Cathedral of Seville

Considering how the author of this blog feels about visiting religious sites, this blog has seen its fair share of them. There has been a visit to  Buddhist stupa and another one to Cordoba cathedral. There's a simple explanation to this: religion is such a crucial part of people's lives  here and the history of this region. So, often churches are some of the most significant tourist attractions bearing serious cultural, historic and architectural importance.

Seville Cathedral is no exception. It's one of the three UNESCO World Heritage sites in Seville and the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It was built after the Reconquista on a site that previously hosted a mosque. After it was completed it overtook Hagia Sofia as the largest church in the world. Still today it is the third largest church in the world and also the final resting place of Cristopher Columbus.

The cathedral houses a valuable collection of paintings and clearly has remarkable religious value too. But it also comes with a serious architectural wow factor.

Probably the best part of this is the adjacent Giralda tower which rewards the patient mind (around 36 flights of corridors) with close-ups of the Cathedral's  impressive Gothic details...

...as well as stunning views over Seville.

Coconut macaroons

In addition to meringues, these are a good way to use any leftover egg whites you might have left from sabayon, ice cream, chorizo pasta, Spaghetti Carbonara or crème patisserie.

The name, macaroons, is a bit confusing and can easily be mixed with macarons, those rainbow-coloured little pieces of heaven La Durée does so incredibly well.

In Jewish cooking these are popular dessert treats especially during Passover, when flour is not used. This makes these little babies suitable for those on a gluten-free diet too! These are supposed to be crisp on the outside and gloriously gooey and chewy on the inside. 

You can also add for instance the grated zest of lime or half an orange. Dried fruits and berries would work too. Vanilla extract could be substituted with for instance almond extract.

Traditionally these are free-form, fluffy piles, but as I'm neurotic and insisted on them to be of equal size and appearance, I used one of those plastic egg trays that come with fridges. That (or any other mold you might use) should be oiled before use.

Depending on the size this recipe makes 20-30 macaroons

2 eggwhites
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
6,5 dl coconut flakes
1,5 dl sugar

200-300 g good quality dark chocolate, melted

Heat the oven to 175. Separate egg whites form yolks and, using an electric mixer, whisk into a hard foam. Then add salt and sugar in a thin stream. Add vanilla extract and finally fold in the coconut flakes. Using a tablespoon drop mixture onto a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until they start getting a bit colour. Keep an eye on them as "a bit of colour" turns to "whoah! Far too much colour!" in an instant.

The snowball-like appearance makes these wonderfully wintery. If you want, you can get all Jackson Pollock and splash melted chocolate stripes on these, dip the bottom in the chocolate or cover them entirely with chocolate for a homespun take on Bounty (this is also a very convenient way to hide any evidence of overcooked macaroons...!)

Father, Son, Holy Ghost, Madonna, Muhammed and Buddha

Catholic faith is very much present in Spain. There are churches and chapels everywhere you look. I find some of the forms religion takes here downright creepy.

Crucified Jesus surrounded by a fence imitating thorns in middle of the post-lunch siesta bliss...

Cordoba

...the altars dedicated to worshipping virginity and other ideals forever unattainable for real women...

Marbella

... Jesus crying in his glass-boxed home altar...

Marbella

... crosses greeting oblivious explorers in the middle of nowhere...

El Chorro

That's only the beginning of the religious diversity. These days Costa houses more and more large mosques. But the most peculiar addition to this smörgåsboard of religions would have to be the Buddhist stupa in Benalmadena.

The place, inaugurated in 2003 is used for meditation among other purposes. Stupas are regarded as three-dimensional manifestations of enlightenment. They have a soothing and protective purpose and they are believed to transform the outside world's ignorance-inflicted suffering into joy and happiness brought forth by enlightenment.

The paintings of the sanctuary are the handiwork of Nepalese artists.

The stupa is surrounded by mandalas, paintings symbolizing enlightenment and cosmos...

...and the trees around it are adorned with prayer flags.

Church-hopping in Cordoba

A sad fact is that one thing gone wrong eassily pushes into action an entire chain of failures. As we discovered. Waking up too late leads to setting off too late. Which leads into arriving at Benalmadena train station too late. Which leads to missing the train to Malaga. And as a result of that, missing the only daily train to El Chorro. And so one finds herself staring at the lights of that said train wondering what to do with one's day after all...

We had meant to go to ferìa in Cordoba the following weekend, but as our plans unexpectedly changed, we decided to board the next train to Cordoba instead. And in less than an hour the bullet train had transported us to the capital of the ancient caliphate.

During the Arab conquerors Cordoba was a very significant place and the centre of culture and education. Many important scholars, including Maimonides, one of the greatest halachic authorities in Judaism, studied here. In the 10th century Cordoba was estimated to be the most populated city in the world.

The most famous place in Cordoba is the Cathedral. Initially the location hosted a church that during the Islamic period was destroyed and replaced with a mosque. As Spain, under King Ferdinand III, reclaimed Cordoba during the Reconquista, the mosque was sanctified for Christian use.

Its architecture is one of the greatest works of art of its time, for which the altars and other Christian elements add...well, their very unique touch.

 

Building of the mosque, or Mezquita, as it's known, was started in 785 and it was added on and extended during four rulers. These days it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site.



Is anyone else overcome by uncontrollable craving for candy canes?

Owing to its history and grand architecture Mezquita is a popular destination for both Christian and Muslim tourists. The architecture tempted me to visit the place too, though I normally steer clear from religious sightseeing.

I simply don't feel comfortable snapping away in a place where others come to feel closer to their God. In India I felt further than ever from finding myself as I found myself queuing to the souvenir shop in a temple where people all over to world flocked to just to see a glimpse of His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Sri Prabhupada, the founder of Hare Krishna movement (yes, I saw him. And still today I'm not entirely sure if he was asleep or dead on his mat...)

As I observed the fellow visitors I found myself pondering things the political correctness of which I myself am not sure about. Though not a Christian, a trip to Hagia Sofia in Istanbul filled me with discomfort - I couldn't warm to the idea that a site holy to one religion has been hijacked by another. In here I found myself wondering what kind of thoughts this mosque converted to a church evoked in, say, these visitors?