CLIL lesson on Spanish History,

Culture and Traditions

Central Market

Valencia´s Central Market has almost 1000 shops and around 1500 people work here

every day (that is shop owners, cleaning, delivery services, etc.). According to

Wikipedia it is the biggest centre in Europe dedicated to selling fresh products, and one

of the most beautiful Markets in the continent and it is the first one that delivers food to

costumers´ homes.

The architectural style of this building is called Art Nouveau. It was built at the

beginning of the 20th century. Does anyone know of other Art Nouveau buildings?

(Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sacred Family in Barcelona). We recognise it is an Art Nouveau

building because of the materials: metal, glass, decorated tiles and brick. And if we look

closely at the motifs that decorate the tiles, the mosaics or the columns, we will see that

there are a lot of natural elements such as animals (lizards, dragon flies, etc.) and

flowers and leaves that make beautiful curves.

Lonja or Silk Market

The Lonja is also called the Silk Market and it was used as an exchange market. It was

built between the 15th and 16th centuries in a late gothic style and it´s now a UNESCO

World Heritage Site.

In the 15th century Europe was going through a big transformation: before, in the

Middle Ages, it had been a feudal, agricultural society, but from the 13th century

onwards it was changing into a more commercial and manufacturing society, a new

social class was appearing: the bourgeoisie, they were bankers, merchants, “factory”

owners, and they needed places like the Lonja to meet and exchange their products,

borrow money, etc..

This market dramatically illustrates the power and wealth of Valencia in the XV

century. Valencia was at the time one of the great Mediterranean mercantile cities. It

was such a powerful city that there were three valencian Popes in Rome during the XV

century, and you have to take into account that at this time Popes were almost always

from Italian families. Before this building, there was another older exchange market

here, but it became too small and a new one had to be built. The first products to be

auction and exchange here were fish, then later on silk and many others. The Lonja is

also called the Silk Market, because the silk industry had a great importance here. Up to

15.000 people worked in Valencia making textiles using silk (does anybody knows

where silk comes from, what animal produces silk?). But in the 15th century the Silk

Market was mainly famous for the big volume of bank operations that were made here.

It was a bank. Merchants, factory owners, anyone who needed money for his business

came here to borrow it from bankers. A lot of these bankers were Jewish at the time (we

will talk later about the religions that cohabited in Spain in medieval times). It was the

valencian bankers who borrow money to Christopher Columbus to do his first trip to

America.

In the Middle Ages gothic cathedrals were being built everywhere in Europe. Do you

know any? (Notre Dame de Paris, Koln cathedral in Germany). There are many gothic

religious buildings, but it is rather difficult to find a gothic building that is not a church,

this is one of the very few examples - an exceptional example - of a non-religious

building in Gothic style in the whole of Europe. Despite that, it shares some

characteristics with the gothic churches: in the outside, there are gargoyles and

decorated windows and doors, inside they have very tall ceilings and beautiful columns.

It is almost like a temple for commercial exchange.

The building has four main parts or bodies: the first one is the court with orange trees,

then there is also a tower that was used as prison for merchants that didn´t pay their

debts. The third part is called the Sea Consulate, it was built in Renaissance style, which

is an art style characteristic of the 15th and 16th centuries. The ceiling is made in painted

wood and decorated with heraldic shields, plants, the zodiac and many other motifs.

The fourth part - and the most impressive - is the hall of Columns, also called the hall of

Contracts. This is the place where all bank transactions were made. This room is

decorated in gothic style. The ceiling of this hall is really beautiful, is made by a set of

vaults supported by 24 columns. Only 8 columns are detached from the walls. Each

column is 11 meters high and it looks like a palm tree with branches that intersect with

other branches.

Valencia´s Cathedral

Outside

The place occupied by the cathedral was originally a roman temple. The temple became

a Visigoth cathedral, but under the Muslim occupation of Spain, it was turned into

a mosque. Muslims occupied Spain during 800 years. Following a long period of wars

between Christians and Muslims, Muslims were expelled from Spain. But it was a

complex time: Muslims and Christians were not always enemies, they lived together for

very long periods of peace, and they formed alliances to fight other Christians or other

Muslims from other parts of the territory. Christians fought sometimes with Muslims

against the Christian king and the other way round is well. Christians were able to live

in Muslim territories, with Muslim people, and they had their own religion, traditions

and authorities and the other way round, Muslims lived with Christians, preserving their

religion, laws, etc. To make things more complex, there was also a big Jewish

community living in Spain. Jewish acted often as translators between Christians and

Muslims.

The rest of Europe was experiencing a period of decadence which is often called the

dark ages: towns were very small, people work the land, they didn´t know how to read

and write, they were very superstitious. Meanwhile Spain was a tolerant society, with

people from three different religions living together, and Muslim Spain was quite rich

and sophisticated. Muslims introduced changes in agriculture such as irrigation systems

and new products like oranges, lemons, and rice. The Muslim capital, Cordova, was the

intellectual centre of Europe, there were big libraries full of books about philosophy and

science, medicine, biology, astronomy, chemistry, etc. All this knowledge was

introduced to the European culture through Spain, and it helped transform Europe into a

more advanced society.

