The Grandeur of Age

There is something about the age of things that is incredibly moving. I used to feel such awe when I worked in the archives and handled handwritten letters that were a hundred years old or even, for that matter, fifty years old. The thought that another human being, a living and breathing person, was at the other end of the pencil that wrote this note always moved me. I felt connected to that person when I handled that paper. So here in Spain there have been many things even older than those letters that we have been seeing and touching. It is difficult to describe the feeling when I connect to other eras and other peoples in this way.

A few of the many old things we saw today were a candle from 1767, a carving of a palm tree from the third century, a fourteenth century wall painting in a church, and mosaics from a Roman town that was founded in 206 B.C. It was humbling to stand near, even to touch these objects and consider the life of those who created or handled these things in earlier times.

A restored 14th century wall painting in the Church of Santa Maria in Arcos de la Frontera.

A Roman era Palm Tree of Life carving that was from a third century Roman altar. It was then incorporated into a Moorish mosque. After the Christians reclaimed this part of Spain in the thirteenth century, they tore down the mosque, but kept this palm tree in the foundation of the Church of Santa Maria in Arcos de la Frontera. 

A bird mosaic from the Roman town of Italica. Italica was founded in 206 B.C. I'm not sure when this mosaic was laid. There are more than thirty species of birds depicted in this mosaic.

A rather funky Easter candle from 1767, still residing in the Church of Santa Maria in Arcos de la Frontera. It is about six feet tall.