Walking in the Pyrenees, Matthew Parris stumbled upon a magnificent medieval house. Inspirational and instructional, this is the story of one man's dream to turn a forgotten ruin into his very own castle in Spain.

Reproduction of the original: A Castle in Spain by James de Mille

Explores the history of Spain from the Roman province, through the Visigothic and Arab conquests, to the Christian Reconquest and reorganisation of society in the thirteenth century

Travel through Spain's cultural past through this beautifully illustrated book.

Sixteen folktales from the Iberian Peninsula: The Golden Pitcher; Silver Magic; The Ill-tempered Princess; The Sunbeam Sprites; Issyben-Aran; The Magician's Castle in the Sea; Juanillo; Don Fernán and the Orange Princess; Carlo Magno and the Giant; The Branch of Almond Blossom; How Blanca the Haughty Became Gentle; The Treasure of Cardona; The Magic Portrait; The Gift of Fishes; Ballads and Boots; and The Black Charger.

While they lay there holding hands, Ambio told Serena what happened. "When the fog finally lifted after the sun came out, I thought I was going to burn up. I was so thirsty that I was tempted to drink the seawater, but I knew it would kill me. And then I prayed, saying, "We were born together, please let us die together." Ambio then went on to say, "I drifted all that day without a cloud in sight. All I could think of was that you were getting burned up like myself." "I wish," said Serena, "that I'd had the misfortune not to have been picked up by those fishermen. It would have saved me from a living hell. I did not get burned up like you, but if hell is anything like I went through, I sure do not want to go there."

Philip II of Spain was a major patron of the arts, best known for his magnificent palace and royal mausoleum at the Monastery of San Lorenzo of El Escorial. However, neither the king’s monastery nor his collections fully convey the rich artistic landscape of early modern Iberia. In this book, Laura Fernández-González examines Philip’s architectural and artistic projects, placing them within the wider context of Europe and the transoceanic Iberian dominions. Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire investigates ideas of empire and globalization in the art and architecture of the Iberian world during the sixteenth century, a time when the Spanish Empire was one of the largest in the world. Fernández-González illuminates Philip’s use of building regulations to construct an imperial city in Madrid and highlights the importance of his transformation of the Simancas fortress into an archive. She analyzes the refashioning of his imperial image upon his ascension to the Portuguese throne and uses the Hall of Battles in El Escorial as a lens through which to understand visual culture, history writing, and Philip’s kingly image as it was reflected in the funeral commemorations mourning his death across the Iberian world. Positioning Philip’s art and architectural programs within the wider cultural context of politics, legislation, religion, and theoretical trends, Fernández-González shows how design and images traveled across the Iberian world and provides a nuanced assessment of Philip’s role in influencing them. Original and important, this panoramic work will have a lasting impact on Philip II’s artistic legacy. Art historians and scholars of Iberia and sixteenth-century history will especially value Fernández-González’s research.