SPAIN

LAND AND LANDSCAPE

This part of our project is a collection of places – landscapes: beauty and history!

Europe provides the planet’s majority of interesting historical past as well as gorgeous

landscapes and beautiful artwork selections, cultural values and archeological beauty.

This part of the world is exquisite which is beyond a match.

Our Turkish partners emphasized that Turkey is a unique country because of its

geographical location. Turkey is situated at the corner of Europe. The country straddles

the straits that divide Europe and Asia - the Dardanelles and the Bosporus - as well as the

Sea of Marmara. The enormous Asian part, known as Anatolian, shares borders on the

east and south with Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria. As a result, traces

of centuries of history remain to be found. The region has been under the control of

many, including Mongols, Romans, Iranians, Arabs, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks,

Russians and Turks. The country is built on old and rich history, at the same time is a

member of modern world. Turkey represents a cultural mixture, a synthesis of east and

west, while it geographically bridges Europe and Asia. It combines natural beauties with

its 10,000 year-old heritage.

We found out that Cappadocia is a picture drawn on the earth by nature, it is a

poem. It is situated in a region of exceptional natural wonders, in particular

characterized by fairy chimneys and a unique historical and cultural heritage.

Cappadocia contains several underground cities largely used by early Christians

as hiding places before Christianity became an accepted religion.

We were fascinated by Pergamon that was an ancient Greek city in modern-day

Turkey. The Theater of Pergamon, one of the steepest theaters in the world, has

the capacity to include 10,000 people and had been constructed in the 3rd century

B.C.

Mardin, one of the oldest settled areas in upper Mesopotamia, captured our

attention as it looks as an open air museum due to its historical architecture, most

of which uses the beige colored limestone rock which has been mined for

centuries in quarries around the area.

The Roman ruins in Ephesus, in fact the largest collection in the eastern

Mediterranean, gave us some idea of the city’s original splendor. Ephesus is

believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. The story of the Seven Sleepers,

who are considered saints by Catholics and Orthodox Christians and whose story

is also mentioned in the Qur’an, tells that they were persecuted because of their

belief in God and that they slept in a cave near Ephesus for centuries.

Kekova, a small uninhabited Turkish island of only 4.5 km² displays the sunken

ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe, an ancient town which was destroyed by an

earthquake during the 2nd century. The Kekova region was declared a specially

protected area by Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forest in 1990 All kinds

of diving and swimming were prohibited and subject to special permits from

governmental offices.

Side, constructed on a peninsula, a Hellenistic and Roman town contains an

important buildings – a 15,000 spectator theater. The difference between this

Roman theater and other antique theaters in the region is that it is not built against

a hillside. The 2 storey theater, built on a series of arches, is 20 m. high. Side has

colonnaded streets, a triumphal arch, a harbor, baths, fountains, cisterns,

aquaducts, temples and an agora.

From the Spanish presentation we learnt that Spanish territory also includes the Balearic

Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African

coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border

Morocco plus Alborán Island, the Chafarinas Islands, Alhucemas Island and Perejil. A

global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe and the

leading world power for a century and a half and the largest overseas empire for three

centuries. It took the Romans nearly two centuries to complete the conquest of the Iberian

peninsula, though they had control of it for over six centuries. Roman rule was bound

together by law, language, and the Roman road. In the 8th century, nearly all of the

Iberian Peninsula was conquered by largely Moorish Muslim armies from North Africa.

Spain is full of charm and history.

Teide National Park (Parque Nacional del Teide) is a national park located in

Tenerife (Canary Islands). It is centered around 3,718m Mount Teide, the highest

mountain of Spain and the islands of the Atlantic (it is the third largest volcano in

the world from its base). It was declared a National Park on 22 January 1954. The

park has an area of 18,990 hectares and was named a World Heritage Site by

UNESCO on June 29, 2007. The similarity between environmental conditions and

geological Teide National Park and the planet Mars have turned this spot volcanic

reference point for studies related to the red planet.

La Ciudad Encantada The Ciudad Encantada ('Enchanted City') is a geological

site near the city of Cuenca, in Castile La Mancha, Spain in which the erosive

forces of weather and the waters of the nearby Júcar River have formed rocks into

distinctive and memorable shapes. On almost 200 hectares, the erosion gave free

rein to all its extravagance, with a strange result – a forest of rocks with fantastic

forms: monsters, animals, giants.

Altamira cave is famous for its Upper Paleolithic cave paintings featuring

drawings and polychrome rock paintings of wild mammals and human hands. Its

special relevance comes from the fact that it was the first cave in which

prehistoric cave paintings were discovered. When the discovery was first made

public in 1880. The cave with its paintings has been declared a World Heritage

Site by UNESCO. Several painters were influenced by the Altamira cave

paintings. Picasso is often quoted as having declared "after Altamira, all is

decadence".

St. James way is the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the

apostle Saint James are buried. Legend holds that St. James's remains were

carried by boat from Jerusalem to northern Spain where he was buried on the site

of what is now the city of Santiago de Compostela. The Way of St. James has

existed for over a thousand years. It was one of the most important Christian

pilgrimages during medieval times, together with Rome and Jerusalem. The route

was declared the first European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe in

October 1987; it was also named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The

compostela is a certificate of accomplishment given to pilgrims on completing the

Way. To earn the compostela one needs to walk a minimum of 100 km or cycle at

least 200 km.

