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Looks like a plus plus Parador! I may have to do the Frances after all.I wrote to Juanma who owns and operates the Albergue Maralotx in Cirauqui (shameless plug - it’s a great place). I know the albergue is closed, but if he’s checking email, I’m sure he’ll be back with an answer.
The attached photos were taken in Cirauqui last September, though the date is irrelevant. Streetview says the door belongs to 9 Calle Portal. What intrigues me is the letters on the 'ribbon' wrapped around the ring of the door knocker. Some of the letters must be on the other side of the ring. Does anybody know what the letters are and what they might say?View attachment 139291View attachment 139292
Good observation! The item appears to be fixed to the door with three screws and appears to have a merely decorative function as it cannot be used for knocking and also not for pulling the door. This will make it harder to see the other letters on the ring.it looks like the ring has been deactivated.
Good observation! The item appears to be fixed to the door with three screws and appears to have a merely decorative function as it cannot be used for knocking and also not for pulling the door. This will make it harder to see the other letters on the ring.
Hi. I've seen the door knocker and also photographed it in my first strolls around Cirauqui some years ago. As soon as I am back in Cirauqui over the next few days I will try and read the letters around the ribbon and get back to you all here. Will take a few days though...I wrote to Juanma who owns and operates the Alberque Maralotx in Cirauqui (shameless plug - it’s a great place). I know the albergue is closed, but if he’s checking email, I’m sure he’ll be back with an answer.
Thanks, Juanma. I can wait. It will be difficult, especially if the screw at the bottom has fixed the ring to the door. I can't figure out which way the letters go -- clockwise or anticlockwise.Hi. I've seen the door knocker and also photographed it in my first strolls around Cirauqui some years ago. As soon as I am back in Cirauqui over the next few days I will try and read the letters around the ribbon and get back to you all here. Will take a few days though...
I also thought so, but then... why the ramdom order of letters?, why not correctly ordered somehow?Wild guess...the Alhambra?
Wild guess...the Alhambra?
And isn't 'THE' a bit, I don't know, English?
I know that lions are very frequently used on doorknockers, but wonder if this has some reference to the patio de los leones?
Yes, and @Bert45 gets the platinum star for his level of curiosity pertaining to various pilgrimage relics; often requesting help from forum members. The whimsical mysteries often get solved eventually by the forum "sleuths" willing to dig deep.@Juanma gets the gold star for going on wild goose chases to satisfy forum members’ whimsical musings!
Good guess, methinks! It looks like there is also writing on those knockers, but the letters are different. How bizarre!
They are not doorknockers though. They are bronze rings for tethering horses. Renaissance style. Facade of Charles V's palace.Close enough to these Alhambra lion doorknockers?
They are not doorknockers though. They are bronze rings for tethering horses. Renaissance style. Facade of Charles V's palace.
I, too, would like to say thankyou to @Juanma for taking the trouble and trying to shed light on this topic and to help answer this question. I am asas he is. Like everyone else, I noticed the combination of the 3 letters that make up THE and the tantalising combination of letters that could be ALHAMBRA but doesn't appear to be so.
And of course I immediately googled for it and I even found a website where the (Alhambra) text is explained but I did not make a note and for the life of me I cannot find it again. I can't even remember whether the website was in Spanish, English, German, French or Italian. The text on the (Alhambra) rings is Spanish, perhaps with some abbreviations, I am quite certain of this. The text is identical on both sides and it is read from top to bottom on one side and from bottom to top on the other side - all quite similar to the Cirauqui item.
Perhaps these Alhambra rings were an inspiration for the item seen on the door in Cirauqui? It seems that the house has a display of four doorknockers / door pulls / tethering rings on the outside. One wonders what they have inside, perhaps a larger collection?
Charles V, Palace, Alhambra:
View attachment 140432
@Juanma gets the gold star for going on wild goose chases to satisfy forum members’ whimsical musings! Thanks very much for doing that. I had no idea it would be so tedious when I asked you to hunt it down.
Juanma — do the breaks that you put in letters correspond with actual spacing on the ribbon, or is it your attempt to make some sense out of it?
And I think I understand that you read one half from top right down to the bottom of the knocker, and then top left down the other side to the bottom?
I know that lions are very frequently used on doorknockers, but wonder if this has some reference to the patio de los leones?
Thanks again, Juanma.
Possibly a souvenir of the Alhambra meant for English speaking tourists.
All of this is, of course, fascinating and all successful sleuths cited above should be very proud and pleased.
However, it still would be rewarding to learn the true history of the building in question. If you "walk" about the block on which 9 calle Portal stands you will "see" a relatively low "new" wall with various other older stones/objects set into that wall. Hence my immediate reaction is that this building includes earlier bits. Perhaps it was built for/by an antiquaire or history buff. Does anyone know?
you will "see" a relatively low "new" wall with various other older stones/objects set into that wall
So did I at 18:12 French time this evening.I have just emailed Señor Laita.
So did I at 18:12 French time this evening.
I trust that a your more formal signature will receive a full reply.Ya beat me! Let's see who reports back here first. We both may be up at about the same UTC time.
I put the two photos next to each other and the similarity between the two is indeed striking. I'd also like to add that I know again what it says on the rings on the facade of the Alhambra palace of Charles V (photo on the left). It says Plus Oultre. You read it starting in the middle of the ring at the top or at the bottom and then follow the band anti-clockwise. The words were chosen as his personal motto by Charles when he was Duke of Burgundy; his first language was French. He later became king of Spain and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.The curly haired lion in your second photo looks identical to the one Bert originally posted, I think. Just different letters.
Hi! Have any of you two received a reply from Mr. Laita? Curious to know...So did I at 18:12 French time this evening.
Not me; not yet.Hi! Have any of you two received a reply from Mr. Laita? Curious to know...
No reply as yet.Hi! Have any of you two received a reply from Mr. Laita? Curious to know...
Not me; not yet.
Hi all... so really, really... you guys never got a reply from him?No reply as yet
Sorry, it's actually on until OCTOBER 15th!!!Anyone coming through Cirauqui until Sept. 15th within the opening times can go visit it!
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