CULTURAL SANTIAGO

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA - MARCH 2007

This is the last post dedicated to the 2007 visit to Santiago de Compostela. Further to the Cathedral and the churches, Santiago has a public University founded in the early 16th century. With more than 2,000 teachers, over 40,000 students, and more than 1,000 people working in administration and services, it's an important institution in town and contributes to a highly developed cultural life in Santiago. To trust the Galician writer Camilo José Cela, «In Spain there are two cities: Santiago and Salamanca. The rest are but camps»...


"COLEXIO DE FONSECA - We have already seen on the last post the incredible Alonso III de Fonseca, archbishop of Santiago from 1507 through 1523, posing as if he was already talking at a mobile phone in the early sixteenth century; on this picture we see the altarpiece-like façade of the first building belonging to the University of Santiago"


"SCHOOL OF MEDICINE - Walking with the wall of the Hostal de Los Reyes Católicos on your left hand side one reaches the huge building of the School of Medicine"


"GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY - The building of the school of Geography and History was built in the 18th century and is the most impressive building of the University of Compostela"


"CONVENTO DE LA ENSINANZA"


"COMEDOR - The canteen of the South Campus"


"CASA DE EUROPA - The House of Europe is a university residence to lodge teachers from other universities, as they come to Santiago, in order to join the teaching and research activities"


"WEIRD - Near the Casa da Europa, I wonder what this could be..."



"GALICIAN CENTRE OF CONTEMPORARY ART - Designed by the Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, it means a breath of fresh air in a city focused on the old and the ancient. Works by contemporary Galician artists and splendid views of the city's old town from the balconies are to be seen at this impressive building"


"SURREAL SANTIAGO"


"TUNA at the south campus of the University!



"STREET SCULPTURES"


"SCULPTURE AND AUDITORIUM OF GALICIA"


"LUIS SEOANE - A Galician born artist that lived some time in Argentina. Having returned to Galicia in 1960, he was an important member of the movement to revive Galician culture"


"LAS DOS IN PUNTO (The two o'clock ladies) - These two a bit crazy sisters - Maruxa and Coralia - allegedly orphans of the Civil war, always went out for a walk at 2:00 p.m. Dressed in very bright colours and with heavy make-up, they used to flirt with students passing by after their morning classes. The statues, created after their death, pay homage to two typical characters of Santiago"


"VALLE-INCLAN - Ramón María del Valle-Inclán y de la Peña, a member of the Spanish Generation of 98(1898), was a dramatist and novelist with an important place in Spanish literature"