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| Perfection |
After La Mancha, we headed up to Segovia, where we were staying the night. The landscape on the way was increasingly greener, with olive trees and vineyards and castles on hilltops. The city is everything you want a Spanish City to be -- just magical.
Segovia itself is a lovely walled city. Our GPS took us in and up, up, up tiny, winding streets until we got in a death spiral of navigation. The GPS said turn right; the street signs said no entry. Finally, we called the hotel and they didn't recognize where we were. On another loop, Scott noticed a small sign beneath the "no entry" sign that said "except hotel guests." So, in we went. We found the parking lot, but no hotel. Another call and the desk clerk actually walked out to meet us. Turns out that the parking lot holds just one temporary space for the hotel. Instead, you drive down a narrow street and into a garage under the hotel. And, oh, what a hotel.
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| The Don Felipe is in several old buildings connected together |
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| It has modern decor |
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| The veranda was delightful |
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| But, the views were the real draw |
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| The Alcazar of Segovia out the window |
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| You can see why there are so many caves |
It also has an interesting feature in the basement -- an open area that shows what the earth below the town looks like.
Plus, it is situated so that you can walk the entire town without having to use your car at all.
Segovia is one of nine provinces that make up Castile and
León. First mentioned as a Celtic settlement, Segovia later passed to the
Romans. Roman occupation is evident in the well-preserved Roman aqueducts for
which the city is known.
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| An amazingly well-preserved structure |
Segovia was abandoned after the Islamic invasion of
Spain and then resettled after the Reconquista.
An important wool and textile center, Segovia's population rose
to 27,000 in 1594. Then, as almost all the cities of Castile, Segovia entered a
period of decline and, in 1694, the population fell to only 8,000. Segovia was sacked by French troops during the War of
Independence, but experience a recovery during the 19th and first half of the 20th
century.
The old city contains historic civil and religious buildings,
including the old Jewish quarter. Among
the most important monuments in the city is the Aqueduct of Segovia, which dates
from the late 1st or early 2nd century.
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| The most important Roman civil engineering work in Spain |
The Alcazar of Segovia, the royal palace built on a stone
peninsula between the rivers Eresma and Clamores, is documented for the first
time in 1122, although it may have existed earlier.
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| Fairytale castle |
It was one of the favored
residences of the kings of Castile, built in the transition from Romanesque
architecture to Gothic and Mudéjar (Moorish).
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The Moorish influence is seen on the ceiling |
The building is structured around two
courtyards and has two towers, and a keep.
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| A true castle |
Devastated by a fire in 1862, it was
later rebuilt. It was the first place we visited after we got settled in. Just a few minutes walk from the room. It wasn't very crowded and we toured both the castle and the tower.
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| A royal hall |
There are a few rooms to see ...
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| Spectacular |
... including a throne room ...
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| Very brightly decorated |
... plus an armory ...
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| They made their own armor |
... a courtyard and gardens ...
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| A delightful place |
... a terrace with a view ...
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| Picturesque |
... including a good look at the Iglesia de la Vera Cruz below.
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| A sweet chapel |
After looking around from the ramparts ...
Then, I went past the old jail ...
... through plazas and down the main shopping street ...
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| It was a quiet afternoon, so I had the place to myself |
I ended up in the plaza by the aqueduct, which is very impressive. It consists of about 25,000 granite blocks held together without any mortar and spans 2,683’ with more than 170 arches, the highest being 95’ high. In 1985, UNESCO declared the old city of Segovia and its aqueduct World Heritage Sites.
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| Impressive work |
Just past the plaza, the aqueduct intersects with the city wall.
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| A great place for surveying the city |
In the plaza, there was some sort of celebration in progress.
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| What's this? |
A large number of chefs were standing at a long table with platters of roast suckling pigs in from of them. Just as I was getting in position to take some pictures, they picked up plates, banged them on the table and then threw them through the air to shatter on the ground.
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| Flying plates |
A big round of applause, followed by lots of congratulations ....
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| Happy chef |
... picture-taking ..
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| Congratulations |
... and then frenzied chopping of the pigs' meat.
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| Prepping the meal |
Spanish folk dancers followed.
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| Colorful |
After that, I walked up and past the walls back into the city. After Alfonso VI of León and Castile retook the city from
the Arabs, he had the city walls enlarged, using mainly of granite blocks, but
also reused Roman gravestones. The new wall, which increased the city’s
perimeter to two miles, has eight towers, five gates and several doors.
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| Something pretty around every corner |
The walk home passed gardens ...
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| Cool and green |
... narrow streets and statues ...
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| A pleasant walk |
Then, Scott and I headed back out to dinner.
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| Plaza Mayor at night |
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| The specialty of Segovia |
We started with lovely soups -- I had a fantastic squash and leek soup and he a had a hearty garlic vegetable sausage concoction topped with poached egg. Europeans just love to top things with eggs.
Trip date: April 25-May 15, 2015
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