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Turtle Bay
vacations to to
Image by bruce...
Another vacation snap. This is the bay next to Napili Bay. It usually has a large number of Green Sea Turtles. So it's a popular place to snorkel.


Romanesque stories / Leyendas románicas
vacations to to
Image by . SantiMB .
Loarre, Huesca (Spain).

I'm in summer vacation. I will visit your streams when I return. I wish you a good August.

Estoy de vacaciones de verano. Visitaré vuestras galerías cuando regrese. Os deseo un buen agosto.

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Enviado a través de un teléfono móvil Sony Ericsson

ENGLISH
Loarre Castle is a Romanesque fortress in Huesca province, Aragon, Spain. It commands a magnificent situation in the foothills of the Pyrenees overlooking the vast plains of Sotonera south to Huesca and beyond.

The complex was built largely during the 11th and 12th centuries, when its position on the frontier between Christian and Muslim lands gave it its strategic importance. The first of the two major building programmes began ca. 1020, when Sancho el Mayor (r. 1063-94) reconquered the surrounding lands from the Muslims. At least three towers, two of which survive, the Homage tower (Torre del Homenaje) and the "Tower of the Queen" (Torre de la Reina), as well as a chapel dedicated to Saint Mary of Valverde and connecting walls are attributed to this campaign. The Homage tower was built in an isolated position in front of the fortifications, to which it was connected by a wooden bridge. It contained a basement and five floors. The Torre de la Reina, comprising a basement and three floors, is particularly noteworthy for three sets of twin-arched windows, with columns of exaggerated entasis and trapezoidal capitals that have been related to both Lombard and Mozarabic architectural forms. The chapel is composed of a single-cell nave with an eastern apse covered by a semicircular vault. The original timber roof of the nave was replaced by a vault at the end of the 11th century.

After 1070, Loarre became increasingly important. In 1073, King Sancho installed a community of Augustinian canons, and it was from Loarre that he prepared for the conquest of Huesca in 1094. In 1097, however, his successor, Peter I of Aragon and Navarre, donated all the goods of Loarre to a new royal monastery at Montearagon. This evidence suggests that the second major construction program was undertaken between 1073 and 1097, and much building evidently does date from this period. By comparison with other monuments, however, it is also clear that the building and decorative programme continued into the 12th century.

The outermost walls of the castle and their eight towers were erected in the 13th or 14th century. The church and castle have been the subject of numerous restorations, a major one in 1913 and subsequent ones, particularly during the 1970s, have resulted in the rebuilding of many walls and towers that had fallen into disrepair.

The Castle of Loarre was protagonist of the filming of The Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott, starred by Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson and Jeremy Irons, among others. The people of Loarre participated in the film by doing of extra, which motivated to him to go to the cinema in Huesca to be able to see if they left in some scene. The castle can be seen in several occasions during the film.

More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loarre_Castle

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CASTELLANO
El castillo de Loarre es un castillo románico situado sobre la sierra de Loarre, España (a unos 35 kilómetros de Huesca). Desde su posición se tiene un control sobre toda la llanura de la Hoya de Huesca y en particular sobre Bolea, principal plaza musulmana de la zona y que controlaba las ricas tierras agrícolas de la llanura.

El castillo se asienta sobre un promontorio de roca caliza que utiliza como cimientos. Esto suponía una gran ventaja defensiva, ya que así los muros no podían ser minados (técnica habitual en el asedio de fortalezas, que consistía en construir un túnel por debajo del muro para después hundirlo y abrir así una brecha por la que asaltar). Además está rodeado por una muralla con torreones.

El castillo está en bastante buen estado de conservación (salvo la parte del antiguo castillo de Sancho III de Navarra, mucho más deteriorada) y está considerado como la fortaleza románica mejor conservada de Europa. Destaca la pequeña capilla que hay a la entrada (con una increíble acústica) y la majestuosa iglesia del castillo (de la que desgraciadamente se desconoce el paradero de las pinturas románicas) en la que llama la atención la cúpula (por lo poco habitual que es en el románico).

Fue construido en el siglo XI por orden del rey Sancho III, para servir como avanzadilla desde la que organizar los ataques contra Bolea. La construcción inicial fue posteriormente ampliada a la que conocemos hoy en día durante el reinado de Sancho Ramírez, bajo cuyo reinado se procedió a la fundación de un monasterio en dicho castillo.

Durante el siglo XII la zona deja de ser fronteriza y el castillo pierde su función inicial de avanzadilla contra las tierras musulmanas.

En el siglo XV, la población que vivía a los pies del castillo se traslada a la actual villa de Loarre, reutilizando materiales de la fortaleza.

El Castillo de Loarre fue protagonista del rodaje de la película El reino de los cielos (Kingdom of Heaven) de Ridley Scott, protagonizada entre otros por Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson y Jeremy Irons. El pueblo de Loarre participó en el rodaje del film haciendo de extra, lo cual le motivó a asistir al cine en Huesca para poder ver si salían en alguna escena. El castillo puede verse en varias ocasiones durante la película.

Fuente: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Loarre


Öland
vacations to to
Image by YlvaS
My father took this photo when on a vacation trip to Öland 1949
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettlinge
A beutiful picture from Getlinge of today
www.flickr.com/photos/8505789@N03/2252589270

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