This morning we headed off for another out of town adventure to Segovia. This was a much easier journey in that we only had to take one metro and one bus. The bus trip was longer than yesterday since it was about 1 ½ hours.
From our impressive views of the aqueduct we climbed the steps to reach the upper level of the medieval town. What you notice immediately is the narrow streets, tall stone buildings and in some cases a stucco pattern on the walls. These Moorish style buildings are built right up to the edge of the street providing very little space for traffic and people. However, once you pass through the door in the wall you discover inner courtyards that can be spectacular. The living is done inside the houses/courtyards and is very private. Segovia City Walls were rebuilt in the 11th century of limestone, with granite blocks, blind arches, and towers. The two large towers have the San Andres Gate between them. There are also the San Cebrian Gate and the Santiago Gate, both having horseshoe arches.
We arrived in Segovia, a medieval town, to have a look at this historical town. Our first view of interest was the Roman Aqueduct. This aqueduct is one of the Roman Empire's most astounding engineering feats and one of the best preserved in Spain. It was built at the end of the 1st century and has been used until the middle of the 19th century. There are 166 stone arches on granite ashlars and they have been set without cement or mortar. The aqueduct is the highest and most imposing at the Azoguejo Square. The aqueduct gets water from the Fuenfria Spring that is located in the mountains that are 17 km away. At its tallest, the aqueduct is 28.5 m tall. The structure has both single and double arches that are supported by pillars.
The aqueduct is also known as the “Puente de Diablo” or Devil’s Bridge. There is a legend that the devil built the bridge in one night to win a young woman's soul. However he failed because he did not have the final stone when dawn came. The legend also says that the holes on the stones are the marks of the devil's fingers.
The aqueduct transports waters from Fuente Fría river, situated in the nearby mountains, some 17 km (11 mi) from the city in a region known as La Acebeda. It runs another 15 km (9.3 mi) before arriving in the city.
The water is first gathered in a tank known as El Caserón (or Big House), and is then led through a channel to a second tower known as the Casa de Aguas (or Waterhouse). There it is naturally decanted and sand settles out before the water continues its route. Next the water travels 728 m (796 yd) on a one-percent grade until it is high upon the Postigo, a rocky outcropping on which the old city center, the Segovia Alcázar, was built. Then, at Plaza de Díaz Sanz (Díaz Sanz Square), the structure makes an abrupt turn and heads toward Plaza Azoguejo (Azoguejo Square).
One of the prominent features in the town are the steeples from the churches. The one that we visited was the Cathedral of Segovia. The Cathedral was started in 1525 and construction was finished in 1768. It occupies the highest point of the city. This is the last Gothic church built in Spain. The style is late Gothic and it replaced the old Romanesque Cathedral after it was destroyed in a fire. The ground plan has three naves and chapels in the periphery. There are two other doors called the San Geroteo and San Frutos Doors. The dimensions of the church are 105 m long, 50 m wide and 33 m high at the main nave. The main altarpiece is made of marble, jasper and bronze. There are many chapels and one ends up in the cloister that overlooks the beautiful garden. The treasure room is very impressive. This is also a very impressive room, in the Renaissance style, with an impressive white and gold ceiling. On the ceiling beams were huge faces of men, with wings of angels. Usually angels are portrayed as children, but not here.
From the cathedral we headed on to find the Alcázar of Segovia (literally, Segovia Castle) which is a stone fortification, located in the old city. Rising out on a rocky crag above the confluence of the rivers Eresma and Clamores near the Guadarrama Mountains, it is one of the most distinctive castle-palaces in Spain by virtue of its shape - like the bow of a ship. The Alcázar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then.
The Alcázar of Segovia, like many fortifications in Spain, started off as an Arab fort, but little of that structure remains. The first reference to this particular Alcázar was in 1120, around 32 years after the city of Segovia returned to Christian hands (during the time when Alfonso VI of Castile re-conquered lands to the south of the Duero River down to Toledo and beyond). However, archaeological evidence suggests that the site of this Alcázar was once used in Roman times as a fortification. This theory is further substantiated by the presence of Segovia's famous Roman Aqueduct.
The shape and form of the Alcázar was not known until the reign of King Alfonso VIII (1155–1214), however early documentation mentioned a wooden stockade fence. It can be concluded that prior to Alfonso VIII's reign, it was no more than a wooden fort built over the old Roman foundations. Alfonso VIII and his wife, Eleanor of Plantagenet made this Alcázar their principal residence and much work was carried out to erect the beginnings of the stone fortification we see today.
The Alcázar, throughout the Middle Ages, remained one of the favourite residences of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Castile and a key fortress in the defence of the kingdom. It was during this period a majority of the current building was constructed and the palace was extended on a large scale by the monarchs of the Trastámara dynasty.
In 1258, parts of the Alcázar had to be rebuilt by King Alfonso X of Castile after a cave-in and soon after the Hall of Kings were built to house Parliament. However, the single largest contributor to the continuing construction of the Alcázar is King John II which built the 'New Tower' (John II tower as it is known today).
Throne Room - in 1474, the Alcázar played a major role in the rise of Queen Isabella I of Castile. On the 12th December news of the King Henry IV's death in Madrid reached Segovia and Isabella immediately took refuge within the walls of this Alcázar where she received the support of Andres Cabrera and Segovia's council. She was crowned the next day as Queen of Castile and Leon. It was also the site where she married Ferdinand II.
