Villa Zorayda by danapommet
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Description
This is the Villa Zorayda Museum, reopened in 2008, after eight years of extensive renovation and is once again open to the public, as a museum. On the National Register of Historic Places it was built in 1883 as the winter residence of Franklin Smith. It was built 1/10th the scale of a section of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain. This building set a precedence for St. Augustine and began the Moorish Spanish revival of architecture that is seen throughout the city today. In 1913 it was purchased by Abraham S. Mussallem, an authority on Oriental rugs, fine arts and Egyptian artifacts. In 1922 it became one of the most fashionable places for casino gambling. In the mid 1930's it was opened as a museum featuring the priceless antique collections of unique antiquities, of both Franklin Smith and A.S. Mussallem which are still on display today. On display is the "Sacred Cat Rug" over 2400 years old and made from the hairs of ancient cats that roamed the Nile River. Taken from a pyramid in Egypt it is said to possess a curse for anyone that walks on it!
Info from the Zorayda Museum web site.
Thanks for stopping by, taking a look and for all your previous favs and comments.
They are very much appreciated.
Dana
Comments (26)
Excellent capture and wonderful information. sounds like a great place to tour
What a building and what a write up as well...I'm glad to see that this is a museum rather than a casino, and I'd love to see that cat hair rug...I had one of those once, only it wasn't ancient Egyptian and was actually made just by a single domestic housecat (not one of those exotic Nile cats) lounging around and shedding. Somehow I think this process of making such a rug differs from that utilized by ancient Egyptians, although I could be wrong about that! Oh, and I suppose I should say something about this shot. I like it a lot. You really captured the colors and the intricate shapes of this place and it's quite a lot of fun to look at. It has definite Moorish aspects that I like, and the stone work is amazing, as is the painted wood and those window screens. This is a really well-seen, well-taken shot.
Beautiful! Thanks for the info, I love this place's name. I'd love to go there!
Fantastic looking place and a excellent capture! :)
LOL, when I first saw the title I thought of Viva Zapata. Super shot of the serrated-edged edifice with the elegant and exquisite architecture, Dana. And thanks for the detailed information on it.
Hmmm....I've discovered there is in fact a curse for anyone who walks on cats, period, so this is no surprise lol.
very beautiful house!!
Sacred cat rug lol anything to attract people in ehh.. thats funny. LOL at the Madbat he must truly be mad.. :)
Excellent shot, thanks for the info!
Striking architecture!
Lovely looking place and well captured Dana.
I have several sacred doghair rugs..and chairs, for that matter. What a super style, so happy and colourful! It's a super pic, with the tree holding the eye in on the right.
A very beautiful building it is and i love old houses cause they all have a piece of history with them and the work on them is unbelievable stuff u will not see on houses today.
What an interesting building - you have an eye for capturing really interesting places :) I'm with Chip, I would love to see this cat hair rug - all the ones I've ever seen where done by accident not on purpose - Great image, I love the wya the green of the plants, the red and gold and stone play off each other. Really nice shot!
fascinating story! great shot!
Wow! It's beautiful!
~ Fantastic capture! ~
Beautiful capture and beautiful place !Great info!
Beauty Capture!
What a beautiful building, it looks so inviting. Love the colours. Very interesting artifacts inside as well!!!!
Beauty....what a nice place
VERY NICE BUILDING
What a wonderful building to house a museum it really looks the part. A super capture and I surely wont walk on that rug made from cat hair.
this is super cool
Great capture of this wonderfully done building! Fine info about it, too! ;o)