But as we said earlier there were also wars during this time. When the Christians arrived

to Valencia in the 13th Century, the mosque was knocked down, because it was a

Muslim symbol. A new cathedral was built, that´s the church you can see now. Later on,

in the 15th Century, Spain became a totally Christian kingdom, the Muslims had lost all

their kingdoms and the last Muslims living with the Christians where expelled from the

territories by a law established by the Catholic Kings. The same thing happened to the

Jews, they were also expelled from the Spanish territory.

Look at Valencia´s cathedral and try to guess what its architectural style is. What makes

you think it is a gothic church? Normally gothic churches have pointy pinnacles

(towers), and the buttresses that join the pinnacles to the main building, but in this

church the pinnacles were removed, taken away when they were out fashion. We know

it´s a gothic church because a gothic church, if we look at it from a plane, has the shape

of a cross. The vertical part of the cross is longer than the horizontal part. In this church

we can´t see the shape of the cross from outside very well, because there are a lot of

chapels built in the sides of the cross. Each chapel is dedicated to a Saint or to a

Christian symbol. In this cathedral the centre of the cross has an octagonal tower. It´s

basically a gothic church, but it also has Romanesque, Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-

Classical elements.

1. The Main Door

Look at the main door of the cathedral. What style is it? It´s Baroque, it´s very charged

with decoration and causes a unique and studied perspective effect, (although this effect

was distorted because of the demolition of some parts of the building). The door was

built in the 17th Century.

It is a façade with three floors. In the first floor there are angels and plants as ornament

and a shell with the name “Maria” inside. In the second floor, there are four columns

and the statues. In the centre there is a big oval window covered with a stained glass

depicting the image of the Virgin. Obviously, the door is dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

2. The Door of the Apostles

The Tympanum

It´s one of the second oldest door, it dates from the 14th Century. It has the shape of a

pointy arch and it´s decorated with human figures that look quite realistic. It has four

pointed arches, with reliefs in the space between the columns representing the virgin

and angels. Under the arches there are six statues of the apostles. 

3. The Palau Door

It´s the oldest door, it was built in the 13th Century and it´s Romanesque. The door is

formed by seven semi-circular arches and the decoration is much more geometrical, the

figures of angels and saints are smaller and less realistic than the figures that appear in

the other doors.

4. The bell tower is called “El Miquelet” and it was originally an outside tower, but it

was joined to the Cathedral when the cathedral was extended.

5. Behind the main door there are the galleries: three superimposed arcades, supported

by columns forming a semicircle, the top parts are like a balcony form which the priests

contemplated the performances in the square.

6. The Ogival Windows have pointed arches and stained glass and they are

characteristic of gothic architecture.

Inside the cathedral

As it happens in many churches around the world, this cathedral is a mixture of different

styles that we are going to discover. This mixture of artistic and architectural styles is

even bigger in the inside of the cathedral than it is in the outside. But there is one

predominant style. Do you know which one?

Gothic elements:

1. The naves

We recognise it is a gothic church because it has tree naves, three big “corridors”

divided by columns that sustain the ceiling. The ceiling of the main nave is taller than

the ceiling of the lateral naves. This way it is possible to put windows in the main nave

of the church. For gothic architects it was important to illuminate the church, they

wanted to make churches much bigger and they wanted them to be full of light, perhaps

because previously, in the Romanesque period, churches were quite dark and small.

2. The ceilings

The ceilings are made by extending the pillars, like a tree extending its branches. The

“branches” then cross other “branches” coming from other pillars and the effect that

these crossings produce in the ceiling is called a rib vault, it´s very beautiful because it

produces repetitive patterns that play with different shapes. But it´s also a very clever

form of construction because it makes the ceiling very strong, it stops it from falling

down.

3. The Dome above the high altar

Also, as typical gothic church, this cathedral has the shape of a cross – like the cross

where Jesus was crucified, according to the bible. One of the lines that make the cross is

longer than the other one. And in the place where the two lines meet there is usually a

dome, just like here. The dome is even higher than the main nave. The Dome of the

Valencia cathedral is an octagonal tower that has two sets of eight pointed arches one

above the other. There is a window under each arch, which allows for more light to

come into the church and illuminate the altar that is placed under the dome. This is a

sophisticated example of Gothic architecture, with large windows creating a sense of

grace and luminosity. Bellow the Dome there is the altar, the central place of the church,

where the priest says mass and where we find the main figure to whom the church is

dedicated, which is usually the Virgin or Jesus.

4. The High Altarpiece and the Frescoes

There is a double door that opens and closes the altarpiece and the doors are decorated

inside and outside with paintings representing themes form the New Testament such as

the Nativity or Christmas (The Adoration of the Shepherds) and also Easter (the

Resurrection of Christ). Only when the doors are open we can see the figure of the

Virgin and child.

