Every Day Is Special: Alhambra

Showing posts with label Alhambra. Show all posts

February 23 – National Tile Day

Posted on February 23, 2018

Tile? Is this something we want to celebrate?

Actually, tiles can be an important part of homes and other buildings.

Whether they cover floors or counters, shower stalls or walls, tabletops or roofs, tiles can be cooling or warm, easy to clean, long-lasting, and decorative. They can go indoors or out.

Tiles are pieces of ceramic, stone, metal, or glass that cover furniture or building surfaces.

One of the fun things about tiles is that they can be different shapes that fit together like a puzzle. Fitting-together tiles are often called "tessellations."

Escher drawing with tessellations

When I think of tessellations - shapes that fit together rather like puzzle pieces - I think of the artist M. C. Escher (who did not work with tiles) and of the gorgeous Alhambra in southern Spain, which has many surfaces covered in gorgeous tiling, including many examples of tessellations!

Above and two below, tessellated tiles in Alhambra,
Spain, an example of Islamic tiling...

Hexagonal and square tiles are more common than the diamond- and star- and other-shaped tiles seen above.

There is almost endless variety in colors and patterns of tiled surfaces. A few different colors of tiles can make striped or more complicated patterns.

Tiles can also be used to display a building's address or to prevent hot dishes from scarring wooden tables.

Check out some of the variations of tiling:

The Alhambra isn't the only example of Muslim tiling. Many mosques and other buildings are decorated with amazing tilework:

Also on this date:

Iwo Jima Day

Brunei's Independence Day

Curling is Cool Day

Mashramani in Guyana

Scholar and civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois's birthday

Anniversary of the writing of the song “This Land Is Your Land”

Tajik National Army Day

Defender of the Fatherland Day in Kyrgyzstan

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

February holidays
February birthdays
Historical anniversaries in February

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

February 1 – San Cecilio Day in Grenada, Spain

Posted on February 1, 2017

For centuries and centuries centuries (like, around 700 years), much of the Iberian peninsula (today, Spain and Portugal) were ruled by Moors. The Moors were Muslims from northwestern Africa – and if you check out a map, you will see why Spain was the part of Europe that the Moors first conquered rather than, say, Greece or Italy.

The map above is marked with today's country names.
Note that the northwestern part of Africa, namely Morocco,
is extremely close to the southern tip of Spain.

The Moors crossed the narrow Strait of Gibraltar
to enter Spain and the Iberian Peninsula.

Granada is one of the cities in Spain that has some wonderful architectural reminders of the nation's Moorish past, especially the palace called the Alhambra.

Above, the Alhambra

Of course, patron saints are a feature of the Catholic religion, not of Islam, and as of the late 1400s, Catholics reconquered Spain, including Grenada. The patron saint of Grenada, Saint Caecilius of Elvira (in Spanish, San Cecilio), who lived long before the Moors ever came.

Today, on Saint Caecilius's feast day, there is a procession in his honor as well as performances and other festivities.

I just have to get back to how great the Alhambra is, though...I mean, look at this place:

Note that Muslim buildings are often highly decorated -
HOWEVER, importantly, they are not decorated with pictures
of people and animals -- and certainly not of prophets or gods!
That sort of depiction is against Muslim rules.
Instead, the decorations tend to be geometric patterns and calligraphy.