The Church of Our Lady of the Pillar is near the River Ebro in the province of Zaragoza, west of Barcelona on the coast of Spain. It is reputed to be the first Church dedicated to Mary in history. The location is considered the birthplace of Christianity in Spain and has been the destination of pilgrims for hundreds of years.
The architecture is of baroque style, and the present building was predominantly built between 1681 and 1872. Zaragoza is some Islamic architectural influence which means there are more mosaics and more colors.
The statue and pillar have been preserved however for almost 2000 years. Numerous healings throughout the ages have been attributed to the Virgin by those visiting the site seeking her help.
According to legend, the Virgin Mary appeared miraculously to Saint James the Great in the 1st century, standing on a pillar.This legend is commemorated by a famous Catholic basilica called Nuestra Señora del Pilar (”Our Lady of the Pillar”). Her feast day is also celebrated every 12th of October.
For centuries, rivers of pilgrims have continued to visit the Shrine of Saragossa.
San Sebastian is situated on the Cantabrican coast 20 km from the border with France. Set between the mountains and the sea it is considered one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. It has been a popular tourist destination for many years. Famous for its contrast – crystal-blue sea’ waters and green mountains, San Sebastian is the undisputed queen of Basque resorts. There are almost 90 km of coast consisting of steep cliffs, beautiful beaches and fishing ports.
The city spreads around three beaches – La Concha, Playa de Ondarreta and Playa de la Zurriola. La Concha and Ondarretta are the best for swimming and spending a day at the seaside while the Zurriola beach attract a lot of surfers looking to ride the Atlantic waves who can be seen there throughout the year.
The main tourist attractions: “Palacio del Mar” – a major aquarium complex, featuring many tanks of colorful fish and an underwater tunnel; “Monte Igeldo Amusement Park” – with a number of roller coasters and fast rides; “Plaza de la Constitucion” – an important public square, surrounded by historical buildings; “Funicular Railway” – a short and inexpensive ride up a particularly steep cliff, offering superb views La Concha Bay; “El Puerto”- a bustling port with many waterfront tourist attractions and restaurants, etc.
The biggest annual event is Aste Nagusia which is a full week of partying in mid-August which includes traditional Basque music and dance as well as gastronomic and sporting events. September is another popular time for tourists when the San Sebastian International Film Festival takes place and the second half of July is the annual International Jazz Festival.
This restaurant is called Parque de la Florida in the Basque region of Spain. The interiors aren’t particularly remarkable but I admire the way the three sections of the structure sit in a line among the trees, with simple vertical wood framing and glass giving the place a low-profile that doesn’t detract from the park.
Integrated into large public parks or enclosures. The adequacy of these buildings to the site is linked to the idea of easy (or removal if necessary), speed of implementation and use of lightweight materials with specific technological solutions.
The scale of the place and the difficulties of site suggest splitting the program into three pavilions connected. The building is conceived as a set of parts prepared in the workshop and then assembled on site.
Except for the basement, two dominate the building materials: wood and glass. The detachable structure of the three bodies are made entirely in wood. Soil parameters and furnishings are of the same material. The glass surrounding the two bodies sealed transparent.
I really enjoy this place and while writing the article I found myself dreaming of garden parties, and the ongoing fantasy of finding just the right outdoor furniture to suit my vision.
Soria is a beautiful town in the heart of Spain. The time is stopped there and its ascetic grandeur — “somber oaks, harsh stony wastelands, bald peaks” — still retains the vision of Antonio Machado, one of the great lyric poets of the 20th century.
Poems from Machado are written on plaques on the walls of buildings. Although he only lived in the town for five years, it influences his most important work.
The monastery of San Juan de Duero was refashioned into a monastic complex by the Hospitallers, a group founded during the First Crusade.
Gormaz was once one of the largest castles in Europe. Situated on a hilltop with outstanding views to the horizon and the Duero on both sides, it was once a Muslim fortress.
