Tag: Thursday Doors

A Very Old Door Indeed

This is a church dedicated to Saint Valerien and built under the auspices of the Abbot of Tournus between 1008 and 1028. It’s still standing, but unused as it waits for a bit of TLC.

Tournus is a charming old town in Southern Burgundy, which we wouldn’t have discovered if not for the farmers’ blockades of roads and motorways throughout France, which it’s fair to say have made travelling here … interesting and boring in equal measure.

For Dan’s Thursday Doors.

Doors in Mataró 

We’ve travelled almost the length of England, almost the length of France and through half of Catalonia to arrive in Premiá de Mar​​. It’s here that we’ve met our new granddaughter Olivia, exactly three weeks old today. And we’ve celebrated the birthday of her elder sister Anaïs, three years old on Tuesday.

Unsurprisingly, we haven’t been out and about much yet. But yesterday, Olivia, her mum, Malcolm and I ventured to Mataró, capital of the Maresme, for a little light mooching.

Here are two doors we mooched past.

For Dan’s Thursday Doors.

Thursday Doors visits Córdoba

The Mezquita: a side door.
Palacio de la Merced: once a monastery.

Here’s my contribution to Thursday Doors. Follow the link to see pictures of humble doors, magnificent doors, old doors, new doors, village doors, town doors … all sorts of doors from around the world.

As usual, click on any image to view it full size.

A district and its doors: El Carme, Valencia

When we were in Valencia, we stayed in the old district of El Carme, just within the old city walls.  It had its glory days in the 19th and 19th centuries, but fell on hard times.  By the 1980s, and into the ’90s, people referred to the area as ‘H&M’ – that’s hashish and marijuana.  Anyone with any choices moved out.  As dilapidated buildings collapsed – like here….

…. street artists moved in.  Followed by other creative people, attracted by low rents and prices.  Now El Carme’s narrow streets are vibrant, buzzing, crammed with bars and fashion boutiques.

No bars, restaurants and shops here. But in other ways this is a typical street in El Carme.

And yet its wealthy elitist past lives on, in its doors.  Why did such tall narrow houses have such magnificent doors?  Well, the rich wanted to live here.  They needed to express their individual wealth in some way, since spacious grounds were out of the question.  Doors then.  Doors through which a man on horseback could enter.  Maybe a carriage too.  Stables and servants downstairs.  The noble family above.  No two doors were the same.  Here’s a small selection.

This is my entry – my first – for the popular Thursday Doors challenge, which I first learnt about from Judith’s ever-interesting blog, Beyond the Window Box.

Click on any image to view full size.