Guernica, a picturesque town

Guernica, I always thought he was called Gernika, but later I learned that this is his Basque name. In Spanish, he is Guernica.

It only takes about 40 minutes to get from Bilbao to Guernica. You can find the Bilbao-Bermeo bus outside the Abando train station. The fastest bus leaves every half an hour for 4.7 euros. We set off at noon, and couldn't help but fall asleep after getting in the car. In fact, traveling by car in Basque Country is like walking in a painting. When we were approaching Guernica, we encountered a small village with greenery. There are small red houses on the hillside, and a few lambs sleep lazily in the randomly fenced yard. If we have a utility knife that can freeze the scenery, we can cut out a piece at will and it will be a refreshing scene. Landscape painting.

The bus stops at Guernica for 3 or 4 stops. You can get off at any stop because it is really small. It was afternoon when we arrived, and there was no one on the street. It was like every Basque town we had ever visited, with quiet streets and tree-lined streets. It seemed that speaking a little louder would break the tranquility of the afternoon.

The beauty of Guernica is beyond our expectations. It is difficult for us to connect her with Picasso's famous painting here.

The tourist information office is located next to Plaza de los Fueros. Here you can not only find tourist information about Guernica, but also get an introduction to the Basque Country. Of course, more people are backing it. I came here with a big bag with shells to ask for the direction of the "Pilgrimage Road". In this way, we once again passed a stop on the pilgrimage.

There is a statue of Don Tello in the Justice Square. On April 28, 1366, Tello became the king of the Basque Country, and Guernica has been the capital of the Basque Country since then. . The square is small and surrounded by a bell tower, an art center and the Guernica Peace Museum.

Bell Tower.

On April 26, 1937, it was perhaps a quiet and ordinary afternoon like today. People living in Guernica gathered in the city center, strolled around the market, and chatted about daily life and the Spanish Civil War. The smoke of World War II did not touch this land. People seemed to be living in a "paradise" and still lived a normal life. Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound in the sky on a sunny day. Some people thought it was just thunder on a sunny day, or at most a shower in the afternoon. A few minutes later, German bombs fell like a torrential rain, and the originally picturesque and peaceful town was razed to the ground in an instant.

Guernica's status in the hearts of the Basques is like a spiritual sustenance. Shortly after the bombing, Franco's army accelerated the pace of occupying northern Spain.

According to official statistics from the Basque government, because there was a market in the city at the time of the bombing, 1,654 civilians were killed in the bombing in one day, while this number was only 300 according to German statistics. (Figures published in the German Bundeswedr magazine in April 2007)

In fact, many cities were bombed by the Germans during World War II, but the reason why Guernica is so famous is because of Picasso’s painting Painting "Guernica".

The first time I saw it was in an art textbook in elementary school. At that time, I couldn’t understand the meaning of the painting, and laughed at the people who painted as inferior to me; later I listed all the paintings I had painted. The fragmented paintings are called "Picasso school"; I went to Madrid for the first time and saw his "real body" in the Queen Sofia Museum. He was in an empty hall, and a painting occupied an entire wall. This Only then did I feel its shock; in Guernica, it is at the end of a path up the mountain, among residential buildings, with cars parked on both sides of the road, and you can easily ignore its existence. It is said that it is the same size as his "real body", but in an outdoor environment, it looks much smaller than the one in the museum...

Today, "Gerr" "Nika" has become one of the symbols that warns of the disasters of war, and the tragedy of the small town of Guernica will forever remain in the scarred memories of the war.

However, Guernica means more than that to the Basque people. Beginning in the 13th century AD, the Basques living in the north gathered in front of a large oak tree in Guernica to discuss affairs and use their unique form of democracy to decide major regional affairs. In 1366, Tello was also proclaimed king of the "Basque Country" under this big tree.

Guernica is the original origin of today's Basque Country.

It is very easy to find Casa de Juntas, Guernica’s parliament hall. You will always find a sign that looks like a leaf on the road or on a stone on the side of the road. If you point in the direction it points, you will go there.

When the parliament hall appeared in front of us, our eyes lit up again. It is not big and cannot be said to be majestic. It is just like the photos we have seen before, with green lawns and light yellow buildings under the blue sky. I don’t know if the painting suddenly came alive, or if we walked into the painting.