I present you a fantastic structure located in Spain, the Espacio de las Artes at Santa Cruz, Tenerife. The building has urban beauty and generates a triangular plaza. Along the facade, over 1,200 openings in 720 different shapes filter the natural light to the inside, while generating an amazing view during night.
The structure features a public library, a contemporary art museum, the Photography Centre of the Tenerife Island, a store, a cafe/restaurant and several public use spaces for the community.
During the grand opening, this building will change the image of Tenerife, and along with the Calatrava auditorium will turn the city into a cultural focus.
The sports complex is an uneven volume that complies with multiple conditions in the lot. The center is located in Bilbao, Spain. Bilbao is the largest city in the Basque Country. The city has 354,145 inhabitants (2006) and is the most financially and industrially active part of Greater Bilbao, the zone in which almost half of the Basque Country’s population lives.
The structure generates small exterior space and empty interiors ones to adapt itself to the environment. There’re tremendous swimming pool, basketball hall and well-equipped fitness hall.
The project is bare, unitary spots complex, which host physical activities and is open to the transformed nature and changing city.
Aire de Bardenas is a horizontal hotel, as level and straight as the surrounding countryside. Designed by Monica Rivera and Emiliano Lopez, the Hotel Aire de Bardenas has twenty rooms, four suites, pool, bar and restaurant, and is located in the Bardenas Reales Nature Reserve, in Tudela, Spain. With large glass settee windows overlooking the natural beauty of the landscape, the hotel offers tranquility and respite from the busy city life.
This hotel offers 46 well-decorated guestrooms that are air-conditioned and facilitated with an array of modern amenities. Some of the fantastic bedrooms are located in independent cubes with comfortable beds moulded into the panoramic windows enveloping you in the great outdoors, others unfold onto a private patio with an open air tub shaded by a quince tree. Some of the rooms include a private patio with an exterior bathtub.
Guests can also relax at the cafe with snacks and beverages as well as sip on various drinks at the cosy bar. The restaurant invites you to sit and enjoy authentic savory dishes in the middle of nature. The chefs cultivate the same products served to your table. Vegetarians will find themselves in paradise with the vegetables from the Ribera of Navarre, their speciality.
During leisure, guests can visit the attractions such as the Cathedral de Tudela, Monastery of Fitero, Museum of Navarra, Square of Marques de San Adrian, Bridge of Ebro as well as the Torre Monrreal.
Casa del Abad (The Abbot’s House) is a refurbished 17th century building that stands out in the main square of Ampudia, in the Leon region in Spain. This is a charming and friendly hotel that offers comfortable accommodation to make your stay a memorable one. The integration of an atmosphere of the old with the most modern and advanced technology expected of a present day 4 star hotel has been made possible by the architect Angel Garcia Puertas.
Its architect has kept most of the original structures and used building materials that are typical in the region to maintain the traditional and picturesque mood of the house and the rooms, which he has superbly complemented with antique furniture, contemporary design details and modern equipment. The decoration of the house is amazing, comfortable and stylish – stairs and steps, objects of great curiosity, a tiny chapel, wonderful splashes of color, restful public rooms, superb restaurant, very well appointed rooms with all the comforts you might need.
If you are looking for relax, rest and reading, this is the right place for your holidays. Casa del Abad is a rich combination of color and style that always leaves first-time guests breathless. Inside is a 17th-century chapel which still has its original altar. Adobe walls, original forges and wood furnishings adorn the interiors, creating a highly tranquil atmosphere. Lovely hotel in small Spanish village 20m/30km from Vallalodid airport. Many unique items displayed throughout the hotel give it character and make for an interesting stay.
Things to enjoy
You can workout in the state-of-the-art gymnasium, have a bracing dip in the swimming pool or indulge in the game of tennis. The hotel also offers a wellness center, which includes a hydrotherapy, massage service, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, restaurant, bar and gastronomy experiences.
