Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: stork

Zamora straddles the Douro River. The Romans named the settlement "Occelum Durii" ("Eye of the Duero"). For the Visigoths, the place was "Semure". In the 710s the town was conquered and a Berber garrison was left in there, but some decades later it was seized by Alfonso I of Asturias. A diocese was established in the town in the early 10th century. Ibn al-Qitt unsuccessfully tried to invade the city in 901, Almanzor eventually seized the city in 966. The place returned to Christian control during the reign of Alfonso V of León. Since the early 11th century the place saw planned repopulating efforts. City walls were also erected in the 11th century. The most notable historical episode in Zamora was the assassination outside the city walls of the King Sancho II of Castile in 1072. Ferdinand I of León had divided his kingdoms between his three sons. To his daughter Urraca, he had bequeathed Zamora. All three sons warred among themselves, till the ultimate winner, Sancho, was left victorious. Zamora, under his sister who was allied with Leonese nobles, resisted. Sancho II of Castile, assisted by El Cid, laid siege to Zamora. King Sancho II was murdered by Bellido Dolfos, a duplicitous noble of Zamora, Bellido Dolfos. After the death of Sancho, Castile reverted to his deposed brother Alfonso VI of León. Zamora is known for its medieval heritage. There are more than a dozen Romanesque churches and chapels. December is freezing cold in Zamory

Oviedo was founded on a hill that the Romans called Ovetao. The monks Máximo and Fromestano founded a monastery in 761 on the Roman road here and built a hermitage in honour of the martyr San Vicente. Later, two dozen monks from the Muslim south joined the founders and, according to a document elected Fromestano as their first abbot. They received the protection of Fruela I, who chose the site as a residence for his wife Munia, who gave birth here to their son and later King Alfonso II. It was also Alfonso II who moved the capital here in 812 and made Oviedo the seat of the bishopric. However, in 912, under García I, Oviedo lost its function as capital to León as part of the reconquest. Alfonso II fortified Oviedo and equipped it with palaces and churches. During his reign, a tomb attributed to St James the Elder was discovered in Santiago de Compostela in 812. The king travelled from Oviedo to Santiago and is said to have been the first pilgrim to Santiago. He is also said to have opened the first Way of St James, the Camino Primitivo. This Way of St James ensured the economic revitalisation of the city throughout the Middle Ages. The current cathedral had at least three predecessor buildings: The high medieval churches of King Fruela I from the 8th century and King Alfonso II from the 9th century, as well as their late medieval, Romanesque successors. Gothic architecture did not reach Asturias until the end of the 13th century. At that time, the Gothic remodelling of the cathedral began, starting with the chapter house and the cloister. It was not until a hundred years later that the Gothic remodelling of the cathedral began. Construction of the Gothic church began in 1382 and was to last until the 16th century. The nave was completed in 1498 and work on the façade and towers (of which only one was ultimately built) began in 1500. Construction of the tower began in 1508 and was completed in 1552, but it burnt down in 1575. The reconstruction, completed in 1587, was influenced by Burgos, as can be seen in the openwork helmet. On 11 October 1934, during the Asturian miners' strike, a group of revolutionaries detonated a bomb in the crypt of the "Cámara Santa", severely damaging the building. The reconstruction after this catastrophe took place between 1939 and 1942 with the greatest possible attention and restoration to the original. On a choir stall is an illustration of one of the best known of Aesop's fables. The Fox and the Stork. The fox invites the stork to eat with him and provides soup in a shallow bowl, which the fox can lap up easily; however, the stork cannot drink it with its beak. The stork then invites the fox to a meal, which is served in a narrow-necked vessel. It is easy for the stork to access but impossible for the fox.

