24 Hours in the CIty of Segovia
A Day Trip from Madrid Shows Arab, Jewish and Christian Spain
The hilltop city of Segovia, two hours by train from Madrid, is famous for its Roman aqueduct. But there's much more to it than that.
In spring, when it’s ten degrees centigrade in Madrid, it can be almost freezing in Segovia, high in the mountains. In the burning Spanish summer, Segovia is delightfully cool. That’s what attracted the royal court to the city – and made it a fine choice for a day trip out of Madrid.
The Roman aqueduct is the city’s most famous feature, even figuring on its coat of arms. It runs in all fourteen miles to the spring that feeds it. Follow it uphill away from the city, and you’ll come to the Roman "casa de las aguas", the building where the water channel is divided and a settling pool takes the silt out before the water crosses the aqueduct.
The Calle Real runs from the entrance to the city all the way to the Alcazar at the other end. This was the main street of the city, and on it you’ll see fine Renaissance mansions and medieval tower-houses, often decorated with scratched plaster designs (sgraffiti).
Fine Romanesque Churches Are One of Segovia's Glories
Segovia is celebrated for its fine Romanesque churches and one of the most splendid is just off the Calle Real. San Martin is characteristic of the style with its open galleries on the sides of the church, and mudéjar influence from the Arab period of Segovia’s history. But it’s unique in having a fine doorway with statues of saints derived, quite likely, from Northern French Gothic examples. (The grandest of the Romanesque churches, San Millan, is down on the avenue that leads off from the aqueduct.)
The Medieval Synagogue is one of Spain's Finest
Keep following the main street and you’ll find the synagogue – now a convent. Its horseshoe arched arcades and carved pine cone capitals are similar to those in the much more famous synagogue of Santa Maria la Blanca in Toledo, and it’s a beautiful testimony to the wealth and culture of the Jewish community in medieval Segovia.
Unfortunately most of the Jewish quarter was destroyed under Charles I to build the huge Gothic cathedral – probably the latest Gothic work ever built in Spain, as well as one of the highest and most spacious. The cloister, though, was transferred stone by stone from the earlier cathedral site, which was closer to the Alcazar. Don't forget to look at the fine Renaissance stained glass – much of it original.
Segovia's Alcazar - A Fairytale Castle
From the cathedral, the Calle Real runs through the ecclesiastical quarter of the city, with smaller and older houses than in the lower town. At the end of the city ridge, you come to the Alcazar, a royal castle built on the site of the original Roman camp. It’s a fairytale castle, with slate roofed turrets and fine medieval rooms, where you can see how Gothic style meets Arab influences in the lovely plasterwork.
This is as far as many tourists come. But to discover all the flavours of Segovia, you need to take a walk along the valley below. From the Alcazar you’ll easily spot the church of the Vera Cruz – a unique polygonal church said to have been built by the Templars. A steep and secluded path makes its way from the Alcazar down towards the church; turn to the right, along the leafy river valley, and you’ll come eventually to the barrio of San Lorenzo with its little church.
Arabs as Well as Spaniards Made Segovia's Culture
The horseshoe arch of the church’s west door tips you off to the Arab influence here. This is where the Arabs of Segovia lived, in half timbered houses very different from the palaces of the wealthy nobles inside the city. They kept market gardens here – and if you take the little path directly opposite the west door, you’ll see the gardens and the little water channel that irrigated them.
