The southern region of Spain is a lovely fusion of culture, architecture, and natural beauty. Colorful fiestas with loud locals in flamenco dresses dancing and drinking along the streets, pilgrimages where large statues of praised saints are carried for miles followed by decorated horses, tractors, and devoted people. A varied landscape of rolling hills, steep …
There are many reasons to love Asturias. Asturias’ monikers, “Spain’s natural paradise” and “the green coast,” are certainly justified. Contrary to most of Spain, the region is verdant, with lush, abundant vegetation. It also has a varied geography, from emerald green valleys to snow-capped mountains. But Asturias, officially known as The Principality of Asturias, offers …
From the Heritage of Mercury: Almadén and Idrija World Heritage inscription: The property includes the mining sites of Almadén (Spain), where mercury (quicksilver) has been extracted since antiquity, and Idrija (Slovenia), where mercury was first found in AD1490. The Spanish property includes buildings relating to its mining history, including Retamar Castle, religious buildings and traditional …
Antoni Gaudí is almost synonymous with Barcelona. The architect was a visionary with an outsized impact on the architecture and building technology of the early 20th century. La Sagrada Familia is Gaudí’s signature building in Barcelona, and it’s been under construction for almost 130 years. Despite the size and scope of this basilica, it’s not …
From the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida World Heritage inscription: The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, located in Extremadura, Spain, has its origins in the year 25 BC when Augustus completed the conquest of the North of Hispania and founded the Colony of Augusta Emerita. The city was created as an idealized model of Rome and was …
This guest post is written by Benny Lewis who blogs at FluentInThreeMonths.com where he encourages and helps people learn to speak foreign languages. I met Benny earlier this year in Bangkok and again in Las Vegas for BlogWorld Expo, where we took a side trip to visit the Hoover Dam. Benny currently speaks English, Esperanto, …
The Camino de Santiago is known as one of the world’s great hikes, and it earns a spot on many bucket lists with good reason. After hiking the Camino last year, I’ve compiled this list of essential tips for hiking the Camino de Santiago across Spain, including everything I wish I knew before setting out …
Granada is a magnificent city nestled in the Andalusian region of Spain right next to the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Granada was originally a small Jewish town called “Garnata,” which roughly translates to “hill of strangers” in Moorish, due to its location. Granada is located on a low plane, which is why it was often …
From the World Heritage inscription: The Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany are a serial property comprising fifteen components. They represent an outstanding example of undisturbed, complex temperate forests and exhibit the most complete and comprehensive ecological patterns and processes of pure stands of European beech across a …