Saturday, April 28, 2018, Cartagena (Murcia), Spain
The charms of Murcia lie in its
embrace of its rural pleasures. Surrounded
by farmland and huertas, fertile market gardens, Murcianos
are never at a loss for produce freshly plucked from “Europe’s orchard,” as
this fertile corner of Spain is often called.
They, in turn, live by the patient cycle of the harvest, going about
their days at a leisurely pace. The
Moors founded the city in 825 and introduced a vast irrigation network for
crops and for city use. They were
expelled by Ferdinand III of Castile in 1243.
The victory gave Castile access to the Mediterranean. Murcia province remained a vassal kingdom
until 1812 and became an autonomous region of Spain in 1982.
Murcia & Cathedral Of Santa Maria
We visited two of Murcia’s
stunning places of worship and witnessed the city’s historic and chic casino. From Cartagena, we joined our local guide for
a drive into the foothills of Sierra de Carrascoy. Here at the sanctuary of the Virgin of
Fuensanta, Murcia’s patron saint, we enjoyed fantastic views over the city, founded
by the Moors in the 9th century. We had
time to view the 17th-century baroque exterior of the chapel. We descended into the city to visit the
Cathedral of Murcia, built over an old Arab mosque between 1394 and 1465. We explored the remarkable Gothic interior
behind its baroque front. At the Casino
of Murcia, opened as a private gentlemen’s club in 1847, we admired the
modernist facade before stepping in to see its real gem: an elegant ballroom
adorned with five crystal chandeliers. We had free time to explore the city on our
own.
Fresco in the dome of the sanctuary.
Segura River.
Historic City Hall.
Although to driest region in Europe, its agriculture is extremely successful. It's only 24 hours to Paris, London, and Berlin from fruit and vegetable pickings.
The world's largest sailing vessel, A (sailing yacht), purportedly cost over a half billion US dollars.
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