2. Andalucía
Fun facts!
• Capital is Sevilla
• Larger than Portugal
• Has the most diverse climate in all of Spain
• Home of “Don Juan”
• Moorish History
• Home of bull fighting – where the bulls are raised
• Birth place of flamenco dancing
• Where the movie “Lawrence of Arabia” was shot
• Home of the rock of Gibraltar
6. Asturias
Fun Facts!
• Capital is Oviedo
• Ancient port city of Gijón
• Never fully conquered by Moors due to mountains
• First Christian King of Spain ruled there: Pelayo
8. Islas Baleares
Fun Facts!
• Palma is the Capital on the island of Mallorca
• Ruled by many ancient cultures: Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors
and visited by Celts and Egyptians
• Home of the Barbary Pirates
• Birthplace of Junípero Serra
10. Islas Canarias
Fun Facts!
• At one time, thought to be Atlantis
• Volcanic Island chain – some islands are literally splitting in half
• Ancient home of troglodytes or Guanches
12. Fun Facts:
• Los Picos de Europa along the coastline are the highest mountains in Spain
• Santander is the major port city used by the conquistadores
• Santillana del Mar is a town built around the monastery of St. Juliana which houses a
perfectly preserved medieval village!
• Cave paintings from 13,800 BC were found in Altamira, Cantabria
14. Castilla y León
Fun Facts:
• Many Famous Cities
including: Valladolid,
Salamanca, Ávila, Sergovia
• Valladolid is the capital
• Ávila is the famous medieval
walled city
• El Cid is buried in Burgos
• Basilica of St. John the
Baptist in the oldest church
in Spain built in 611
• Salamanca University was
founded in 1218
• Zamora is famous for its
Maundy Thursday service
during the Semana Santa
• Leon was a refuge for
Christians during the
Moorish Rule
16. Castilla y La Mancha
• Fun Facts:
• - Five provinces: Albacete, Cuenca,
Ciudad Real, Toledo, and
Guadalajara
• - Secano, or dry farming is practiced
on the Meseta
• Castilla means castle in Spanish and
La Mancha comes from the Arabic
“manxa” meaning parched earth
• Don Quijote is set in La Mancha and
was written by Cervantes. Campo de
Cristano is the home of the many
windmills that DQ fought.
• Toledo is known for swordmaking
and damascene metalworking. It
was also the home of “El Greco”
• Almaden and Guadalajara are known
for their mining and heavy industry.
17. Castilla y La Mancha
• Turismo en Castilla y La
Mancha
• Pictures!
18. Madrid
• Fun Facts:
• Capitol of Spain
• Famous people from
Madrid: Cervantes and
Catherine of Aragon
• Famous Museums: El
Escorial y El Prado
• Famous Memorials: El
Valle de los Caídos
19. Cataluña
• Fun Facts:
• Both Catalán and Spanish
are spoken there
• Borders with France
• Climate is mediterranean
and is home to many
coastal resorts
• Capital is Barcelona –
hosted the olympics in
1992, famous Sagrada
Familia
• Famous people – Gaudí,
Picasso, Dalí and Miró
21. Extremadura
• Fun facts
• Many sierras
• Well known for pork
products, cherries, and
figs
• Famous people: Hernán
Cortés, Pizarro, Balboa
• Many Moorish and
Roman structures –
Zafra, Jaradinilla de la
Vera, and Bajadoz
23. Galicia
• Fun Facts:
• North Borders with
Portugal and home to the
Costa Verde (along the
Atlantic)
• Very rainy
• Santiago de Compostela
is a famous town and
pilgrimage site
• Has its own language –
Gallego which is a
combination of Spanish,
Celtic, and Portuguese
• Has Spain’s best seafood
25. La Rioja
• Fun Facts
• Spain’s smallest province
• Great Red Wine or “tinto”
country!
