Cathedrals, Music and Monasteries



Cloisters at Monastery of San Juan

The past couple of months have been filled with visits to ancient Spanish cathedrals in Toledo and Segovia, and a monastery in Rascafria that was begun in 1390. All are steeped in history. In addition to my in-depth tours, I’ve been reading several historical novels based in England and Spain around the 1500’s. The time leading up to Christmas couldn’t be a better time for visits to all of these places because it really made me stop and think about how important religion was 500 or 600 years ago, and I couldn’t help but compare it to how materialistic people are now and how little thought is given to the real meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas. (although I missed Thanksgiving this year)

Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes

My Spanish history lesson began a few weeks before even arriving in Madrid because I was immersed in the story of Queen Isabel (the Catholic). I knew that I wanted to visit Toledo because it played an important role in the history of Spain since it was the early capital from the 6^th century to the mid 16^th century. Toledo is a spectacular city filled with narrow cobbled streets and centurys-old buildings and has over 2,000 years of history. Two of the highlights of my visit included a tour of the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes and the Alcázar .  The Monastery was started in 1477 at the request of Queen Isabel. The architecture is flamboyant Gothic but incredibly magnificent.

 

Alcázar

The Alcázar is an impressive building at the highest point of the city. (Toledo is built on a hill but you always seem to be walking uphill and rarely down.) It was originally built by the Romans as a palace but was reconstructed by the Christians. It’s been destroyed and rebuilt multiple times but the last time, following the Civil War; it was reconstructed as the original building looked.

Aqueduct in Segovia built by the Romans

After a very quick visit to Segovia my first week, I returned to explore for a whole day. It’s a walled city dating back to 75 CBE and is stunningly beautiful but the most impressive features are the aqueduct and the cathedral. The Roman aqueduct dating from the late 1st or early 2nd century is made of around 25,000 granite blocks that were positioned and held together without any mortar. All together there are 170 arches that are about 95 feet high. It’s just impossible to comprehend how the Romans (well - their slaves) could have built such a magnificent structure that remains perfect today. The massive cathedral in Segovia was started in 1525 but took over two hundred years to complete so there are multiple architectural styles. One of the things that stood out the most for me was the choir, which was positioned in the middle of the cathedral – not in the back as in later centuries. Within the choir were the wooden carved high-backed chairs on either side and the organ with the pipes positioned above. In the middle were four well preserved music books. These were huge hard bound, thick books with hand written notes and words in Latin. Where else could you see the real music that was performed 500 years ago?

Yes - we had snow one morning!

My next visit to a monastery was the Monastery of Santa Maria de El Paular, a 15^th- century monastery set in the foothills of the Guadarrama Mountains. 

While staying in the attached hotel for a VaughanTown program, we had a personal tour of the monastery by a resident monk. This monastery was the first in Castile (an area north of Madrid) and construction began in 1390. During the first four and a half centuries it reached cultural splendor and became one of the most powerful in Europe. I don’t have words to describe the splendor and exquisite architecture in the various rooms within the monastery. They range from the most austere cells and dining room for the monks to breath-taking extravagantly painted and decorated prayer rooms for the priests. This was my final visit to the many cathedrals and monasteries of Spain.

St. Paul's in London

Almost upon arriving in London, I was sitting in a packed St. Paul’s Cathedral for an Advent service. Most of the service was provided by separate choirs of young boys and men, both of which have traditions dating back to 1127. My favorite was the boys’ choir – angelic faces framed by the ruffled white collars and voices that truly do sound like angels. During the service I was able to admire the cathedral, an incredible masterpiece that was originally built in 1675. Although destroyed in the great fire of London, services have been held there since 1697. Attending a service there with the choirs of all male voices is like living a bit of history.

Fast forward to my return to the US and thanks to my husband for booking tickets to a Candle Light Christmas Carol concert.  So now I find myself sitting in St. Anne’s Church in the middle of Annapolis which was started in 1696. The concert included star performances by a well-known violinist and a vocalist member of the Celtic Women group. Also providing piano accompaniment was a gentleman who was the pianist at the White House. The concert featured several renaissance pieces and was a very surprisingly pleasurable concert that put us in the Christmas mood.

This past week we attended a much smaller and intimate concert of lute and guitar music. This was in a Cape May B&B that was built in 1863. Not as old as the other venues but still with a lot of history.

So, thanks to my visits to the cathedrals and monasteries and attending concerts, I’ve passed through histories of the early building of the churches and the changes in the music from early litanies to the modern music that is played today. Unfortunately, in the US, modern Christmas music starts in the stores, on the radio and in TV adverts far too early, and by the time Christmas arrives they are grating on your nerves. When that happens, try remembering that the early music was actually carols that were a part of a tribute to Christmas and were sung only during church services or for special occasions. Regardless of your favorite Christmas music, whether traditional or modern, it goes hand-in-hand with the traditions of the season and it’s usually one that we’ve enjoyed since childhood. So, enjoy your Christmas music of choice and have a wonderful holiday!