This building was built in 1824. For a long time in the past, Guernica was the capital of the Basque Country and the seat of the provincial government. During the bombing in 1937, Guernika was basically razed to the ground. In the city center, only the parliament hall and the large oak tree next to it did not fall down and have always stood here. They seem to symbolize the Basque spirit, which is strong, resolute and unyielding. After Franco occupied the north, he implemented a period of de-Basque rule. People here were prohibited from speaking Basque language, and only Spanish could be taught in schools. In 1979, the Provincial Congress of Biscay was held here, and it was at that session that the Basque Country gained autonomy. Today, Guernica is probably the most "Basque" place in the entire Basque Country. Walking on the street you will always hear adults and children speaking a language we don't understand - Basque.

Due to Bilbao's tolerance, there are already many foreign residents there; San Sebastian is a tourist city where you can hear various languages. In fact, in today's Basque region, many children no longer speak or cannot speak Basque, but in these small towns and mountain villages with a small population, they still continue to carry on their traditions. In Victoria, we saw a poster about a logging competition to be held next month = =bIf you really want to understand Basque history and culture, you should come to these small towns.

There are guards standing guard at the door. We also dispel the idea that it has completely been reduced to a “tourist attraction”. In fact, it still serves as the parliament hall today, and the Basque government's general election was held here not long ago. The tour is free. As soon as we entered, we were stopped by a host. We thought he was going to kick us out or come to sell tickets = = But the host gave us two introduction books and told us that we should start the tour from the parliament hall. Then more tourists came in in twos and threes, and each time he would chase them in and give them a guidebook, and then point out the correct route. Wouldn't it be annoying to do this again and again? At least you can't tell from his smiling face.

The entire hall is not specially protected. You can sit in the semi-circular seats of the members and experience the feeling of a Basque member. Everyone acted quietly, not wanting to disturb the silence and solemnity.

The room next door is now a small museum. It introduces Basque history and traditional culture to visitors. Many pictures depict the three skills that Basques once relied on for survival: fishing. , hunting, logging.

The highlight of the entire building is the stunning roof of this room. It is made of glass, and the painted glass depicts a scene of Basques gathering in front of a large oak tree to fight for their rights. We looked up at it for a long time. It was so beautiful that you couldn't bear to look away.

In the yard, there is a protected old tree trunk, which is called "Gernikako Arbola" by the Basques. This old tree has a history of at least 300 years. In a sense, it is the Basque tree trunk. sk flag. Next to the council chamber, a new oak tree was also planted. In fact, before it, there was a tree planted in 1860, which died in 2004. In 2005, the people of Guernica planted the current tree in the same place. It was just 19 years old that year.

Today, the branches of this young oak tree, which is just 25 years old, have sprouted green shoots. The slender branches are working hard to expand around. The old oak tree not far away is watching him silently. , watching him grow slowly, watching him one day become a towering tree. Just like the Basque people's tradition of being hard-working, brave, not showing off, and doing things quietly, it is passed down from generation to generation.

On the way to the Congress Hall we passed a park, parque de Europa. This little park is incredibly beautiful. Maybe it’s because the Basques have a special preference for green. At a glance here, there are all green lawns and green trees. Some people were lying on the grass taking a nap in the sun, and a few young ladies were rolling on the grass. A path passed through the grass. The lush trees on both sides of the path blocked the dazzling sunshine from the parents who were picking up their children to go home from school. There are two sculptures in the park. One of them can be known just by looking at its appearance. It was created by Chillida, the most famous Basque architect. It is called GureAitaren Etxea.

In the late 1990s, Guernica was included by the International Tourism Organization as one of the "Top Ten Paradises on Earth" with the best natural environment protection and the most distinctive cultural landscape on earth.

Guernica is like a painting, a fascinating painting. Elegant, quiet, quiet and peaceful, life is second to none and carefree. Guernica is like a poem, a tragic and heavy epic. There is an open space not far from the parliament hall, which used to be a lively market before 1937. After that day, the market disappeared. A few wildflowers poked their heads out from the cracks in the rocks, and a few young ladies played football there. When the past has become a page in the history textbook, today's life seems More quiet and leisurely.

When we went back, we took the blue Basque train. The carriage was very short and the inside was orange. It only operates in the Basque region.

When the car starts moving, it feels like your body has been infinitely shrunk, and the surrounding trees seem to have wrapped the track and the carriage. Traveling through the jungle is an experience that can only be experienced in the Basque Country in the whole of Spain.

The pride and blessing of the Basques lies in the fact that they live surrounded by layers of green.