• Many Roman ruins and
architectural features like
the spire of Santa Maria
de Palacio
• St. James (San Diego)
fought against the moors
in the area of Logroño in
844
• Ebro River flows into the
Mediterranean
27. Murcia
• Fun Facts
• Costa Cálida is the big
resort area
• Two largest cities –
Murcia and Cartagena
(very important port)
• Fransisco Zalzillo –
famous sculptor
• Founded by Moors
29. Navarra
• Fun Facts
• Lots of French influence
– in 778 Charlemagne
kicked out the Moors
• Pamplona is the capital
– famous for the festival
of San Fermín
• Pyrenees mountains are
along the border to the
north
31. País Vasco
• Fun Facts:
• Vitoria is known for the
catedral of Santa María
• Bilbao is Spain´s largest
port and sixth largest city
• Guernica – town that was
bombed during the Civil
War
• Basque is the unique
language spoken here
33. La Comunidad Valenciana
• Fun Facts:
• Valencia is the capital
– Lots of medieval and
Moorish legends related to
Valencia
• Holy Grail
• St. Joseph´s feast day
• Speak a version of Catalán
(Alicante)
• Last city to surrender to
Fascists during the Civil
War
• Known for it´s orange
groves and huertas
35. Spain’s National Pastime
• Bullfighting!!!
– What do you know
about the history bull
fighting?
– How often do you think
bullfighting still happens
in Spain?
– How popular is
bullfighting in the rest of
the world?
Editor's Notes
Valle de los Caídos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, view from the esplanade
The Valle de los Caídos (in English: Valley of the Fallen) is a Catholic basilica and a monumental memorial in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, erected at Cuelgamuros Valley in the Sierra de Guadarrama, near Madrid, conceived by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to honor and bury those who fell during the Spanish Civil War. It was also claimed by Franco that the monument was meant to be a "national act of atonement".
The monument, a landmark of 20th-century Spanish architecture, was designed by Pedro Muguruza and Diego Méndez on a scale to equal, according to Franco, "the grandeur of the monuments of old, which defy time and forgetfulness". Together with the Universidad Laboral de Gijón, it is the most prominent example of the original Spanish Neo-Herrerian style, which was intended as a revival of Juan de Herrera's late renaissance architecture, exemplified in El Escorial. This uniquely Spanish architecture was widely used in public buildings of post-war Spain and is rooted in International classicism exemplified by Albert Speer or Mussolini's Esposizione Universale Roma.
The monument precinct encloses over 3,360 acres (13.6 km2) of Mediterranean woodlands and granite boulders on the Sierra de Guadarrama hills, over 3,000 feet (910 m) over sea level where stand the Basilica, the Benedictine Abbey, the Hospedería, the Valley and the ‘Juanelos,’ four cylindrical monoliths dating from the 16th century. The most prominent feature of the monument is the towering 150-meter-high (500 ft) cross erected over a granite outcrop 150 meters over the basilica esplanade and visible from over 20 miles (32 km) away.
Work started in 1940 and took over eighteen years to complete, the monument being officially inaugurated on April 1, 1958. According to the official ledger, the cost of the construction totalled 1.159 billion pesetas, funded through National Lottery draws and donations.
As a surviving artifact of Franco's rule, the monument and its Catholic basilica remain controversial, particularly due to the fact that 10% of the construction workforce were convicts, some of them Popular Front prisoners.
The complex is owned and operated by the Patrimonio Nacional, the Spanish governmental heritage agency, and ranked as the third most visited monument of the Patrimonio Nacional in 2009. The Spanish socialist government closed the complex to visitors at the end of 2009, basing the decision on safety reasons connected to restoration on the facade. Controversy arose upon this decision, as the closure was attributed by part of the public opinion to the "Memoria Historica" law enacted during president Zapatero's mandate, as supported by some media [1]. Other media support that the abbey monks are misinterpreting the closure due to restoration works with a political decision.[2] The works include the Pietà sculpture prominently featured at the entrance of the crypt, using hammers and heavy machinery.[3][4] In November, 2010, alleging safety reasons, the Spanish government closed down the Basilica for Mass.[5] Mass was celebrated in the open during several weeks; with an attendance of 3.000 faithful, in a rainy day on November 14th. Checkpoints were set up, according to government sources, to prevent political manifestations such as Falange flags, in accordance to the Law of "Memoria Histórica". However, Catholic sources claimed that the government was simply trying to interfere with the celebration of the Mass.