12.09.2008Барселона, Spain
Barcelona - capital of Catalonia and the second for number of inhabitants a city of Spain. This surprising city has gone through some epoch and has perfectly kept past monuments. And today we will talk about it.
Most of all in Barcelona impresses Gothic quarter with its cold narrow lanes which for seven centuries is more senior other areas of Barcelona. On the contrary, the wide prospectuses shined at night l'eshampla look unusually affably and peacefully. The street the Diagonal crosses city centre. From here the chain of parkways where fussing atmosphere reigns was stretched.
Churches of XII century adjoin to really monumental construction, cathedral Sagrada the Surname (”Sacred family”) which is in process till now of building.
Here it is necessary to note especially talent of well-known architect Antonio Gaudi, whose surprising and even mystical constructions submit both inhabitants of Barcelona, and the foreigners coming to this city.
The temple of "Sacred family” is a card of Barcelona. Construction of this cathedral, iskupitelnogo the Temple, Gaudi aspired to expiate sins of a modern material world, to proclaim equality and unity of the people.
The well-known parkway Rambla for Barcelona - the same, that Arbat for Moscow, Neva for Petersburg, Montmartre for Paris. This centre of sights, a place of entertainments and celebratory walks.
Rambla it was stretched from city heart - the areas of Catalonia to city port. In beginning Rambla - cast in the last century from iron fountain Kanaletas, and serves as its end a 87-metre monument dominating over all port area to Columbus.
Hardly away from it to be the church a Mercedes devoted to Divine mother "Mercy", the patroness of Barcelona. In its honour the grandiose holiday involving in the whirlpool almost all inhabitants and visitors of a city every year is had.
These days Rambla it is especially colourful and populous. Spacious, surrounded with plane trees, it is filled with cheerful crowd. It is sincere, almost children's fun is transferred here, on Rambla, to all who is flown down from the different ends of the earth on this one of the most finest streets of the world.
Houses standing along it amaze with monumentalism and refinement of facades. Many are constructed of them in 18 century when on place Rambla (so name in Spain the dried up river channel), bending around a city wall, the new area of a city began to be created. Now here set of theatres, museums, scientific institutions.
In one European capital you do not feel such sredotochenija a cultural life, as in Barcelona. On Rambla at every turn indexes: library of Catalonia, a theatrical art Museum, the Center of arts, the Wax museum, a modern art Museum, Picasso's Museum.
Rambla is an original laboratory of arts open-air. On it constantly work and expose the creations artists, performances and pantomimes are played, dances are executed, music sounds.
Here you pass by the book bazaars located along avenue, flower and bird's markets, souvenir shops, art exhibitions, a fluent look mark the big, brightly painted plaster statue representing the Roman patrician. And already almost having passed it, you even not so much sight, how many an interior, feel slow movement in your party of pupils of eyes and smooth turn of the top part of the case of a sculpture following it.
It is very effective kind of street representation especially popular in Spain. To name conditional it it is possible “the person - a statue”. High both difficult art! And check of nerves quite good, by the way, for those who faces it for the first time!
No more easy bread, though and demanding absolutely other sort of efforts, at the dancer executing national dance sardanellu at once for two partners, having got on on itself a loose overall with the dolls representing man's and female figures in national dresses. It, having bent under a right angle to the earth, dances so promptly and fervently, that not seeing the beginning of dance the passer-by hardly probable will guess, that one person dances.
On holidays on Rambla at a building of the Ministry of culture the group of "giants" for participation in parade which Mercedes - the centre guljanija will pass from the area of Catalonia to the area is formed.
Dolls of 4-metre growth take out from doors of a building and establish on sidewalk. Under a dress at them - a wooden skeleton in which the person gets. It zadrapirovyvajut a fabric, and here already revived dolls, being turned and hopping, under music sounds dvizhutsja to a place of gathering of participants of parade.
On a street opposite side - other procession: there are carabinieres dressed in the uniforms, sparkling gold sewing. On a sign on the commander they make at regular intervals a volley. And here the whirlwind of rhythms, paints, polyglot hubbub takes out you on the area of Catalonia, in which centre - a high tribune.
To the area from different directions as the rivers in the sea, direct motley raging streams of participants of a carnival. Who here only is not present! Here the whole crowd of women and men, it is proud bearing before itself huge stomachs. Here is dashing dancing gnomes, dragons, the griffins, enormous hens. All of them pass on the area under sounds of a bravura march.
And here - giants: an infinite chain in the most freakish image discharged golovanov. One for another there pass steams of crowned persons, and behind them representatives of all social classes dressed with exact observance of all historical and ethnographic details.
The whole compositions are devoted shop associations. Here the group representing the sea, the ship floating on it, fishes and a huge octopus. There and then - the fisherman and rybachka, bearing on shoulders filled for nothing exhausting a basket. Further - peasants in an environment of the fruits extracted by them terrestrial. Crafts are replaced by arts. On spectators “the woman with a bird” - abstract sculpture Miro, behind it fragments of its phantasmagoric cloths slowly runs. Further - a violent flight of fancy of the Distance and Picasso.
In general Barcelona for a long time - one of the main cultural centres of Spain, some kind of “the Spanish Paris”. It especially involved artists, writers, actors in the beginning of last century.
And today Barcelona can compete to any city of the world on an infinite variety of monuments, theatres, museums, spontaneous displays of a cultural life on the areas and city streets.
Labels: Barcelona, Europe, resorts of Spain.