stories from zaragoza: the nicest square in the world

sometimes a chance encounter can make for a good story. we found this little square on new year's eve, before midnight, while hurrying to the central square gathering, with grapes. in the rain. it was super close to our hotel and to the main shopping street and to everything, so it came as a surprise - as if it had been hidden til right then. i was being a bit pouty because of the rain and camera issues, but finding ourselves in that sudden space felt pretty special. every surrounding building looked interesting in a different way, and there were statues. this is one of a woman actually carrying grapes, which was deemed a good sign.

 

so them on january 1st we returned to explore. this time the day was clear, sunny with just a hint of wind.  i finished reading a book while giulia was taking pictures of the statues and the entrance to the church. (there was a service inside, then it was over, the people walked out. the church is called san felipe.)

i don't know what kind of trees those are, but they look amazing, are very huggable, and the way light streams down through their branches...everything about being there spelled peace and clarity. the city was quiet (first day of the year) and the book i was reading was by tove jansson, i think that deserves a mention. i love tove jansson. and then, there was this small quaint statue of a boy. 

 

oh we took so many pictures of him from all angles. at one point i'd given up and i was reading, leaning on his head.

the asymmetrically windowed building below serves now as the pablo gargallo museum. we visited it, and the guy is great. ( in the gift shop by the exit they were selling batches of 12 postcards each, of his drawings, sculptures and cardboard cuts.  we go and look, and it says, 1 euro each. so i think mmmm, 12 euro for a batch is kind of steep, but i do like his stuff, so maybe i could just get one....then it turns out that the whole 12-postcard deal is 1 euro! yeah. so giulia and i just rolled our eyes a little, like, people, this is disrespect for your great artist!! you're just not interested in making money, are you?)

anyway. a good story about the actual building is that it belonged to a wealthy family who had risen in rank, and so decided to expand the house (asymetrically!!!) as a sign of their good fortune. the house borders the san felipe church, whose patrons they were, and apparently there's a window in the house that opens straight next to the altar, so his excellency the count could get direct access to divinity from the comfort of his own chambers. neat, eh.

on the other side of the square, another old building, but what's new? this one is called torreon fortea, but i'm not very clear on the purpose it used to serve. however:

sometimes a gaping loss can make for a great story. after we enjoyed our time in the little quiet square, we almost left it without finding out what was missing, what it had really been about. we found out when, inside the museum, we got to watching a short video about the history of the square. (we could have passed by and not stopped! i don't know how these things happen!)...anyway...

there used to be a mudejar tower right there in the middle of the square. it was old, famous, beautiful, interesting, leaning...it was there for 400 years and then was torn down on a whim.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaning_Tower_of_Zaragoza

 

so the boy is actually looking up to where the tower used to be. it just shifts all the previous impressions into more sweet-bitterness. the new city burying the old, the museum usurping the former palace-directly-connected-to-god,  how recent these statues are when you put it in perspective, how they found their place under the light, and us just passing through -