Cities and Memory: Zaira

The city of Zaira struck my attention right away. I enjoyed this city because of all the history it contains. When Marco Polo states that "the city does not consist of its physical features but of relationships between the measurements of its space and the events of its past," I realized this tied in really well with what we're covering it class about what defines a space. Marco Polo shares with us that it is not the actual objects in the space that matters but the history and stories that those objects hold. I also liked the part that states, " as this wave from memories flows in, the city soaks it up like a sponge and expands." This meaning that the city will never die, it will just become more rich in history over time. In this quote I also liked how the author referred to the memories as a wave flowing in and soaking. This idea being related to water makes me think that not every part of its history is concrete, that not all of it stays, but some just trickles away. In the last section of this reading Polo states " The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand." This struck me because it shows how you have to be a part of the city to understand its past. It made me think palm readers and how they can look into your hand and search for meanings with in the cracks and crevices. Like a palm reader, when a person goes to visit Zaira they can learn stories of its past by exploring deep down in the crevices of the city.