Attractions: Colegiata, Tower of San Miguel, Museum of Sacred Art, Monastery routes, Cultural Romanesque Routes, Ampudia Castle and church – 5-min walk, 5 Golf Courses, mountain biking, wine tasting in 5WineRegions, cycle through the ancient streets of the village, follow along the ruins of the wall and continue underneath the arcades of the houses until you arrive at the castle. In a nice and quiet atmosphere you will relax and rest before or after hydrotherapy baths, massages or any of the treatments and programs chosen.
The Costa Brava is a seaside area of northeastern Catalonia, Spain. The region maintained an authenticity that has kept this stretch of the Mediterranean more natural than the southern coasts of Spain.
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The picture below displays thehouse of Salvador Dali in the village Cadaques, which is best known for its art. Salvador Dali spent part of his childhood there and in nearby Port Lligat, where visitors wait hours to peer inside his home.
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When you're in Cadaques it's recommended to visit Gemma Ridameya shop, where sea-smoothed beach pebbles are embedded in silver for rings and necklaces. The shop is fabulous and is never empty.
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A beach near Cadaques!
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When you get tired from the swimming and sunbathing go to the La Sirena, a small restaurant tucked into a corner of Cadaques, which serves excellent grilled fish ''a La Basque''.
A salad at Sa Rascassa in Aiguafreda. A restaurant five-minute drive from the center of Begur, which serves fresh fish and fresh pasta on a lovely cool terrace above the sea.
The Centre de Poblenou Park in Barcelona is a gigantic, able to continue over a period of time, garden of 5.5 hectares designed as ''meeting point'' and ''acoustic microclimate'' playing with light and shadows.
The basic garden of the park has a forest ending at one end of the park with a ramp of volcanic soil.
In the second garden, the woodland surrounds the structure of the old Oliva- Artes factory and takes the visitors through a visual experience.
In the third garden the most prominent feature is a crater that carries the visitors with a spiral to the '' center of the Earth.
This museum property located in Madrid also containing the Jerónimos Cloister would and it is used as a venue for temporary exhibitions, restoration workshops, technical offices and other museum services, contained in a new building connected at its lower levels with Villanueva’s.
The most essential part in this project is the area joining the Jerónimos and the Prado. This is where the reception hall, provides all the services needed for receiving visitors – ticket purchase, information, checkrooms,and  telephones. As well as intended for this area are the auditorium, the bookstore and museum shop, a cafeteria and restaurant.
A view of Villanueva‘s apse animates is provided by an open courtyard, visible from the entrances and accessible to the public. From this part visitors can reach the new temporary exhibition galleries, located below ground in the Jerónimos site, as well as the upper levels of the new building.
The new building accommodates a second gallery for temporary exhibitions, seminar rooms, a room for drawings, the library, a technical documentation department, restoration workshops and the spaces necessary for loading and unloading works of art.
One of the main focal points will be the cloister of Los Jerónimos church (found next door) which was dismantled, and re-assembled, piece-by-piece.
Today the ancient city of Zaragoza is a home to Expo 2008 under the theme ‘’Water and Sustainable Development’’ through September 14. The city is aware of the importance of the water to all human beings. There’re many museums that focus on water.
The Expo is spread over 60 acres of eye-catching architecture. The signature edifice at the Expo is the Water Tower, which is nearly 250 feats tall.
One of the spectacular sculpture is ‘’Squash’’ situated in the water tower. It can be seen at nearly two miles of ramps that wrap around the tower’s interior.
The pillars on the exterior of the Spanish Pavilion were covered in baked mud to help conserve energy.
The Aragonese architecture firm of Olano & Mend created an exterior of interwoven glass and metal plaits for the Aragon Pavilion.
Even without the Water Expo, Zaragoza is a amazing to explore. A statue of Caesar Augustus, the emperor who brought the region under Roman control, stands in the Central Market square.