The Segovia Cathedral is in late Gothic style and it was built between 1525 and

1577. Gothic vaults rise to 33 meters high and measures 50 meters wide and 105

long. The bell tower reaches almost 90 meters.

The Italian team marveled us with their presentation, too. The name Italia originally

applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy. The Greeks gradually came to apply

the name ‘Italia’ to a larger region, but it was during the reign of Emperor Augustus (end

of the first century BC) that the term was expanded to cover the entire peninsula until the

Alps. Ancient Rome was at first a small agricultural community founded in the 8th

century BC, that grew over the course of the centuries into a colossal empire

encompassing the whole Mediterranean Sea, in which Ancient Greek and Roman cultures

merged into one civilization. National parks cover about five percent of the country. Italy,

as a country, seems to us a real museum.

Alberobello is known as the Capital of the Trulli. The trullo is a fascinating

architectural feature of this area of Puglia, a building with conical roof made

without mortar. Alberobello has special status internationally - designated a

UNESCO world heritage site - because its collection of some 1,500 trulli in an

urban environment is unique.

Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near Naples. Pompeii was partially

destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the

eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Pompeii was lost for nearly 1700 years

before its rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has provided an

extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city during the Pax Romana.

Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist

attractions of Italy.

Venice is one of the most interesting and lovely places in the world. This

sanctuary on a lagoon is virtually the same as it was six hundred years ago, which

adds to the fascinating character. It is an engineering marvel, with marble

churches built atop ancient posts driven deep into the barene (mud banks) Acqua

alta (high water) has become a fact of life in Venice. The lagoon water level

occasionally rises above the level of the squares and streets, flooding them.

Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying

and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was

considered a divinity of the Genius type at the time of the eruption of 79 AD: it

appears under the inscribed name Vesuvius as a serpent in the decorative frescos

of many household shrines, surviving from Pompeii. The last major eruption was

in March 1944. The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a national park

on 5 June 1995. The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors and there is a small

network of paths around the mountain that are maintained by the park authorities

on weekends.

Amalfi coast is a mixture of history and nature, with a lot to discover: the

Cathedral of Amalfi, the villas in Ravello and the many churches. The Amalfi

coast features two wonderful places, the natural reserve of the ‘Ferriera’, and the

marine reserve of ‘Punta Campanella’. There are many traditional events on the

Amalfi coast: Saints days, and festivals and celebrations for everyone.

Europe is abundantly rich in natural attractions that contain old and valuable

constructions. The European continent is the second smallest continent in the world as

well as the sixth largest continent. It is very populated and it has an amazing array of

huge open spaces, some of which are remarkably unspoilt. Europe is considered as the

wealthiest continent of the world and it is the place where the western culture born. It is

also a place where the tourist from all over the world would like to visit at least one time

in their lifetime.

“When I first heard about this Comenius programme, my school got involved into, I was

very excited to be part of it because I was given the opportunity to meet other cultures.

During the stay in Spain we worked a lot on the project together with the other students

but we also had fun. After these activities we all came closer to each other.

But all good things end some time. Our return home was somehow our return back to real

life because the time we spent there was amazing, fantastic I might say. These

experiences made all of us better human beings. And now that all of this is over we all

have made friends outside our country’s borders and one day maybe we will find them in

front of us saying to us “Hi !” I am looking forward to doing a new project, maybe next

year, why not?”

Mihai

“The partner schools in this project are located in the following countries: Italy, Spain

and Turkey. At first, I must say, I was highly skeptical about it. Now, I’m very happy I

decided to participate in this project and I certainly would suggest to future student

generations to chase such an experience, if it’s possible.

Through this program I was given the opportunity to visit beautiful places, to meet nice

people, to make new friends, to discover new cultures, in a word to see new places and

new faces. I was in Melilla where we spent for a couple of days. I learned about their

habits and lifestyles. I learned to think and judge people and situations with multicultural

criteria. I learned to respect the particularities of the people we met there. I realized that

we are all humans first and only then Italian, Romanian, Turkish and Spanish. On my

return from this visit I knew that I had become more sensitive than I used to be.

Comenius mobilities are the most educational activities the European educational systems

can offer. It would be nice if I could work on a new project in the future.”

Dania

“My stay at the host family was something very interesting - they became my second

family. I have learnt to make Spanish traditional dishes, some I‘ll make for my family

when I get back. I liked the school, its friendly atmosphere, and the teachers who are

friendly to all students. I understood how important is to learn English. The project

helped me to improve speaking skills and to become more self-confident.”

Flaviu

“The exchange trip to Melilla – Spain which I was on has been very interesting for me. I

really think that it is an experience that everyone should have, because it is a fantastic

way to meet another culture and other people. I was pleasantly shocked when I learnt that

on that reduced territory three groups of people - Christians, Muslims and Jewish - can

friendly live together and contribute to the flourishing of this small piece of Spanidh land

on the African continent. I do not think that I will ever forget this journey and it will be a

very good memory. I also think the project about the beauties of our countries – Land and

Landscapes – was very good, and it was interesting to discuss topics related to this

subject and to admire the wonderful landscapes presented by our partners in the

Comenius exhibition. In conclusion, I liked Spanish food and the Spanish lifestyle.”

Alexandra