I finally went into the cathedral here yesterday afternoon. Construction of the Catedral de Santa Ana began in 1497 but wasn’t completed until the 20th century. So it took longer to complete than the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona!
I am always amazed that such huge buildings were constructed at a time when today’s lifting machinery was not available. Some years ago I read the novel “La Catedral del Mar” by Ildefonso Fonseca, a novel involving the building of La Basílica de Santa María del Mar in Barcelona, with descriptions of workers carrying huge slabs of stone on their backs. Quite a feat in itself! When they made a TV series of the novel it didn’t seem to me to do justice to that effort by the workers! So it goes!
Be that as it may, yesterday I went inside the cathedral here. The rather austere exterior of the cathedral doesn’t impress me greatly, as I may have said already.
The interior, however, with tall columns and great arches, I found quite pleasing, not too ornate.
Some modern stained glass, very plain in itself, sends rainbow patterns around the interior.
Worth a visit.
And the doors, like the doors of so many buildings here, are very beautiful.
There you go!
Some people are getting excited about NASA sending a spaceship around the moon. One report tells me:
“The Artemis II commander, Reid Wiseman, describing the moment the crew saw Earth as a whole, said: “You can see the entire globe from pole to pole, you can see Africa, Europe, and if you look closely, the northern lights. It was the most spectacular moment and it paused all four of us in our tracks.”
It must indeed be a most impressive sight, as we know from the first photos taken of the earth from space but it almost sounds as though Commander Wiseman was surprised at how much could be seen. Has he not watched any old footage, or seen any science fiction films?
Here’s a cartoon about space missions:
Las Palmas, like so many places I have visited in mainland Spain, has a good supply of bookshops. Someone once told me that this is because Spanish parents are required to purchase school books for their children’s education. This may be true but the fact remains that small, independent bookshops continue to thrive to a greater extent than in the UK. Round the corner from our accommodation is a bookshop that specialises on horror - ghouls and ghosts and spirits and witches and such. Granddaughter Number Two is a great reader and in fact really appreciates the sort of books sold in that shop. Her rudimentary Spanish is not up to reading them in Castilian and so I just sent her some photos.
Today being Good Friday, we may have some difficulty finding a restaurant for lunch. It remains to be seen. Our current favourite, Bodegón Lagunetas, is closed all weekend. I shall report back tomorrow.
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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