Weathervane Wednesday ~ Somewhere in Madrid, Spain

Weathervane Wednesday is an on-going series of photographs I post every week.  I started out by publishing only weather vanes from the Londonderry area, but now I've been finding interesting weather vanes from all over New England.  Sometimes these weather vanes are whimsical, or historical, but all are very unique.  Often, my readers tip me off to some very special and unusual weather vanes.

Today's weather vane is from somewhere in Madrid, Spain.

Do you know the location of weather vane #313?  Scroll down to see the answer...

This weathervane was photographed on the steeple of the San Ginés de Arlés church in Madrid, Spain. We were standing near Plaza Mayor, and turned to look down Calle de Bordadores and saw the weathervane above San Ginés, which is located on Calle de Arenal. The streets are very narrow and crooked in this part of the city. 

San Ginés was originally built in the 12th or 13th century in the oldest part of Madrid, and was rebuilt in 1645.  The only medieval part of the church survived is now the steeple. This church is famous for a few curiosities, including a stuffed alligator brought back from the New World during the time of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand around 1500.  There is also a painting by El Greco that is kept covered, except on Saturdays from 11:30 to noon (very odd!).  

The weather vane on this church is a very old banner with a cross.  There are no cardinal points to tell wind direction.  It appears to be very old, but I could not find any information about the weathervane on its origins or age. There are dozens and dozens of churches in Madrid, but only a few have weather vanes.  This link shows the dragon weathervane of San Jeronimo el Real, behind the famous Prado art museum:  https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/03/weathervane-wednesday-7-headed-dragon.html  

In an alley near this church is Chocolatería San Ginés.  This business opened in 1894 and serves only hot chocolate and churros 24 hours a day.  It is the most famous place in Madrid to eat this yummy treat, usually only available late nights and early mornings at most pubs and restaurants.


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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ Somewhere in Madrid, Spain", Nutfield Genealogy, posted May 31, 2017, (http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/05/weathervane-wednesday-somewhere-in.html: accessed [access date]).