Via de la Plata

[Rosina Lila]

Hola,To begin with I´d like to say that I am blown over by the Via de la Plata; I thought I was too old and too jaded and over-traveled to be impressed by anything, or any place, else in my life, but indeed I am.Those castles in Spain of songs, those huge dangerous rivers on tops of mountains mentioned in the Codex, those sharp changes in landscape and temperature, and accompanying fauna and flora, are all to be found here.And the cities..... Merida is a treasure, and Salamanca is not to be believed.... it can have no peer.I´ll report on them later.to be sure, the Via de la Plata ain´t for the faint-at-heart, no siree bob... But it is emmensily worth the effort, time and risk....It is also blessedly free of commercialism  and crowds.This message is meant to respond to those of you who have written to say you are on your way to Sevilla.  Let me make clear a couple of things:The Virgin exposition at the Cathedral will remain until November. The Cathedral is open to the public !
 at given hours, and for tours and such at specified times.  The Virgin exposition is free of charge and separate from the tours, but it does close for two hours at noon.  The catalogue can be obtained at the entrance (I think it costs 30 Euros) or in the store where the tickets for the tours are bought)The Macarena is in another part of town; if you are not familiar with the city you´ll do well to take a taxi.  It is about a half an hour´s walk from the Cathedral.  Close to the Macarena Basilica there is the greatly revered church of Jesus del Gran Poder.  You shouldn´t miss it.  The central image is that of Jesus carrying the cross. The image was carved in the sixteenth century and it bears the most haunting expression of any one I have ever seen.  Jesus del Gran Poder is the Patron of Seville and an extremely revered image.  The church is circular, and around the dome-like low ceiling there are beautiful large frescoes showing the Via Crucis. The frescoes are modern in st!
 yle and form and very touching. There is a museum behind the image whi
ch is accessed by going behind the altar. (There are some things that can never be described in words, the image of Jesus del Gran Poder is certainly one of them).As reported before, the Basilica of th Macarena also has a museum with a small entrance fee.Those of you who will get your credential in Triana (across the river) at the Taberna Miami, would do well to visit the nearby Church of Santa Ana (Saint Ann); this church was built in the ninth century with three narrow naves and it looks like a mini cathedral in ancient style.  If you go now you will see to one side, in a small chapel, the other favorite image of the Virgin in Seville, The Virgin of Triana (Nuestra Senhora de la Esperanza de Triana- Our Lady of Hope of Triana). This image is immensily popular; during Holy Week it is not unusual to spend out to four hours on line in the street waiting to get into her small chapel.  The Triana imagine is at Saint Ann´s temporarily because her own curch is being enlarged. At !
 the main later of Saint Ann there is a group of images representing sain Ann, a young Mary and Baby Jesus. This family group is not as the magnificently glorified one painted by Leonardo which is found i the Louvre, nor as the famous round painting by Michelangelo in the Uffizi in Florence; at Saint Ann´s altar the images are  of a middle aged-woman and of a young mother and her baby, simply dressed, in a quiet pose, and simply natural.  The human simplicity is unbearably touching. While you are in Triana you should take the short walk to the church of El Cachorro (The Lamb of God) near by. The image is a life-size crucified Christ at the time of death.  This particular image has been written, extensively, in medical journals from Britain to China. The artist spent months, two hundred years or so ago, at hospitals observing people dying and studying the changes in the body and face at the precise moment of death; they are reproduced in the Cachorro image. You´ll be overwhel!
 med. The small church also has a museum.A word of caution: entrance do
ors to the museums in the churches are not clearly marked. One goes in through unobtrusive and indistinguishable little doors on one side. But all you need to do is ask any one there, just say "Al museo, por favor?"  Al moo-say-oh ...? and someone will direct you.Big hug for now!Rosina