Arcos de la Frontier — a pueblo blanco –is our next region of Spain to explore. These white hilltop towns were originally built for fortification of the Front.Lots of climbing steep hills to experience these beautiful vistas in Arcos.Arcos Lake (reservoir) was pleasant to walk along, join other walkers / joggers and enjoy coffee morning with the locals.We are staying in a townhouse a few miles outside of Arcos on a golf course — we were able to walk miles of the paved hilly cart trails with views!Early morning sun backlights town of Zahara — a spectacularly located Pueblo Blanco — with a castle on the top.A great view of the agriculture countryside from Zahara.The rock outcroppings — in Sierra de Grazalema National Park — have been uplifted and eroded in all sorts unique angles and formations.The region’s karst geologic formations house a spectacularly large cave system which we toured to view the 30,000 year old Pileta Paleolithic Cave Paintings (at Benaojan, near Rhonda).Sierra de Grazalema National Park. WOW! Follow that road from the mountains to the sea…3 Caravels — replicas of the 1492 vessels built to celebrate the 500th anniversary of these ships leaving this harbor to find the spice route to India by sailing west….This is the Santa Maria — its crew was from this region of Spain, near Huelva and the Rio Tinto estuary — flanked by the Nina and the Pinta…Captain Christopher Columbus plotting the course with his map. His route found land –not the spice route to India — and changed the history of the Americas.Ayamonte Parador — on the east bank of the beautiful Guadiana River — is our last night in Spain. That’s Portugal across the river.Enjoying the sunset from our balcony in Spain as it sinks over Portugal — our destination for the remainder of our Iberian travels.
Italica was the first roman city founded on the Iberian Peninsula in 206 BC. Venus is welcoming us on a warm sunny afternnon.It was the birthplace of emperors Trajan (53-117CE) and Hadrian (76-138 CE) — as well as many senators — this city was important to the Romans and well maintained in ancient times.Hadrian, born to a senator — was probably the most educated of all emperors — focused on protecting, promoting and enriching life in all the Roman empire cities like revitalizing Italica his home town. We were wondering maybe Volubilis in Morocco also?This area was quite wealthy and had many mosaics like these in the upper baths.The House of the Planetarium had this incredible floor mosaic representing the 7 days of the week (circa 150 CE). The celestial bodies that changed position in the sky are clearly depicted. They include the Sun, Moon and the 5 planets visible with the naked eye: Mars, Mercury, Jupiter (in front as he is the main roman god), Venus (center of floor, protector of love), and Saturn.House of the Birds — with exquisite details of 30 bird variety, expertly rendered.We follow the wonderful stone walls to the Amphitheater.The corridors under the seating have been well preserved and we get a sense of their height as well as their curving length. Italica Amphitheater.What a panorama view of the Italica Amphitheater — imagining seating in the stands enjoying all sorts of events from this vantage point along with 25,000 other spectators!
Mérida! Extramadura Spain! What a beautiful day to enjoy with the goddess Ceres looking down on us as she has for centuries. Mérida was established by emperor Augustus in 25 BC as Augusta Emerita where veteran soldiers (emeritus) settled, it grew and became the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania.The Roman Theater is still in use today and has amazing acoustics. Mérida is now the capitol of the province of Extramadura in western Spain.Here we sit way back in May, 2004. It was nice to return and remember our adventures we had with our family.This time we were photographed by other tourists.The adjacent Roman Amphitheater is well preserved and the display boards explain all the different types of events that were presented here — like the gladiators.Very close by is the Casa del Mitreo which had this mosaic of the myth of the origin of the Roman universe. More detail is explained in the next photo……The mosaic is dated to around 350 CE and is considered one of the most important of Hispana. It is nice to see it in context of its atrium and how well it is preserved.The National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida was fantastic. This room has been reassembled and gives a good idea of the interior decor. The beds were used for dining — you stretched out so you could eat more and doze without having to move — How WOW was that idea!This was the largest mosaic we saw — mind boggling — yes that is me at the bottom of the image. It is about chariot drivers which is something we learn more about at the nearby Circus. National Museum of Roman Art MéridaWe could get our nose right up to see the details — the actual size of all the pieces of stone are about the size of your fingernail.Original statues preserved along with the relocated mosaics. National Museum of Roman Art MéridaVery playful. Every time there is new construction in Mérida, history is uncovered and many bits have been preserved here in the museum if not in situ. National Museum of Roman Art MéridaJust a walking down the street — OH, is that the Temple of Diana? It was first repurposed by the Muslims and then later as a church. The more recent modifications in the back of the temple have been historically preserved as well.The Roman Circus! The chariot races symbolized pulling the sun — Apollo. There were 12 gates representing the months of the year (12 teams), 7 laps around the center per race representing the days of the week, and yes, 24 races per event representing the hours of the day. Those Romans were nothing if not detail oriented — everything had a meaning.In a beautiful park like setting is the Roman Acueducto de los Milagros. The aqueduct drew water from a reservoir about five kilometers from the city. It is a miracle that it is still standing after all these years!Yes we are in Spain!!! Paella!!! Delicious!!! Enjoyed this lunch at La Milanesa Restaurante — recommended by the owner of our fabulous apartment. We parked our Renault Clio in the apartment garage and walked everywhere. YEA, No Drive Days!There is a 2000 year history to this Roman Bridge over River Guadiana — now for pedestrians (we used it to walk to the restaurant above) and with parks on both sides of the river.We appreciated the sunset view from the Roman bridge of the 1991 Lusitania Bridge — designed by Santiago Calatrava. Mérida is a wonderful place to visit and we are happy we returned.
