Segovia information
General information
After being a military trading centre under the
Roman Empire, Segovia lived its golden age during the Middle Ages,
when it became the place of residence of the court of the Trastámaras.
This period was responsible for the construction of a large number
of Romanesque buildings, a wealth of heritage that is still conserved
today.
The entrance gate to the historic quarter of Segovia is the Roman
Aqueduct, in the plaza del Azoguejo. This jewel of engineering,
built under the Roman empire, brought water to the high city from
15 kilometres away. Its 163 arches and 29 metres at its highest
point are supported by blocks of stone from the Sierra de Guadarrama
without mortar, lead or cement.
Inside the city are important medieval and Renaissance buildings,
such as the Casa de los Picos, the Corn Exchange or the Tower
of los Lozoya. The first of them dates from the 15th century and
its façade decorated with spots of granite currently hosts
the School of Applied Arts and Trades. The Corn Exchange, a former
Gothic barn, and the Tower, a 14th century defence structure,
are now used for cultural exhibitions.
On our way to the Plaza Mayor and the Cathedral we should stop
at some important places of worship. In the Medina del Campo square
is the church of San Martín, where Mozarab, Romanesque and Mudejar
elements are spread around the series of arches and capitals.
The old Segovian Jewish quarter must have been in an area near
the city walls since the Convent of Corpus Christi is built over
a former synagogue. San Miguel, incidentally, was the place chosen
for the coronation of Isabel the Catholic Monarch as the Queen
of Castile.
A short distance away from the arcaded Plaza Mayor we find one
of the last gothic buildings to be constructed in Spain, the Cathedral.
Started in the 16th century in flamboyant Gothic, in its execution
are some pieces of the old cathedral such as a gothic Hispano
Flemish cloister. More recent additions are the San Frutos gate,
the apse, the high reredos (a work by Sabatini in the baroque
style) and the Neoclassic retrochoir by Ventura Rodríguez. The
Cathedral Museum also offers us a large collection of religious
art from various periods of history.
The los Caballeros quarter is also inside the city. Here you can
find luxurious large houses and palaces belonging to noble families
such as the palaces of Floresta, Count Cheste or Uceda-Peralta.
Numerous Romanesque churches can be found in this quarter, such
as the church of San Juan de los Caballeros (which houses the
Zuloaga Museum), San Nicolás (now the Municipal Theatre Workshop)
or San Esteban, a 13th century building whose tower and atrium
are one of the jewels of late Spanish Romanesque. Among these,
there are beautiful displays of medieval military architecture,
such as the Hércules Tower and the Arias Dávila Tower.
At one end of this walled enclosure is the profile of the Alcazar
fortress behind the Queen Victoria Eugenia gardens. On the outside
is the impressive group formed by an 80 metre high tower with
twelve more smaller towers, and a moat for defence. Several courtyards,
halls and rooms can be visited, and you can even go up to the
top of the crenellated tower and admire the Segovian landscape.
Outside the city, Segovia offers us an itinerary among squares,
gardens and numerous Romanesque constructions. We can thus visit
the church of San Millán, one of the best displays of 12th century
Segovian art, with its Mozarab tower, its atrium and apses. In
the church of San Clemente the outstanding features are its blind
arch apse and in San Justo some exceptional Romanesque paintings.
To find one of the best Mudejar coffered ceilings in Segovia we
have to go to the monastery of San Antonio el Real, the former
summer residence of King Enrique IV. Here we can also admire 15th
century Flemish pieces, books, robes and sculptures from the period.
Also in Segovia you can visit the Stately Home of the writer Antonio
Machado and the Museum of Contemporary Art named after Esteban
Vicente.
Outside the centre of Segovia are the churches of San Lorenzo (Romanesque with a Mudejar tower) and la Vera Cruz (with a polygonal plan of Templar origin) and the monasteries of Santa Cruz la Real (in Isabelline Gothic style) and El Parral (belonging to the florid Gothic style).
Oficina de Turismo: Plaza Mayor, 10
40001 Segovia (Segovia)
Tel. +34 921460334
Source: Web server of Instituto de Turismo de España, TURESPAÑA.