Tower of John II of Castile - the next major renovation at the Alcázar was conducted by King Philip II after his marriage to Anna of Austria. He added the sharp slate spires to reflect the castles of central Europe. In 1587 the main garden and the School of Honour areas of the castle were completed.
The royal court eventually moved to Madrid and the Alcázar then served as a state prison for almost two centuries before King Charles III founded the Royal Artillery School in 1762. It served this function for almost a hundred years until March 6 1862 where a fire badly damaged the roofs and framework.
Armory Room - it was only in 1882 that the building was slowly restored to its original state. In 1896, King Alfonso XIII ordered the Alcázar to be handed over to the Ministry of War as a military college.
Today, the Alcázar remains one of the most popular historical sights in Spain and is one of the three major attractions in Segovia. Notable rooms are the Hall of Ajimeces which houses many works of art, the Hall of the Throne and the Hall of Kings with a frieze representing all of the Spanish Kings and Queens starting from Pelagius of Asturias down to Juana la Loca after moving to El Palacio Real in Madrid, Spain.
The moat - the defensive moat goes back to the Middle Ages although the arcade spanning it dates from the 16th century. At 26 meters down, it was crossed by a drawbridge at the front of the palace but today it is a stone bridge that bridges the gap. Looking down over the edge causes a very impressive sensation when you think what it would have been like to try to get across once the drawbridge was pulled up.
San Millan Church - this church was built in the 12th century (the oldest in the city) in the Romanesque style and is located in the Plaza de San Millan, in the Moorish quarter. Alfonso, the King of Aragon, ordered the church to be built. There are three naves and three apses, with a small apse in the north gallery. The Mudejar influence is seen in the horseshoe arches. The capitals on the columns are noteworthy, as well as a 14th century Gothic crucifixion and many carvings. There are also many paintings. We were impressed by the architecture on the outside since we did not take time to go inside. The columns were impressive but also the carvings show a great deal of wear indicating the age of the building.
San Martin Church - This church is one of the most beautiful Romanesque churches in Segovia. There is an impressive atrium which has round arches resting on columns with Roman capitals. The apses are in the Romanesque style. There is a church tower in the center of the nave. Again we only walked by this church as we toured the old areas of the town. What did catch our attention was the number of stork nests on the roof of the tower.
El Parral Monastery - this monastery is located on the outskirts of the city in the Eresma Valley. The founder was Henry IV of Spain and since 1914 it has been a National Monument. The main Gothic chapel has a stunning polychromed altarpiece. There is a tower that was built at a later date and has a Renaissance style. Again we only saw this monastery from the distance as we looked down from the higher levels of the city.
We finished our tour of Segovia and worked our way back down from the old city hilltop to the newer city to the bus station. The return to Madrid was uneventful but we were all feeling a bit tired since these days in Madrid have been packed with lots of sightseeing and walking. Tonight we will be taking it a bit easier since tomorrow will be our day to move to Barcelona for our explorations there.
After we had our tea and happy hour it was time for dinner. Wes and I had volunteered earlier this week that I would be willing to make a spaghetti dinner for everyone rather than going out again. When we shopped yesterday we picked up the necessary ingredients for the spaghetti and Lynne picked up fresh vegetables since she volunteered to cook them as part of the dinner. Wes just did the volunteering while Lynne and I did the cooking – normal I would say but fun.
Cooking in a small kitchen meant that Lynne and I set up a plan to alternate kitchen access. I prepared the sauce (and since Lynne does not eat meat part of it was vegetarian). Then while it simmered Lynne prepared the vegetables to be cooked. As she finished the vegetables I prepared to cook the spaghetti only to have the power go off just as I was putting in the spaghetti to the boiling water. Of course the first thought is the breaker box which we knew where it was. The breakers are all ok, and since the power remained on in the front half of the apartment (2 bedrooms and the living room) we knew it was not a regional outage.
We decided that there must be a secondary breaker box but we could not find one, even though everyone started to look in cupboards, behind doors and under shelves. We finally decided that the only option for finishing the dinner was to move the microwave into the living room and cook the spaghetti there in a bowl. I have never tried to do this before, but it worked very well. The rest of the dinner had been cooked so we finally were able to sit down and enjoy our dinner with a good laugh about our one dinner cooked in the apartment with a power outage.
We called the caretaker of the apartment to ask about someone to come over and fix the problem. We still believed there must be secondary breaker box but even the caretaker could not remember where to locate it. So we finished dinner and waited for the electrician to arrive. Finally it was decided that we needed to do the dishes so this was accomplished by bringing the water kettle into the living room to boil water and a crew in the kitchen with head lamps on doing the cleaning and drying. This will be remembered as one of the interesting events of the year.
When the electrician arrived he was puzzled as well. He started checking out the breaker, moved on to opening up access panels on the walls and following the electrical circuits without finding any problems. I am not sure what caused him to move a picture on the wall, but when he did he discovered the secondary breaker box and with a flick of the switch we had restored electricity. Even though we had opened cupboards and checked behind doors etc, no one had thought to start taking down the wall pictures or mirrors looking for the box, but in future we may start there. We all had a good laugh and were glad we now had power back on in the bathrooms and kitchen.
We finished the evening by going for a walk to the bank to ensure we had enough cash for Barcelona’s apartment and our dessert which we decided had to be purchased at the square which again was extremely crowded even at 10 pm. The treat was worth the pressure of the crowds.
Both my electrical panels are behind pictures! lol
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