Ibiza attracts a lot of people of every age and demographic from London fashionistas to French bobos and ministers. But when the club season shut down on oct. 1, this spanish island got back into its Mediterranean groove. Ibiza offers plenty of laid-back after party spots like yoga retreats, trekking or lounging by turquoise blue water and white sand beaches.
So It’s cool to get into the groove at the Jockey Club, a trendy but casual restaurant along the powdery white sands of Salinas Beach, a beautiful stretch with the beautiful people. If you get really hungry, head to the foodie village of San Rafael.
At the Provençal restaurant El Clos Denis , order the roast suckling pig and drink lovely Spanish and French wines. The casserole dishes are big and hearty. If you’re with a larger group, book at Bambuddha Grove , a modern Mediterr-Asian-fusion restaurant in a space that is part temple and part Japanese garden with Buddha statues and ornamental wood carved doors. Dinner about 60 euros.
Charter a boat or take a ferry to Ses Illetes, a popular white-sand beach with turquoise water on the neighboring island of Formentera. For a break from the usual Ibiza scene, go to Teatro Pereyra for some live jazz, which may include the singer Kim Mazell.
Ibiza was a fortress before its streets were filled with quaint restaurants, shops and clubs many built into the stone ramparts. The oldest part, Dalt Vila, is a Unesco World Heritage site with a tiny modern art museum, it’s a worth seeing.
Madrid is the most Spanish of all cities. Today you can see there little girls dressed exactly in 1940s-style dresses and matching topcoats. But exactly that is the charming part of the sleepy sister to Barcelona. The city is absolutely fantastic with stylish hotels and flirt bars.
At the Plaza de Chueca it’s quite exciting if you take a seat for a cup of coffee. You’’ll noticed tiny old ladies in knee-length wool coats, young girls in skin-tight jeans and cross-dressing men – all rushing between the 19th century town houses. Madrid also offers interesting art exhibitions. Check out the smaller museums like the Fundacion Juan March, the Fundacion Caja Madrid and the larger but often overlooked Thyssen- Bornemisza Museum.
Tapas are a Madrid institution and are served in nearly every bar. Tapas means small amounts of Spanish food served especially with alcoholic drinks in Spanish bars and restaurants. Be warned that these places become more crowded as the night wears on.
Downtown Madrid is dotted with historic buildings that allow visitors a peek into the past. The Centro Conde Duque was built in the 18th century as military barracks; today it is a cultural center with a small but excellent collection of modern art. Classical concerts are held Saturday evenings in the large internal courtyard; in the summer, string quartets are replaced by jazz, folk and world music singers like Erykah Badu and Cesaria Evor.
Hospes Palacio is sitted in the middle of Cordoba, which is a historical city centre next to the Plaza Colon in Spain. The whole resort has a balanced contemporary design from 16th and 18th centuries and Moorish decorative elements with painted ceiling, rich fabrics and textures and polished marble.
Hospes Palacio resort is aggregate of several buildings arranged around in a beautiful courtyard. The main courtyard is spectacular, due to the traditional paving, which has been replaced with a glass floor.
Almost everywhere inside there’re restoring paintings and frescos from the 19th century which is an example of the care and attention given to the revitalisation of past beauty at the Hospes Palacio .
The Food & Drink area is at the SENZONE Gastronomic Restaurant, which is a place to enjoy fresh, natural and local cuisine in a contemporary atmosphere.
Each villa has broadband internet connection, safe, flat-screen TV, DVD, cordless telephones, finest quality Egyptian cotton bed linen and terry towelling, set of natural essence toiletries, bathroom accessories, hair-dryer, air conditioning and central heating, private parking.
The resort also offers BODYNA Spa & Fitness area (sauna, treatments, steam bath, ayurveda, vichy showers), 5 outdoor Andalusian patios, garden, outdoor swimming pool, living room and daily press.
