Segovia
Summer residence of the Spanish royal court
Segovia, high in the mountains of the Guadarrama north of Madrid, freezes in winter - but in summer it's pleasantly cool compared to the city in the plain. It's not surprising that Segovia became a favourite summer residence for the Kings of Spain.
Its history goes back all the way to the Romans, who built the impressive aqueduct which is the symbol of the city, and brings water 14 kilometres from the mountains. After a period of Arab rule, the city was retaken by the Christians in 1088; a series of fine Romanesque churches were built, with fine galleries and carved capitals showing a mixture of subjects - fighting animals, monsters, and scenes from the Bible. Later, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Segovia became a Renaissance city par excellence, with fine patrician mansions and one of the last and biggest Gothic cathedrals in Spain. (An excerpt from Victorian architect GE Street on the subject of Segovia cathedral is biased, but interesting.)
Our audio tour takes the Calle Real ('royal road') from the aqueduct towards the Alcazar, the most dramatic castle in Spain - built on the end of the ridge of rock that underlies the city, like the prow of a ship. On the way we'll visit the Romanesque churches of San Millan and San Martin, as well as the ancient Synagogue of Segovia - now a church. It's a little known treasure of Spanish Jewry, similar to the much better known synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo. Th
e tour continues through the cathedral and the Alcazar, before returning to the aqueduct through the noble quarter of the city.
In the Alcazar, you'll see how the forms and themes of Islamic architecture continued under Christianity - many builders and carpenters were of Moorish descent. Even though Segovia is in no way a major centre of Moorish culture, like Granada or Cordoba, its Islamic past is always there if you look hard enough for it.
As a special bonus we've included an audio tour of the barrio of San Lorenzo, just outside the city, where the mudejar population lived - Arabs who stayed under Christianity, and managed the market gardens here. It's a spot the tourist coaches miss, but it has a character all its own and is well worth the detour.
Podtour of Segovia
Price: £5
Other Spanish cities with Podtours include:
- Toledo, spiritual capital of the country;
- Salamanca, Spain's greatest university;
- , a free PDF walking tour to print out.
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What else to see in Segovia
- The dodecagonal church of the Vera Cruz, in the fields below the Alcazar, is not always open - ask at the tourist office before you make the trek out. But it's one of the most unusual buildings in Spain. Its central form probably derives from the Templars, and is intended to mimic the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
- If the Alcazar has given you an appetite for mudejar art, head outside the city to the monastery of San Antonio el Real. The outside promises little - but inside are exquisite mudejar ceilings, and fine works of art.
- The Palace of la Granja (bus from Segovia) was largely the work of Phillip V of Spain, who retired here in the 1720s. Its fine gardens are reminiscent of Versailles - but with wonderfully wild mountain views behind.