The royal palace
Nowhere is it more obvious than at the Palace, that Spain had its Golden Age during the years of colonisation, when wealth and riches streamed into the country. The royal palace although officially the residence of the present monarch, is only used by him and his family for official functions. It takes opulence, craftmanship, ornateness and decor to a whole new level. The chandeliers, tapestries, time pieces, tiles and marble flooring are incredible - such mastery ! The collection of paintings, sculptures and embroidered wallcoverings can only be marvelled at - as well as the collections of furniture,with wood inlays so minute it must have taken forever to create these pieces of art, and porcelain and silverware. Really magnificent ...as is the actual palace building. It is easy to forget the the hardships created for the ordinary working people in Spain and the colonies to generate the wealth to be used for these elaborate buildings, when one admires the craftmanship and artistry. Always a bit of a two-edged sword...especially if one also looks at the amount of work that was created for all the skilled tradesmen and artists. Skills and artforms that are lost to us today for the lack of opportunity to apply them.
Besides the palace, there is the royal pharmacy and the armoury, which are both very interesting. The pharmacy has rooms filled with porcelain and glass jars, labelled with names of all the ingredients used to make up the different medicines of eras gone by. Interesting to see that many of them are still in use today. The pharmacists kitchen with all the urns, distillers and implements was quite something to see. Somehow happy not to have been at the receiving end of the brews however.
The most interesting part of the tour was most definately the armoury. On display were swords from the middle ages to the nineteenth century, as well as the early rifles - some of them more than 3 metres long...with beautifully engraved barrels and butts. Totally incredible were the many complete sets of armour, from small children's armour to battle-, jousting- and ceremonial sets of armour for the different eras and ranks. The armours of previous kings were also on display alongside the full armour for the horses. Incredible to see the detail, craftsmanship and also to realise how difficult it must have been to manouvre in the armour, which weighed approx. 45kgs. Also the weight of the swords and lances ...not an easy task to go into battle with all this !
Even more impressive ...the kings were always at the head of the army when going into battle ....wonder how many wars we would have today if the presidents would have to ride into battle in suits of armour !!! Somehow I think not many !
The cathedral at the palace was another surprise. The traditional gothic exterior does not indicate the interesting South American inspired ceiling - geometric shapes in different vibrant colours. Quite something !
Unfortunately photographs are not allowed inside the palace ...so can't share the splendour.