CVmListMDF0001 { Header { 0 English Spanish M2 DOCUMENT_OPTIONS { °¯«¶°± ª¬ºÍÏÏ „ º±¸ ±¾²ºÅ½žœš“‘ž º±¸ ©ºÅÍÑÏÑÏÓß©¼ÊÑÏÓßÏÓßÏ ¾¯¶ÅÍ ¬¼ ³¾±¸ÅÆ »º¬« ³¾±¸ÅÎÏ »¶¼« ¼±«ÅÎ »¶¼« ³°¼ ¾¼«Å¸º± °¯« ¼±«ÅË °¯« ±¾²ºÅ¾Š‹—ß¸š‘›š °¯« ©¾³Å²žŒœŠ“–‘š °¯« ±¾²ºÅ¾››šŒŒ °¯« ©¾³Å¹’ž“ °¯« ±¾²ºÅ³–‹šž“ß²ž”š °¯« ©¾³Å±‘š °¯« ±¾²ºÅª‘™Š‘›ß¨›ß²ž”š °¯« ©¾³Å±‘š ‚ } } Data { H H H H H H H H H H H $ # $Guadalupe — Place of Pilgrimage # $ # $If you could visit only a single site in Extremadura, the choice would have to be the monastery of Guadalupe. # $ The journey here is worthwhile. # $ Whether you come from Madrid, Trujillo, or Cáceres, the last stage of your trip will take you through wild, breathtakingly beautiful mountain scenery. # $ Finally, you catch your first glimpse of the monastery clinging to the slopes above you and forming with its towers, pinnacles and spires a magical profile. # $ # $Pilgrims have been coming here since the 14th century, but only in relatively recent years have they been joined by a growing number of tourists. # $ Even so, the monastery’s isolation has saved it from the worst excesses of tourism and ensured that a visit here is still an adventure. # $ # $The story of Guadalupe goes back to around 1300, when a shepherd uncovered a miraculous statue of the Virgin, this statue supposedly carved by St. Luke. # $ Its fame might have been only local if it had not come to the attention of King Alfonso XI, who used to hunt here. # $ Alfonso built a church to house the statue and later vowed to found a monastery, should he defeat the Moors at the battle of Salado of 1340. # $ After his victory, he kept his promise. # $ The place emerged in the Golden Age as a symbol of Spain’s territorial expansion; # $ documents authorizing Columbus’s first voyage to America were signed here, a West Indian island and numerous other locations in the New World were named after this monastery, and the first American Indians to be converted to Christianity were also brought here. # $ # $The decline of the monastery coincided with Spain’s loss of overseas territories in the 19th century. # $ Abandoned for 70 years, it was taken over after the civil war of 1936-39 by Franciscan brothers, who slowly restored it. # $ # $In the middle of the tiny, irregularly shaped main square (transformed during festivals into a bullring) there is a 15th century fountain where Columbus’s two Indian servants were baptized on July 29, 1496. # $ The bus station lies just below the village of Guadalupe, leaving you with a steep climb to the monastery itself where you are obliged to follow a guided tour that lasts about an hour. # $ The tour concludes with the chapel where the miraculous Virgin is housed. # $ It is a riot of color and rich materials, and it is given further distinction by its superb canvases by Luca Giordano; # $ however, the focal point is the Virgin of Guadalupe, a dark wood object hiding under a great veil and mantle. # $ # $Adapted from: #Adapted from: *3 $ Michael Jacobs, "Guadalupe" in Christopher Billy (ed.), Fodor’s 95: # Michael Jacobs, "Guadalupe" in Christopher Billy (ed.), Fodor’s 95: *3 $ Spain. # Spain. *3 $ Fodor’s Travel Publications, 1994, pp. # Fodor’s Travel Publications, 1994, pp. *3 $ 485-86 # 485-86 *3 } }