DJmotortouring

The best day yet of Tour 7.

Today was about visiting the small town of Sepulveda and, if time and energy permitted, the nearby Ermita San Frutos in the Hoces Del Rio Duraton National Park. Both places were recommended by the owners of Camping Riberduero as ‘go to’ places in the area.

Hidden within the dramatic canyons of Las Hoces del Río Duratón National Park, Sepúlveda is one of the prettiest villages in the province of Segovia and another great find.

We entered Sepuldeva from the east and stopped in a sizeable car park just off Calle Alonso VI. I subsequently learned that the prettiest approach into the town is from the south along SG-232, which route takes you past the Mirador de Zuloaga and it’s grand view of of the town clinging to the side of a particularly deep canyon formed by the Rio Duraton. That might be worth remembering for the future.

From the car park we walked along Calle de Alfonso VI and through the main gate, El Puerto del Ecce Homo, (which is actually an arch with the alternative name of El Arco del Ecce Homo – Remember, this is Spain) into what I shall call the Upper Town. The Upper Town is mostly residential although, just inside the arch, there is a hotel and a museum (the Museo de Los Fueros) and towards the top of the town, almost at it’s highest point, there is a fine church (the Iglesia de la Virgen de la Pena or, in English, the Church of Our Lady of Pena). This church is perched at the very edge of the canyon and has spectacular views. It is also the starting point for a series of great walks but, more about those in a moment.

The entrance to the Upper Town, the Arco del Ecce Homo O Puerta del Azogue, sounds most grand but it is a very plain entrance into what was once the walled part of the town.

Vanya and I wandered around the Upper Town for a while before making our way to the Church of Our Lady of Pena. This church dates back to the 12th century but, for all that, it is not the oldest church in Sepuldeva. This particular honour goes to another not so attractive church in the Upper Town – the 11th century Church of El Salvador.

Iglesia de la Virgen de la Pena at the top of the town. The Canyon is directly behind the church.

Inside the Church and…

… outside the Church. I believe I have mentioned before that (figuratively and literally) Vanya is not into churches.

I digress slightly but, later in the day, some time after lunch and having escorted Vanya and the dogs back to the Van, I returned to the Upper Town and embarked on a final brief explore – walking on past the church, through the Puerta de la Fuerza and down into the canyon to the Rio Duraton. It was good exercise and made for a couple of reasonable photo opportunities.

Left: Looking back, above the canyon, to the Iglesia de la Virgen de la Pena Right: The route on through the Puerta de la Fuerza would take me down to…

… the Puente Picazos. It was a warm walk back up to the top of the canyon.

So, back to the town. Immediately after visiting the Church of Our Lady of Pena, Vanya and I returned through the Upper Town to the Arco del Ecce Homo and along Calle Barbacana to the main part of Sepulveda which I shall refer to as the Lower Town.

The Lower Town is where most of the action is and where the majority of the 1,000+ inhabitants live. Calle Barbacana leads to it’s centre, a couple of small squares (Plaza del Trigo and Plaza de Espana) where, as we arrived, a farmers market was just closing. We checked out the market and then tarried outside a bar on the square(s) under the Clock Tower and watched the stallholders slowly and silently pack away their unsold produce and depart. At midday or thereabouts, Sepulveda is one of those slow sleepy towns where it feels quite normal to build an appetite by simply lazing around over a cup of coffee and watching others go about their business.

The Clock Tower with, behind it, La Muralla de Sepulveda (part of the old fortress walls which used to separate the Upper Town from the Lower Town) and on the top right of the photo is the of the Church of El Salvador.

Having developed a healthy appetite we moved just around the corner to the pretty Calle Lope Tablada de Diego and at the restaurant El Figon de Ismael we were persuaded by the proprietor to try the local speciality, Cordero de Lechal – a nice little lamb dish she said.

The Calle Lope Tablada de Diego where we found the El Figon de Ismael Restaurant

On the left is the entrance to the El Figonde Ismael (with our hostess in the background) and on the right is the wine we enjoyed, a local Rueda. Now mark my words, we will all be hearing more about Rueda. Currently it is largely unknown outside of Spain but I suspect it will soon become very popular.

