Tea at Trianon: Castillo de Colomares

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Castillo de Colomares

From Revisiting History:

Castillo de Colomares is the brainchild of Dr. Esteban Martín Martín, who was appalled by the fact that Christopher Columbus was exclusivized as the historical property of the Italian-American community. As a native Spaniard, Dr. Martín wanted to reclaim Columbus’s legacy. He put all his mind and energy into designing the perfect memorial for the Great Explorer: right in the heart of Spain, on the land, the doctor had intended for his personal retirement home.
Martin’s vision included finishing Castillo de Colomares in a timeline that coincided with the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s 1492 expedition. He even wrote to the Spanish Monarch of the time, but when he showed no interest, Martin was deeply distressed. Later, his son told the reporters that he was shocked because no one wanted to reclaim the legacy of Columbus. No one expressed an interest in his unconventional project. He completed the castle in the next two years. (Read more.)