Lección Trece- La Arquitectura Espanola

When the Spanish conquistadors began exploring the Americas in the late 1400s and early 1500s, they quickly began erecting houses, churches, and even cities. The new architectural style of these structures, called Spanish colonial, blended indigenous styles with established European styles such as gothic, neoclassical, and baroque

Spain's King Phillip II developed a set of codes for planners to follow when they designed and built colonial cities. Phillip's Law of the Indies required planners to use a grid system which ordered Spain's New World enclaves around the government and the church. Streets converged on a central plaza dominated by government headquarters and a cathedral, which was the centerpiece of colonial Spanish life.

Colonial cities and churches were often built atop the ruins of ancient empires. This symbolically demonstrated how European culture and Catholicism sought to replace indigenous traditions.

Spanish Catholics built many cathedrals across Latin America using baroque architecture. These churches typically had heavily ornamented twin columns and lush domes. Paintings and sculptures often decorated the interiors and were meant to inspire awe in worshippers.

A typical Spanish colonial house had a red-tiled roof and white, pink, or ochre walls made of stucco. Indoors, multicolored tiles covered walls and thick beams supported sloped ceilings. The floors were made of clay and windows were covered with wrought iron instead of glass. Enclosed courtyards were also a common feature of Spanish colonial houses.

In Latin America, Spanish colonial architecture remains a fixture in places such as Puebla, Mexico; Antigua, Guatemala; Sucre, Bolivia; Santa Cruz de Mompox, Colombia, and Santa Ana de Coro, Venezuela. In the Caribbean, the style is prevalent in Havana, Cuba; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In the United States, Spanish colonial architecture is most commonly found in California and Florida. In 1565, Spanish colonialists founded St. Augustine. The city, located on the northeastern coast of Florida, was the first permanent European settlement in the U.S. and remains a showcase of Spanish colonial architecture.

Lección Doce- Los artistas españoles

Domenico Theotocopulos was a Greek painter during the Spanish Renaissance known by the nickname "El Greco" (the Greek). In Italy, El Greco studied under Titian, the great Italian Renaissance painter. He then moved to Spain and embraced the school of Mannerism, a movement that emphasized the artist's interpretation of nature. El Greco's paintings of human and divine dramas often resulted in deformed figures and bold colors. His work even had some elements of abstraction, or art without reference to a specific object. El Greco's masterpiece, The Burial of the Conde de Orgaz, a depiction of a count's funeral said to be attended by angels, is a good summary of his style.

Diego Velazquez painted in a realistic style using natural colors, vivid brushstrokes, and strong contrasts of light and shade. In 1623, Velazquez became a court painter to King Philip IV in Madrid. Las Meninas, one of Velazquez's late masterpieces, reveals the experimentation of his final work. In the wall-size biographical painting, Velazquez is interrupted from painting by a young princess and her maids.

Francisco de Goya painted realistic portraits for the Spanish aristocracy but in an era of revolution and personal hardship. In the 1790s, Goya's work took on a darker tone when an illness left him deaf. When Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808, Goya witnessed many French atrocities. In response, he painted The Third of May 1808 in which innocent Spaniards face a French firing squad. The painting's emotional punch and crude human forms greatly influenced the French impressionists. Many called Goya the "father of the Moderns."


Pablo Picasso is credited with creating Cubism, an influential style that stresses geometric shapes and fragmentation. Hints of Cubism could be seen in earlier Picasso paintings such as Les Demoiselles de Avignon. The painting has a brutish beauty that takes cues from native African art. In 1937, Picasso contributed Guernica to the Spanish pavilion at the World's Fair in Paris. The nightmarish mural, named after a Basque town bombed during the Spanish Civil War, foreshadowed the surrealism of Picasso's later work.

Lección Once- Costa Rica

I know that Costa Rica is in Central America I could point it out on a map, if it had words.

Ccotourism is a type of tourism that focuses on nature, such as plants, animals, or natural formations. About 25 percent of Costa Rica is protected in parks or preserves. This amounts to 1,154,945 hectares, or 4459 square miles of land to be protected by the government. Costa Rica has the highest percentage of protected land in the world.

At Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, an national park, there are over 2,000 plant species and over 30 species of hummingbirds. Costa Rica is also the home of some species that are being threatened with extinction, such as jaguars, pumas, and scarlet macaws.

This image came from http://www.monteverdeinfo.com/.


One place recommended for beach camping is Naranjo Beach in Santa Rosa National Park, which is a popular camping ground and surfing location. Barra Honda Caverns National Park is another recommended place for tourists who want to stay in a small cabin, which is equipped with bunk beds and a bathroom. In addition, visitors can have park rangers cook their food for them.

I have never been camping before. I would never go camping to Costa Rica because there is just too much wildlife and plantlife.



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