a safe part of the Athens city, I had an experience opposite to this judgement. To have a drink I stopped by a Taverna. I paid and walked away. The waiter run after me to bring my purse which I forgot on the table.

Gazi is very cheap but hip and funky part of the city which attracts many people living on an alternative lifestyle (or vice verse). Unsafe is the faith of all touristic quarters more or less, independent of shabbiness.

This street lighting with light-shades and chandeliers gave me a cosy feeling.

Gateway of Athens to Aegean Sea is Piraeus Harbour. Anchored yachts along the bay move smoothly with breeze. To breathe the sea and taste more fish I visited Pireus and Tourkolimano (Mikrolimano). In order to reach  Tourkolimano, using metro to Faliro was quite handy. Here was less buzzing than Pireus maybe but more picturesque.

Harbour of Pireus was the place where people with Turkish origin loaded on ships and sent to Turkey and where people sent from Turkey with Greek origin unloaded from ships in 1922. In many places it is quoted as an exile and a disaster. Indeed, it was a disaster for the people but it happened due to an agreement between two countries on demand of Greece. After 1st World War, lack of sufficient labour force was a problem for all parties. Similar to the situation in Germany after 2nd World War. Each party asked for their men.

Don't forget eating fish at Tourkolimano (Mikrolimano) 

Tourkolimano is a small circular bay which was used by the Turkish army. The name is coming from those times. Call it faith or coincidence, the owners' father of the taberna I ate at, was a retired captain who was born in Izmir/Turkey.

Turmoil in Greece-like in many other places-is reflected to the streets. Which makes it real, which makes it alive.