Bull-fighting Museums are a bit thin on the ground in most of Europe so when the occasion arises to visit one, say in Ronda or Seville, it is well worth taking the opportunity.
The Bullring in Seville, the second oldest in Spain, will forever be associated with the legendary gypsy, Carmen, and her bull-fighter lover Don Escamillo, protagonists from the opera by Bizet, and to walk through the massive doorway and enter the stadium, to stand and gaze out on to the golden sandy arena, is to bring the tale alive. There is even a statue of Carmen on the bank or the Quadalquivir River opposite the Bullring
Beneath the bullring is the small hospital where the injured (or dying) matadors will be treated by the doctors always present, there too the small chapel where the matador will pray before he leaves to face the bull, and on the same level is the Museo Taurino (Museum of Bullfighting).
Included in a visit to the museum is a viewing of the tack rooms, the chapel, and the stables. An English-speaking guide accompanies the visitors to explain the history of taurino and to point out exhibits relating to exceptional fighters or explain the pictures, the whole lasting about 30 minutes.
In the first room there is an 18th century poster on silk showing the square in the mid 1700s with drummers and lancers indulging in one of the games they played in those days – akin to jousting as we know it – made popular by King Philip V: in the second room is a collection of bullfighting paintings dating from the 19th century: the third room is dedicated to bullfighting during the period when Juan Belmonte and Joselito “El Gallo” were at the height of their powers. In this room are many bronze sculptures and painting of the two famous matadors plus other great bullfighters of the day, Pepe Hillo, Curro Cúchares, and Pepe Luis Vazquez: the fourth room has a more varied content with paintings, bronzes, heads of famous bulls such as Isler, the mother of the bull Islero that killed the famous Manolete, exquisite suits of lights (the satin embroidered capes and tight trousers worn by the bull-fighters for the final kill (kept behind glass because of their fragility), oil paintings and miscellaneous items to do with the taurino.There is also a painting of Ferdinand Vll who restored bullfighting in Spain and founded the School of Bullfighting in Seville, fighting instruments, tiles, birds of prey, and a few romantic prints.
A few interesting facts:
- The last year in which a bullfighter died was 1992.
- No. 1 Bullfighter of Seville was Joselito El Gallo,who started at the age of 14 but who had been fighting since aged 9. He was killed when he was only 25.
- Belmonte was also from Seville and is highly revered by the people.
- Meat from the killed bulls was originally given to the poor, hence the popularity of the sport among the poorer inhabitants.
- Mules were always used to carry away the dead bulls.
Mari Nicholson - Award Winning travel writer and historian, member of British Guild of Travel Writers.Travelwriters.co.uk, and Society of Women Writers and ...