Otranto occupies the site of an ancient Greek city. It gained importance in Roman times, as it was the nearest port to the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. After the end of the Roman Empire, it was in the hands of the Byzantine emperors until it surrendered to the Norman troops of Robert Guiscard in 1068. The Normans fortified the city and built the cathedral, that got consecrated in 1088. When Henry VI., son of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, married Constanze of Sicily in 1186 Otranto came under the rule of the Hohenstaufen and later in the hands of Ferdinand I of Aragón, King of Naples. Between 1480 and 1481 the "Ottoman invasion" took place here. Troops of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city and its citadel. Legends tell that more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city was captured. The "Martyrs of Otranto" are still celebrated in Italy, their skulls are on display in the cathedral. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces and the intervention of Papal forces. - Otranto had been one of the last Byzantine strongholds in Apulia, but finally Robert Guiscard could take it. It had probably been such a stronghold, as Otranto had hosted an autocephalous bishopric, only dependent of the patriarchal see of Byzantium since 968. So (Roman) Catholicism had to perform something "convincing" for the so long (Byzantine) Orthodox christians. One was to erect a huge church. The Otranto Cathedral was erected, over ruins of a Paleo-christian church from 1080 on and was consecrated in 1088. It is 54 metres long by 25 metres wide and is built on 42 monolithic granite and marble columns. I had come to Otranto, to see the mosaic. I had planned to stay one night in Otranto, I spent three nights - and still had not seen all the details. I was so overwhelmed, that I took hundreds of photos, but the mosaic is "endless". I will upload only a couple. It was created by a monk named Pantaleon and his workshop between 1163 and 1165. Pantaleon lived at the monastery San Nicola di Casole, located a few kilometres south of Otranto. The mosaic covers the nave, both aisles, the apse and the presbytery. This sums up to a total of 1596 m². About 10 000000 (10 million!) "tesserae" were used. There are scholars, who have counted up to 700 different "stories", that are told here. Though, these "stories" are often disputed, as today's interpretations are mostly very "vague". German historian Carl Arnold Willemsen published the most important book about the mosaic in Italian " L'enigma di Otranto", that since the 1970s is translated in many languages. I followed his theories. As the church is a parish church, there are benches placed on the mosaic floor. Only for the Sunday service, the ropes are open so that the parishioners can reach the benches. I stayed up to Sunday to mix with the locals. A stork and an eagle owl.

The former church of a priory, built 1150/1170, got remodelled quite often over the centuries. This was done not only by architects, but as well by clerics. The church was dedicated to St. Genesius first, then to St. Limin, followed by Saint-Martin. In the 19th century the dedication changed to Saint-Bonnet and some decades ago to Saint-Bénilde, a saint born in Thuret in 1805 under the name Pierre Romançon. There are interesting carvings here. Ever since the art history discovered them as specific works of art, they have been a subject in the literature. B. Craplet ("Auvergne roman", 1992) describes the carvings just as "unskilled". He in general disagrees with Z. Swiechowski ("Sculpture Romane D'auvergne", 1973), who sees this as the work of "naive folk art". A. Gybal ("L´Auvergne, berceau de l´artroman", 1958) describes a specific "Thuret-style" being a totally simplified work of art. Only to be found here. For him, the implification is the result of the artists inspiration. He makes totally clear, that this is not "folk art" ("l`art populaire"), but the result of artistic work of very skilled monks ("moines tres cultives"). A long legged wader-bird (stork? crane?) with large bills has caught a very long snake. A small lion (?) on the side. All set in a floral composition.

San Martin was a parish church, erected in the 12th century near a large fortress used by the Knights Templar. During the 19th century, the church was used as a prison. It served as a museum later - and now is "under reconstruction". The storks have a great view on the city.

A large Romanesque church, belonging to the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Étienne de Mortagne (15kms south), got erected in Coze within the 12t/13th century. The abbey went under, the church got altered and finally in disrepair. In 1756 the vaults of the nave collapsed and it took great efforts to rebuilt the church within the 19th century. Some parts of the nave are dating back to the Romanesque structure. On the outside are two extraordenary capitals, illustrating "The Fox and the Stork", one of Aesop´s Fables, that were very popular in medieval times. Here is part 2 The stork then invites the fox to have a meal. This is served in a narrow-necked vessel. It is easy for the stork to access the food but impossible for the fox. Unfortunetaly the stork lost its beak.

A large Romanesque church, belonging to the Augustinian Abbey of Saint-Étienne de Mortagne (15kms south), got erected in Coze within the 12t/13th century. The abbey went under, the church got altered and finally in disrepair. In 1756 the vaults of the nave collapsed and it took great efforts to rebuilt the church within the 19th century. Some parts of the nave are dating back to the Romanesque structure. On the outside are two extraordenary capitals, illustrating "The Fox and the Stork", one of Aesop´s Fables, that were very popular in medieval times. Here is part 1: A fox invites a stork to have dinner with him and provides soup in a shallow bowl. The fox can lap up the soup easily, while the stork cannot drink it with its beak.