City: Córdoba
Community: Andalucía
Set: Railway Station
Córdoba Central was opened in 1994 replacing an older station. Córdoba is an important junction in the Spanish rail network, serving three AVE high-speed rail lines, connecting Madrid Atocha with Málaga, Seville and Granada; and conventional Iberian gauge lines hosting various Media and Larga Distancia services. Trains passing through Córdoba also connect to Cádiz, Barcelona Sants and Jaén.
The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba is regarded as one of the most accomplished monuments of Moorish architecture. According to a traditional account, a small Visigoth church, the Catholic Basilica of Saint Vincent of Lérins, originally stood on the site. In 784 Abd al-Rahman I ordered construction of the Great Mosque, which was considerably expanded by later Muslim rulers. Córdoba returned to Christian rule in 1236 during the Reconquista, and the building was converted to a Roman Catholic church, culminating in the insertion of a Renaissance cathedral nave in the 16th century.
Also in this set, the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos (Spanish for "Castle of the Christian Monarchs") is a fortress who served as one of the primary residences of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon. Its construction was ordered by the King Alfonso XI of Castile in the year 1328. The architectural ensemble has a sober character in its exterior and splendid in its interior, with the magnificent gardens and courtyards that maintain a Mudéjar inspiration.
Very popular in Spain, during my stay in Córdoba I had the opportunity to watch the Holy Week Procession, a huge event with thousands of people carrying their sculptures and figures, accompanied by many bands and music.
City: Segovia
Community: Castilla y León
Set: City Overview
Segovia is placed in the region of Castile and León. The city is famous for its historic buildings including the three main landmarks: its midtown Roman aqueduct, its cathedral (one of the last Gothic to be built in Europe), and the castle, which was an influence for Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle. The city center of Segovia was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1985.
City: Segovia
Community: Castilla y León
Set: Alcázar de Segovia (Castle)
The Alcázar of Segovia is a medieval castle who rises out on a rocky crag above the confluence of two rivers near the Guadarrama mountains. It's one of the most distinctive castle-palaces in Spain by virtue of its shape – like the bow of a ship. The Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then. It is currently used as a museum and a military archives building. The Alcázar of Segovia is also famous for serving as the inspiration of many Disney stories.
City: Metropolitan Area of Madrid
Community: Madrid
Set: El Escorial (Royal Monastery)
El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: the royal monastery itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometres away. These sites have a dual nature; that is to say, during the 16th and 17th centuries, they were places in which the power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was, at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it had become a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine. It was also a boarding school (Real Colegio de Alfonso XII). Philip II of Spain, reacting to the changes of the 16th century, dedicated much of his lengthy reign (1556–1598) and much of his seemingly inexhaustible supply of New World gold to stemming the tide of Protestantism. His protracted efforts were, in the long run, partly successful; however, the same impulse had a much more benign expression thirty years earlier in Philip's decision to build the complex at El Escorial.
City: Lisbon
Region: Lisbon
Set: Oriente Railway Station
The Gare do Oriente is one of the main portuguese intermodal transport hubs, and is situated in the civil parish of Parque das Nações, Lisbon. The station was proposed as part of the modernization of the Linha do Norte, a modification to the rail line to facilitate the future development of an Oriente station. It was planned to occupy the lands once occupied by Apeadeiro dos Olivais, which was demolished in the 1990s in order to make way for the new station. Bids for building the project on lands to be used for the 1998 exposition were solicited internationally. The concept was originally designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava in 1995, and built by Necso.
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