And there’s our food, the local lamb dish known as Cordero de Lechal and that’s the chef in the background.

One of the things I really like about the Spanish (and the French too) is their enthusiasm for good food. We British are obsessed with the weather and talk about it all the time, even to complete strangers. The Spanish and the French are much the same about food but “a nice little lamb dish”? There was nothing little about this particular meal. It could have fed four, not two, but having said that, this was slow cooked suckling lamb – melt in the mouth meat and crispy golden skin – and seriously good. We coped. Even Vanya who is not all that fond of meat, especially lamb, was impressed by the food. And the local Rueda was equally sound. Unfortunately, the Balbas Bodega would not be open until the next week or we’d have popped in on the way back to Penafiels and bought a few bottles.

And so it was that, after a great start to the day in Sepulveda and well fed, we made for the Ermita San Frutos (that’s Fructos in English); a long abandoned hermitage in the Hoces del Rio Duraton Natural Park. The hermitage is only about 10 miles from Sepuldeva but it is a slow 10 miles because much of the journey is along a bumpy dirt track road and the last kilometre has to be walked.

Honestly, if you’re ever in this part of Spain, you have to visit the ruin. The first sight you get of the hermitage is from a view point just a couple of hundred meters from the car park and it’s setting is truly spectacular. If you don’t fancy the walk to the ruin itself, you’ll not be disappointed with what you see from the view point.

Ermita San Frutos from the viewpoint. It’s an easy walk around to the hermitage but you will be watched, if not followed, by many Griffon Vultures. This area is home to the largest concentration of vultures in the world – 600 pairs.

San Frutos, Patron Saint of Segovia was born in the 7th century into a wealthy Visigothic family. When his parents died he and his brothers, Valentin and Engracia, distributed their inheritance amongst the poor and, seeking complete solitude, retired to separate caves in this area which is now part of the Hoces del Rio Duraton National Park.

Tradition holds that the three brothers remained in these caves for many years until the Moors invaded the area. Valentin and Engracia were caught and martyred by the Moors. Frutus survived his brothers but died of natural causes not long after at the age of 73. Legend has it that a number of locals, seeking to escape the Moors, made their way to where Frutos lived but were followed there by Moorish soldiers. Frutos drew a line in the earth and asked the soldiers not cross it. When the soldiers ignored him and crossed the line, the earth miraculously opened up and swallowed them. The Moors did not bother Frutos again.

The existing hermitage was built on top of a small church in 1076 and was occupied by Benedictine Monks through until 1836. To access it, you have to cross a narrow bridge which was built in 1757 over a large crack in the rock. It is said this crack, known by some as ‘La Cuchillada’ and by others as the ‘Slash of San Frutos’, is where the Moorish soldiers fell to their death.

Just after the bridge and in front of the entrance to the hermitage, forged on a stone pedestal, is a large iron cross with seven engraved keys that correspond to the seven gates of Sepulveda. This cross was raised to commemorate a great pilgrimage to the hermitage in 1900. 

I could have sat amongst the ruins of the hermitage for quite a while. It was so peaceful. One thing I couldn’t help but notice, however, was that some of the headstones in the small graveyard at the back of the hermitage look very new. Curious.

Of course, it is the natural splendour surrounding this place which takes the breath away. The views in every direction are wild and spectacular and I must therefore end this entry on Sepuldeva with a couple more photos of the countryside.

Today started with us once again taking the Van out for a trip, this time to Segovia which is one hours drive south of Penafiel. I’d researched the city some time before and it looked to be worth the journey… the Aqueduct, the Alcazar Fortress, the Cathedral, etc. All looked very interesting and then we arrived… and the place was crammed with tourists; busloads of them, hordes of people everywhere. We made my way through the city towards one of the larger car parks recommended in the Park4night App but by the time we arrived both Vanya and I had lost all interest in the place. We were almost relieved to find the car park overflowing and made a decision there and then to move on. And so it was that we came to Cuellar.

