Eastern Spain, Andorra And, Monte Carlo

Eastern Spain is where the Catalan language, as well as Spanish, is widely spoken. Spain began on it's eastern coast, as it faced toward the Mediterranean and was settled by Phoenicians and then Romans. But later, when the Age of Discovery began, the emphasis moved to Spain's Atlantic coast as ships went to and from the western hemisphere.

Alicante is an ancient city on Spain's Mediterranean coast, that originated with the Phoenicians. The castle above the city, Santa Barbara, is from when Spain was ruled by the Moors. The first two scenes of the Castle of Santa Barbara are from Google Earth.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >,  After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

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Valencia began as a Roman settlement. It was a walled city during the era of rule of Spain by the Moors.

There have been so many legends spun around objects and people that are in the Bible, although the legends themselves are not in the Bible.

Start with the Magi, who travelled from the east to bring gifts to the baby Jesus. It is not stated how many there were, but since they brought three gifts it was presumed that there were three. They have been the subjects of endless legends.

Then there was the Queen of Sheba, who made a long journey from her homeland to visit King Solomon. At least we know where she was from, as we saw in the visit on this blog, "Yemen". In our visit to "Ethiopia", we saw that the Solomonic Dynasty of the country is based on the founding legend that the first emperor of Ethiopia, Menelik I, was the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

Then there is the Shroud of Turin, believed to be the garment worn by Jesus at His crucifixion.

More legends have been spun around the Ark of the Covenant. It was the portable wooden housing for the tablets of the law that were obtained by Moses on Mount Sinai. It was put in Solomon's Temple when that was completed. In all probability, the Ark of the Covenant was destroyed or irretrievably lost when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the Temple, and led the Jews into exile, in 586 B.C., as the Ark is not mentioned after that. Nevertheless, an entire industry has grown up around legends that it somehow survived and is hidden in various locales, a church in Ethiopia for one.

But the biblical legend that involves Valencia is the Holy Grail. At the Last Supper, which Jesus shared with the Apostles prior to His crucifixion, Jesus used a cup. That cup is referred to today as the Holy Grail.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Supper#/media/File:Última_Cena_-_Da_Vinci_5.jpg

The Holy Grail is believed to have survived. The trouble is that there are so many "Holy Grails" that we cannot be sure which one, if any of them, is the actual one that Jesus used. Anyway, one of the most popular cups that is claimed to be the real Holy Grail is in the Cathedral of Valencia, and the following scenes of the city begin there. The first two scenes of Valencia Cathedral, with the display of the supposed Holy Grail, are from Google Earth and Street View.

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Teruel is a medieval city in the mountains of eastern Spain.

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The city of Zaragoza originated before Roman times, but then was an important Roman city. Some of the Roman walls are still there and it was also an important city to the Moors. These three scenes are of the Aljaferia Palace, from Google Earth and Street View, that was a combination of palace and castle.

These three scenes, from Google Earth, are of Our Lady of Pillars Basilica in Zaragoza.

These two scenes, from Google Earth, are of the Cathedral of the Savior in Zaragoza.

The following scenes begin at the Aljaferia Palace, in Zaragoza, built by the Moors.

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This is more of the old part of Zaragoza.

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There is a famous medieval castle in the city of Sitges.

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Barcelona is Spain's second-largest city, after Madrid. It is the heart of Catalonia, where there was a separatist movement for an independent country. The area is prosperous and well-industrialized but suffered from having supported the losing Republican side in Spain's civil war of the 1930s.

Most people in Barcelona understand the Catalan language, although Spanish is spoken as the national language. Much of the infrastructure of the city was remodeled for the 1992 Summer Olympics, and many factory buildings were demolished.

This is a view, from Google Earth, of Barcelona Cathedral.

Barcelona has it's own version of the Arc De Triomphe. Image from Google Street View.

The famous tree-lined pedestrian street in central Barcelona is La Rambla. These views of the city begin there. The first two views of La Rambla are from Google Earth. The monument in the traffic circle is of Christopher Columbus.

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The best-known building in Barcelona is the fantastic cathedral, La Sagrada Familia, although it is not yet complete. Work on it has been going on for well over a century. The following scenes begin inside there. The first two scenes are from Google Earth and Street View.

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In the Mediterranean, east of mainland Spain, are the Balearic Islands. The three largest of the islands are Mallorca (or Majorca), Menorca and, Ibiza. The islands are very popular with sun-seekers from northern Europe. The largest city on the islands is Palma, on Mallorca. These three views, from Google Earth and Street View, are of Palma Cathedral. There is a royal palace next to the cathedral.

On a hill above the city of Palma is Bellver Castle. But this is from after the time of the Moors. Image from Google Earth.

This is a look at Palma. Be sure not to confuse Palma, on the Balearic Islands, with Las Palmas, on the Canary Islands.

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ANDORRA

In the Pyrenees Mountains, between France and Spain, is a small nation that is essentially a city-state and is known as Andorra. There is a legend that it was founded by Charlemagne. The population is less than 80,000 people.

Like Spain, to the south, Andorra has been under Roman and Visigoth influence. Also like Spain it is a parliamentary democracy, unlike France which uses the presidential system. It has been a nation since the 13th Century and is a very highly-rated place to live. It is also considered as a tax haven. Although Andorra is an independent country, the French President and a Spanish bishop are it's co-princes.

Here is a look at the major urban area of Andorra.

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MONTE CARLO ( MONACO )

Monaco is also essentially an independent city-state. It is not contiguous with Spain, being on the Mediterranean coast of France. Monte Carlo is the central part of Monaco. The population of Monte Carlo is less than 40,000 people and it is possible to walk across it.

Monaco has a popular royal family. It has been led by the House of Grimaldi, originally a noble family from Genoa, since 1297. The royal family still lives in the same original palace, unlike most royal families which periodically build new palaces. On high ground above the city, these three scenes of the famous Palace of Monaco are from Google Earth.

Long before Meghan Markle married into the British Royal family, another American actress married into the royal family of Monaco. Her name was Grace Kelly and she married the Prince of Monaco, Rainier III, in 1956. The present Prince of Monaco, Albert II, is their son.

Unfortunately, Princess Grace had something in common with another British royal. Like Princess Diana she was killed in a car accident, in 1982.

With it's economy suffering, Monaco tried a novel idea to bring in money. In 1863, it opened a casino. While it was not an immediate success, Monte Carlo is now world-famous for it's casino, being a playground for the wealthy, and several other casinos have followed. This is the prototype for cities everywhere that have tried to boost their economies with a casino. This image, from Google Earth, is of Monte Carlo's fabled casino.

Due to the success of the casino, there are no income taxes in Monaco. This has drawn wealthy people from all over the world and about a third of it's population is at least a millionaire. It has also become a global banking center. Charles De Gaulle once blockaded Monaco over it's allowing French citizens to avoid taxes.

The original casino is Casino de Monte Carlo. The opera house was designed by the same architect as the Palais Garnier, in Paris.

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