5. There are many other decorative elements from the gothic period, such as the pulpit,

which is the place from which the priest speaks. 

6. The Gothic rose window above the door

Another very characteristic gothic element is the rose window that is usually placed

above the door. It´s made with stain glass (glass decorated with different colours

making a kaleidoscope of repetitive shapes). The rose here has the shape of a star, and

this is a reference to the Star of King David form the Old Testament. In the centre of

the star there is a flower and in the centre of the flower there is the cross.

Renaissance elements

We said earlier that there is a mixture of different styles in this church and we are going

to talk them now about.

7. Chapel of the Chalice consists of reliefs showing six episodes from the New

Testament.

In the centre of the chapel there is a Chalice of medieval appearance, it is said that it´s

the cup used by Jesus in the last supper. Have you seen a film called Indiana Jones and

the Holy Grail? There are lots of churches that claim to have the Holy Grail; Valencia is

not the only one. According to the legend of the Holy Grail, which starts in the Middle

Ages, the Grail is a source of life and whoever drinks from it never dies. If you look at

the reliefs you can see that Renaissance figures look more realistic than gothic figures, and they

almost remind us of classic Greek and Roman figures.

8. The choir stalls and the Archbishop's chair are also from the Renaissance

period

9. Chapel of the Resurrection is a portico, a door, sculpted in alabaster

Barroque elements

10. Martyrdom of St. Sebastian, by Orrente is one of the most important

masterpieces of this Cathedral. We can see it´s baroque because there is a strong

contrast in the painting between light-dark and also the shape of the body in the painting

is making a curve, like an S shape, and this is characteristic of the baroque period.

Neoclassical elements

10. Chapel of St Francis Borgia

Francis of Borgia belongs to a family of Popes that come from this region, from

Valencia. Pope Alexander VI was his great-great grandfather and other popes from the

Borgia family where Calisto III and Innocence X. There is a legend about the Borgia

family as being extremely corrupt: the Popes had lovers and children, and their children,

in turn, became new Popes. According to the legend they killed other bishops and

archbishops within the Vatican if they became their enemies. It is apparently true that

Pope Alexander VI took his own daughter, Lucrecia Borgia, as his lover. But Lucrecia

had a brother called Cesar who was also her lover and with whom she had a child. After

giving you this piece of historical gossip I have to explain that the Borgias were not any

more corrupt than other Italian families of Popes at the time. All Popes in the 15 th and

16th centuries were apparently corrupt, but the Borgias were foreigners in Rome at a

time when there were only Italian popes. So it is possible that the black legend that

surrounds the Borgia name was created by their enemies.

What is important about these paintings is the fact that they were painted by Goya, one

of the most important painters of all times. At the time Spain was involved in a

traumatic war against Napoleonic France. Spain wanted its independence but also there

were revolts that opposed the reformists who wanted more democracy against the

traditional forces of society. It was a time of violence and Goya show this in his

paintings: people is represented with animal faces that tell us of human cruelty.

Left: St. Francis Borgia saying goodbye to his family, 

by Goya.

Right: St. Francis Borgia assisting a dying man, 

by Goya.

Torres de Serranos The Torres de Serranos is one of the twelve gates that had the medieval city wall of

Valencia. It is one of Valencia's most iconic buildings and is one of the best preserved

monuments in the city. The gate was built in the 14th century, it was the main entrance

to the city and it was originally build with a defensive function. But it was also used for

ceremonies and the official entrance of ambassadors and kings. It has been used as a

prison, and also as a deposit for all the paintings that were taken out of the Museum of

El Prado in Madrid during the war. Now a day it is used again for ceremonies during the

town festival.

CLIL lesson on Spanish History, Culture and Traditions

1. Link the following art movements to their historical period.

Romanesque 17th century

Art Nouveau 20th century

Baroque 13th-15th century

Gothic 11th 12th century

2. Can you name any other art movements?

3. A new social class appeared in the 13th century. Choose the right answer.

Bourgeoisie Middle class Aristocracy

4. Which of the following professions belongs to the social class mentioned

above?

Merchants peasants bankers factory owners soldiers

nobles

5. Draw one of the columns of the silk market.

6. Gothic columns remind us of the shape of a ________________________ .

7. During how many centuries was Spain occupied by the Muslims?

That is from the beginning of the 8th century to the _______________ century.

8. How was the relationship between Muslims and Christians during this

period? Were they always enemies?

9. There was a third religious community that lived in Spain in medieval

times. Which one?

10. Feel in the gaps:

a. The _______________capital, Cordova, was the _____________________

centre of Europe; there were big libraries full of books about

___________________________ and ____________________________,

medicine, biology, astronomy, chemistry, etc. All this

_______________________ was introduced to the European culture through

Spain, and it helped transform Europe into a more _________________society.

b. A Gothic church has the shape of a _______________________.

c. Compared to Romanesque churches, Gothic churches were

much______________________ and full of ________________________.

11. What shape has a “rose window”?