BOXES 170-171: Segovia to Leon.

Segovia, our second night's stop in our travels through Spain in 1987, is one of my favorite Spanish cities--though my fondness is partly due to two more stays: a wonderful few days with Anne, my wife, in summer 2003, as we made plans for a 9-day UW-Sheboygan 'residence' the following January, and then the campus stay itself. Segovia has three amazing features: the Cathedral, at the center of the above photo; the Alcazar, a late-medieval fortress/palace/museum; and the Roman aqueduct, one of the best preserved in all of Europe. Add to that its medieval streets, its dramatic setting on a hill above a river bend, and views of the surrounding mountains.

In 1987 we (my friend Gloria, her two small sons, and her mother, Evelyn, plus myself) were able to drive right up into the plaza facing the Cathedral and get rooms at a hotel. (By 2003 the plaza had become pedestrian.) Sadly, I don't have any really good photos of the Cathedral other than the view above and a couple of the cloister, but I'll show you what I have. Here's a glimpse of its walls as seen from one corner of the plaza and then of its dome and bell tower from a greater distance:

Here you see as much of the west entrance and bell tower as I could fit into the frame, plus a glimpse of flowers in front of one side:

The interior was really magnificent: light-filled and rich in detail, with the same pale golden-colored stone as the exterior, but I have only this out-of-focus glimpse to show you.

At least the cloister photos turned out ok.

Easier to photograph was the Alcazar, which stood like a ship's prow on an outcrop of rock at the edge of the city.

Here's a romantic sunset view:

There were dramatic vistas looking down from the parapets:

And here is Evelyn on top of the keep:

Nigel and Lucas are seen here posing behind a cannon:

The interior of the Alcazar--where kings and queens of Spain lived before Madrid became the royal capital--includes spectacular ceilings created by Mudehar artisans:

I'll include a second shot of this room, though the focus is off.

As for the Roman aqueduct, located at the other end of town, it too is pretty photogenic:

Walking around Segovia was a constant pleasure, whether going up the narrow streets that led from the aqueduct or taking in the views from the edges of the city:

There were also places well worth visiting just beyond the city walls, like this Church of San Esteban:

Here is one last view of the city shortly before we were on the road again.

One stop we made quite close to Segovia was the Royal Palace at La Granja de San Idlefonso. This was an 18th-Century summer palace for the Spanish royalty, notable for its gardens and fountains as well as for the palace itself. The shots below display the front and back of the palace and an additional garden:

As I described in my previous post, our main goal was to visit friends in Vigo, Galicia, but we were not in a hurry to get there. Our next overnight stay would be in the city of León, with stops at a couple of ruined castles along the way. The first was Turégano, perched above a small town of the same name:

If I'm remembering correctly, we had to look in the town to find the guide, a local woman, seen in the photo below with Gloria and the kids:

Gloria made up stories about a knight who once lived in the castle, to amuse Nigel as we walked through the ruins.

I was struck by how much the turrets looked like chess pieces:

Our next stop was the Castillo de Coca. This was a quite different-looking ruin--for one thing, it was much more intact or restored, and it was on a plain rather than a hill like most Spanish castles. Also, it was on a grander scale and made of extra-durable brick with designs by Mudehar architects.

What struck me most were the geometric patterns formed by the brickwork:

One other stop we made, closer to León, was at a far more modest structure: the ancient (10th Century) church of San Juan Bautista de Baños de Cerrato, handsome in its simplicity.

The second photo features two Romani girls with whom Evelyn--fluent in Spanish--had struck up a conversation.

León, once the capital of a Kingdom of León, is another Spanish city with a rich ancient and modern history. It has two especially imposing architectural monuments, the first of which is its Cathedral. The overwhelming feature of the church is the sheer amount of stained glass in proportion to the rest of the building. Visiting it on a sunny afternoon was like nothing I'd ever experienced--standing inside a vast space saturated with gold, red, blue, green light. My photos give only a poor sense of that illumination:

There is an imposing though somewhat austere cloister as well--quite a contrast to the glowing stained glass inside. In the photos below Gloria, Evelyn and the kids are in the first, while the the second shows a statue on a spire-like pedestal.

The second monumental building of León is its Convent of Saint Mark (San Marco)--for centuries a resting spot for pilgrims traversing the Camino de Santiago, the Road of St James, on their way west to the city of Santiago de Compostela. Its exterior is a splendid example of 'plateresque' style: from the Renaissance era but elaborately decorated like the Spanish silversmith work of the time:

Like a number of historic buildings in Spain, this one has been converted into a parador: one of a government-run chain of luxury hotels. Thanks to Evelyn's generosity we all stayed there that night. I can easily say that it is the grandest hotel I have ever stayed in. The rooms were simple modern ones, but the interior courtyards carried on the grandeur of the exterior front.

Following our stay in León Gloria decided to take the boys on a train directly to Vigo to meet up with Pablo and his family, while Evelyn and I stayed with the car for a more leisurely exploration of the lands in between León and the Atlantic coast where Vigo is located. I'll report on this leg of the trip and on our Vigo stay in the next post.