Velez-Blanco

I want to virtually reunite the Vélez Blanco castle and its interior by visiting the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and bring back those memories to the Vélez Blanco castle.

The current goal is Vélez Blanco in Spain.
Drop this TB in a cache near the castle.

Vélez-Blanco is a municipality of the Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Nestling at the foot of a rocky outcrop, is the small whitewashed village of Vélez Blanco, 6km north of its neighbour, Velez Rubio.

On top of the hill is a stunning Renaissance castle, an extension of the original Moorish alcazaba, which was built by the Marquises of Vélez Blanco in the early 16th century.

These days, it is something of a trompe l'oeil, with an empty shell behind the battlements. This gutting began in 1904 when the contents of the castle were sold by its owners, the Dukes of Medina-Sidonia, to a French dealer in antiquities. Many of them became the property of Emile Peyre who in turn bequeathed part of his collection to the American millionaire George Blumenthal. He then bequeathed it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1941. The collection included the Patio de Honor and friezes made of pinewood reliefs decorating the reception halls in the castle.

The Vélez Blanco Patio is one of the most important architectural ensembles of the early Spanish Renaissance - a fabulous courtyard carved in white marble by Italian craftsmen. The patio from Vélez Blanco has been recognized by scholars around the world as one of the jewels of early Renaissance Spain. It has been reconstructed inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

The six large relief friezes, unparalleled in their classical subject matter and exceptional vigor, were once part of the decoration of the reception halls of the castle. They are boldly carved with classical and mythological scenes representing the Triumph of Julius Caesar and the Labors of Hercules. These 16th-century reliefs were finally rediscovered at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.

Dani+Iris visited this castle and Los Vélez area in May 2009 and were struck by this sad story. This travelbug represents the coat of arms of Vélez Blanco and wants to keep the memories alive!