Sunday, October 6, 2013

Sego-go-govia


Let’s round out our imaginary day trip – hiking in las Hoces, lunch in Pedraza - with a bang: a stop in Segovia, home to Walt Disney’s inspiration for Sleeping Beauty’s castle , a cathedral dating from 1525 and a very impressive aqueduct, build in 1AD by the Romans and used until the 19th century!

It’s a long walk, but there’s lots to see – apart from the three main sights, there’s the main square, the Casa de los Picos (a house covered in beak-like bricks), a trio of small Romanesque churches, the protective city walls... once you make it to the castle, go inside and climb up to the top for views of the city. The castle’s history is interesting, albeit a little grim – Isabel the Catholic spent a lot of time here – she was responsible, along with her husband Ferdinand, for the “promotion” of Catholicism above all else. More positively, they financed the voyage of a very famous man to the New World in 1492 - one Christopher Columbus, or Cristobal Colon.

2 comments:

  1. I love Segovia... the aquaduct is incredible. The view from the top is beautiful! An amazing architectural feature... from 1AD !!! Also loved the whole daytrip... the pig, the beans and happy to take the shortcut back to the car instead of walking across the fallen tree :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love it, too. It's very historically interesting, and the food is always good! Going across the tree was more fun than the shortcut, but maybe not the smartest plan - lucky I didn't fall in. :)

      Delete