.

The Duke's Palace (Béjar, Castile).

Góngora was sponsored by the sixth Duke of Béjar to write his Soledades. Most of the castle still exists but is not open to the public (except a camara-oscura exhibition in the right tower, which does not offer any view of the castle inside).

On my third visit I managed to get into the Palace, helped by a local person.

The Patio.

Fountain.

Béjar today.

The people of Béjar seem to pronounce the town as Bejar (with the accent on the a). It is very likely that Góngora entered the town from the other side of the castle (not restored). The gates were there, on the road to Baños de Montemayor, Plasencia and Trujillo.

Picture taken in Béjar by Jack de Groot

The other side of the castle.

Pictures of Góngora are published on the Internet. Only three or four are real. Why the Palace remains closed is not clear. The town has little more to offer. Maybe the underground part of the Palace is too dangerous to enter. A lot more research could be done, but: by whom? It seems that a "Requiem por un campesino mentality" still dominates this part of Spain, also in Salamanca. People call this area "The Forgotten Spain".  N.B. The medical services of Castilla y León have always been good, in particular to the pilgrims! (Ponferrada, Villafranca del Bierzo, Cacabelos, Carrión de los Condes, Frómista). 

Students ask me to translate the Solitudes to English. This will be difficult because Góngora wrote lyrical poetry larded with concepts. Consider the fact that academics worldwide have studied Góngora's poetry for 400 years, and still continue.  How many decades would it take to only translate part of it? And: at what cost?(1) 

    

(*) In the first Solitude (lines 680 - 86) Góngora describes a campfire as follows: a beautiful text.

Los fuegos - cuyas lenguas, ciento a ciento,

desmintieron la noche algunas horas,

cuyas luces, del Sol competidoras,

fingieron día en la tiniebla obscura -

murieron, y en sí mismos sepultados

sus miembros, en cenizas desatados,

piedras son de su mismo sepultura.

(*) Good articles:

McGow, John R., "Review of Intertextuality through Obscurity in the Poetry of Federico García Lorca and Luis de Góngora. Author: Jack de Groot." In: Revista de Estudios Hispánicos. University of Washington, Tomo XXXVIII, número 3, October 2004. pp. 595 - 96. (Review written at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee). Unlike other critics Prof. McGow read and understood the whole text.

McGrady, Donald, "Otra vez el soneto <<descaminado, enfermo, peregrino>> de Góngora." In: AISO, Actas II, 1990 Centro Virtual Cervantes. Written at the University of Virginia.