Seville, Córdoba, and Granada A Cultural History

by Nash, Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780195182033
• ISBN10: 0195182030
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-10-13
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Spain's southern city of Seville basks in romantic myths and legends, evoking the scent of jasmine and orange blossom. But there is an ascetic core to its sybaritic spirit. For all their fame as passionate performers, the poet Unamuno called Sevillanos "finos y frios"-refined and cool. Once Europe's most cosmopolitan metropolis, bridging cultures of East and West and hub of a sea-borne empire, Seville was defined by Spain's great seventeenth-century playwright Lope de Vega as "port and gateway to the Indies". The city retains both the swagger of its seafaring heyday, and the sensual flavor of Moorish al-Andalus. Seville produced Spain's lowest ruffians, grandest grandees and a seductive gypsy culture that colors our wider perception of Spain. Elizabeth Nash explores the palaces, the mosques, the patios, fountains and wrought-iron balconies of Seville, Córdoba and Granada, cities celebrated for centuries by Europe's finest painters, poets, satirists and travel writers for their voluptuous beauty and vibrant cultural mix.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Ian Gibson
Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction
Golden Tower, Great River	1	(3)
City of the Picaresque	4	(2)
Death of a Port	6	(2)
Italica: Hills of Melancholy	8	(2)
A City Divided	10	(2)
Olives, Oranges and Flavors of the South	12	(7)
Chapter One
Holy Week, Holy Office: Christ, Virgins and the Inquisition	19	(3)
Baroque Beauty: Jesus del Gran	22	(4)
Solemn Processions	26	(1)
La Macarena: Dancing Virgin	27	(2)
The Inquisition and the Castle of St. George	29	(6)
La Macarena: Ojeda the Modernizer	35	(2)
Virgen Dolorosa: Immaculate Conception	37	(2)
Chapter Two
Conquest and Slavery: Las Casas and Cervantes	39	(1)
Lure of the Americas	40	(6)
Humans or Animals?	46	(2)
Slavery on the Cathedral Step	48	(3)
The Royal Jail: Cervantes in Seville	51	(5)
Chapter Three
La Cartuja: From Columbus to Calatrava	56	(3)
Painters and Art Thieves	59	(3)
Mr. Pickman the Potter	62	(2)
The 1929 Expo and Romantic Park	64	(4)
Gustavo Adolfo Becquer: Lovelorn Poet	68	(5)
The Return of the Admiral	73	(2)
Expomania	75	(3)
Chapter Four
Port and Gateway to America	78	(2)
The Indies Route	80	(4)
Lonja de Mercaderes: New World Moguls	84	(2)
Murillo: Painter of Urchins	86	(2)
The Arenal: Lowlife Quarter	88	(4)
The Indies Archive: A Propaganda Exercise	92	(2)
The ``Columbina'': Library in a Cathedral	94	(3)
Chapter Five
The Hospital of Charity and the Legend of Don Juan	97	(2)
The Hospital of Holy Charity	99	(3)
Scenes of Seduction	102	(4)
Barrio de Santa Cruz: Innocence and Corruption	106	(4)
Don Juan's Neurosis	110	(3)
Chapter Six
Carmen: Femme Fatale	113	(2)
The Royal Tobacco Factory	115	(3)
The Cigarreras	118	(6)
Holy Smoke	124	(4)
Cliche or Essence?	128	(2)
Chapter Seven
La Maestranza and La Feria: Bulls, Shawls and Flounces	130	(5)
Death in the Afternoon	135	(1)
Galleons and Silk	136	(4)
The Sevillian Cover-up	140	(4)
Feria de Abril: High Society	144	(1)
Woman's World	145	(3)
A Day at the Feria	148	(3)
Chapter Eight
Franco's First Foothold	151	(4)
Reign of Terror	155	(3)
Prisoners' Canal	158	(2)
Rafael Alberti: Poet of the Sea	160	(4)
Luis Cernuda: Poet of the Air	164	(1)
Valverde: ``Father of the Coto Donana''	165	(4)
Chapter Nine
Flamenco: Gypsy Music	169	(4)
Duende	173	(2)
Up the Giralda on Horseback	175	(4)
Interpreting the Gypsy World	179	(6)
To the Edge	185	(2)
Seville Southside	187	(3)
Chapter Ten
Cordoba	190	(1)
The Hammam	190	(1)
The Mezquita and Medina Azahara: House of Prayer and a Palatial City	191	(5)
Destruction and Resurrection	196	(1)
City Walls: Philosophers and Poets	197	(9)
Plaza del Potro: Picaros and Romantics	206	(2)
From Roman Games to the Spanish Beatle	208	(4)
Chapter Eleven
Granada	212	(1)
Medieval Alhambra and Modern Mosque	212	(2)
Washington Irving, Gautier and Tales of the Alhambra	214	(3)
Weight of the Past	217	(4)
Lorca Birthplace and Killing Field	221	(7)
Manuel de Falla	228	(4)
Fascist Monuments	232	(1)
The Cathedral: Enslaved Artist and the Crypt of Kings	233	(1)
Plaza Bib-Rambla: Burning of the Books	234	(2)
The Moor's Last Sigh	236	(3)
Further Reading	239	(6)
Index	245