Why I finally find myself in Zaragoza has many shades, many facets, as a complicated gemstone, most of which relate to my personal life, my feelings. A promise never said, a tribute to a dear one.
Anyway, I've never been there before.
The city welcomes me with a rainy day, and everything is wrapped in mist that creates an aura of surreal light.
...everything is wrapped in mist that creates an aura of surreal light. ...
From "Puente de de piedra" (stone bridge), I admire the imposing Basilica of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, reflected in the Ebro river. In this dream-like atmosphere, I go to visit the Palacio Aljafería. In this place I can combine my passion for travel with my other passion for the classic opera.
It is precisely here, in the Aljafería palace, that Giuseppe Verdi set one of his most famous operas, "Il Trovatore". The Master was so impressed by the power and originality of the subject and characters, of the drama "El Trovador" written by Spanish writer Antonio Garcia-Gutierrez, and performed in Madrid in 1836, that composed a musical work. The plot is extremely complex, intricate: hate, love, revenge, friendship, blood, life and death are mixed as in a whirlwind.
...precisely here, in the Aljafería palace, that Giuseppe Verdi set one of his most famous operas,
"Il Trovatore"...
Aljaferia, more than a palace is a real castle, a big massive fortress surrounded by a lawn and a moat, in true medieval style. Built in the second half of the ninth century and residence of the Banu Hud dynasty, unique testimony of Arabian architecture during the period of the Taifa Kingdoms, it was expanded and renovated by the Catholic Monarchs (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon), currently houses the Cortes de Aragon, the parliament of the autonomous region of Aragon and was declared a World Heritage site since 1986.
... built in the second half of the ninth century and residence of the Banu Hud dynasty, unique testimony of Arabian architecture during the period of the Taifa Kingdoms...
From the outside, so essential and austere, it is impossible to imagine what is hiding inside. From the first courtyard, wedged between high stone walls, a few steps lead us in a beautiful and amazing patio, a garden of orange trees surrounded by a beautiful porch in Mudejar style, with thin and slender columns and arches pierced like lace , where the light, entering, playing hide and seek with shapes and volumes, creating a harmony of elegant spaces, refined and welcoming. On the opposite side, two halls, always bounded by the same columns, and on the right a minaret with the niche for prayer oriented toward Mecca.
...beautiful and amazing patio, a garden of orange trees surrounded by a beautiful porch in Mudejar style...
At the bottom of one of the many salons, behind a small wooden door, we find the place I was looking for, that add a romantic note to this building: "The tower of the Troubadour", where the Verdi's opera ends tragically, and where Manrico , il Trovatore of course, is imprisoned by Count di Luna, his arch enemy and rival in love.
..."The tower of the Troubadour", where the Verdi's opera ends tragically...
The tower is only a small room with thick walls, painted ceiling and one window that overlooks the lawn and moat, where once there was the campaign. It seems the synthesis of this place: royal residence, impregnable fortress, gloomy prison. While we go out, I seem to hear the dramatic and sombre notes of "stride la vampa", those powerful and impetuous of "quella pira", and those sweet and passionate of " Ah! Si ben mio coll'essere ".
Later, while we were walking through the streets of Zaragoza, we run into a building with a plaque: Palacio de los Condes de Luna. And the imagination flies!
...and the imagination flies!...
Rosanna Bucceri is a plastic reconstructive surgeon that live and work in Tuscany, (Italy) and she has dedicated any moment of her spare time to travel all around the world. She has several experiences to tell and write about people and countries, but her first and true love is Spain and its dwellers, place that she deeply know as the back of her hand.
#travel #Spain #travellers #españa #spagna #aljaferia #Zaragoza #Saragossa #GiuseppeVerdi #Trovatore #Architettura #Architecture #History
