Ayuntamiento de Linares 

Linares is the second-largest city in the province of Jaén, a former mining town now given over to car-manufacturing and other industry and the centre of an important agricultural area. It is not a picturesque place, though it has a long and noble history (Carthaginian general Hannibal, the elephant man, married a local princess here - now that's what I call history), but is quite likable and a number of points make it of outstanding interest. To begin with, Linares was the birthplace of classical guitarist Andrés Segovia, and his tomb is now there, in a 17th-century palace converted into the home of the Andres Segovia Foundation (the link is somewhere on this page). Then, Linares hosts the most interesting annual tournament in chess, with the possible exception of the chaotic World Championship (current World Champion Viswanathan Anand won the Linares tournament in 2007 and 2008). And to return to the subject of deaths, Manuel Rodríguez Sánchez, "Manolete", bullfighting's most mythological name, was killed in Linares' bullring in 1947, and I have the feeling that Manolete-pilgrims make up the bulk of the little tourism that Linares receives. The link goes to the website of Linares City Council.
Added on: 21-Apr-2008 | hits: 120
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Segovia Museum 

Andrés Segovia (Linares, Spain, 1893 - Madrid, Spain, 1987) was the dominant figure in the classical guitar world in the twentieth century. Inevitably, some argue that there were better guitarists (particularly Miguel Llobet, who died tragically young), but none had the charisma of Segovia and no-one succeeded to the same extent in increasing the stature of the instrument itself, placing the guitar in the concert hall instead of the tavern, as well as shaping the repertoire and heavily influencing the generation of classical guitarists that came after him. In other words, Segovia transformed the classical guitar. So it is something of a shame that the Segovia Museum in Linares (which also contains his tomb) is rather a dull affair, and its web site even duller.
Added on: 28-Apr-2008 | hits: 101
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