iglesias

Today my class ended early because we have to do our visit at night. At 6 I will be going to the Museo de Bellas Artes---simple name: Museum of Beautiful Art---shouldn't it be beautiful if it is displayed in a museum??  Anyway, instead of the visit, I did one of our required outside activities and visited a few churches that I pass everyday on my walk to class. I find it absolutely incredible that these crazily decorated Baroque churches are right in the middle of winding roads and old neighborhoods. They look more or less simple from the outside but when you go in, they are like the Church of San Salvador that I visited yesterday, with decorations literally everywhere. This style is known as "horror vacui" which means the fear of empty space.

This church is actually three steps away from the study center. 

It is called the Iglesia de San Isodoro and was built in the 14th century. 

It has a mix of Renaissance and Baroque influences. 

While looking from this view of La Capilla de San Jose (built in the 18th century), 

if you turn around you could walk right into a Guess store. 

It is hidden in the middle of one of the busiest shopping streets in El Centro de Sevilla. 

This is a view of La Iglesia de Santa María Magdalena (Mary Magdelene)

It is big a has spectacular colors. 

This church is located a couple blocks away from the river. 

A closer look at the colors used in the design. 

I find it interesting that Baroque architecture used so many images of 

Saints and martyrs, and the crosses are almost unnoticeable

You would think that the cross would be a larger symbol displayed on the church. 

This is explained by the Counterreformation in which the Spanish catholics displayed

 a ton of images of saints and the virgin Mary because the Protestants 

were against doing so. 

I'm looking forward to my first museum visit in Sevilla. It houses works from many artists including Velázquez and el Greco. In my class this morning we talked about almost every piece of literature that I read last semester for my Spanish class---maybe an advantage for my next exam?? I sure hope so!