Cuellar is a town of a little less than 10,000 inhabitants as opposed to Segovia’s 50,000+. As we arrived and parked up, the town looked almost deserted. Okay, so it was early afternoon and, as I mentioned in my notes on Penafiel, this is ‘real’ Spain and very little happens during weekday siesta time in real Spain. We set off for a short explore and to get some lunch.

We entered old town Cuellar through the San Basilio Arch and immediately stumbled upon two of the town’s most prominent landmarks, the Castle (it’s more of a Palace) and the San Martin Church. Cuellar Castle was built early in the 13th century although most of the current structure dates from the 16th century when it was home to successive Dukes of Alburquerque. They lived in the castle for centuries until moving to Madrid. The French army occupied the castle during the Peninsular War and looted it as the Duke of Wellington’s army approached. Wellington himself stayed at the castle for a number of weeks, as did a French General before him – General Joseph Hugo – the father of the novelist Victor Hugo.

For a while the castle remained empty but in 1938 it was transformed into a prison for political prisoners by Spain’s then ruler, General Franco, and it remained a prison until 1966. Since then it has been beautifully restored by Spain’s Ministry of Fine Arts and is now a museum.

Cuellar Castle

Not far from the castle is the 12th century Church of San Martin. It isn’t the most remarkable of Cuellar’s churches (The Churches of San Esteban and San Andres are far more impressive) but San Martin is now home to the Mudejar Art Visitor Centre and inside there is a light and sound show about Mudejar Art and the Christian, Jewish and Arab cultures.

It took a while but we eventually found a small bar/cafe in the old town which was open (they take siesta time very seriously here in Cuellar). Sadly, it was one of very few places in Spain which do not admit dogs and we had to eat at a table outside. That wouldn’t ordinarily have troubled us but Cuellar sits at almost 900 metres above sea level and it was blowing a bit of a hooley at the time.

That settled it. It was time to make our way back to Penafiel and we were both agreed that in the morning we would talk to our hosts at the campsite as to where we should visit next. They got it so right with Pedraza.

Pedraza de la Sierra (to use the villages’s correct name) is to be found some 50 miles south of Penafiel in Segovia Province in the Region of Castile y Leon. It is one of Los Pueblos Mas Bonitos de Espana and it is one of the best kept secrets in Spain. The village was recommended to Vanya and I as a place to see by the owner of our campsite in Penafiel and we decided upon a day visit in the Van.

It’s a small fortress village (less than 400 inhabitants) with just one narrow entrance. All of it’s buildings date back many hundreds of years (there is not a single modern building in Pedraza) and it is considered to be the best preserved medieval village in the whole of Spain. You’ll get no pushback from me on that point.

It took us a little over an hour to get to Pedraza. We parked close to the village entrance at the Casa de Aguila Imperial (a learning centre, housed in the old Romanesque Church of San Miguel, which serves to promote and protect Imperial Eagles) and after a quick look around we made the short walk up to the village entrance (Puerta de la Villa).

The Puerta de la Villa is small and can admit only very small commercial vans.

Just inside the entrance to the village is La Carcel, a 13th century fortified tower which in the 16th century was converted into the local prison. It was used as a prison until near the end of the 19th century but is now a tourist attraction. For 4 Euros you can wander the gaol and get a sense as to what it must have been like to have been imprisoned there. To say it was cramped, primitive and inhuman is an understatement. In addition to the gaoler’s quarters and facilities (the only part of the building with any heating) there are two levels of dungeons; one for the most common criminals (male and female) and another (little more than a pitch black hole in the ground) for the ‘more problematic’ prisoners. There’s no doubt that the prisoners were subjected to all kinds of abuse given the stocks and shackles which can still be seen in the prison.

Left: La Carcel (to the right of the entrance to the town) Right: A prison visitor

Prison quarters (left for common criminals and right for problem prisoners)

After a good nosey around the prison, it took no time to walk Calle Real to the village’s main square (Plaza Mayor). The square is simply perfect; like a film set. Talking of which, the square and various street scenes in Pedraza featured prominently in Orson Welles favourite film ‘Chimes At Midnight’ (aka Falstaff) where Orson Welles played Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff.

This square is not as enclosed as the Plaza del Cozo in Penafiel but every bit as authentic (moreso actually) and this square too is adapted when required to hold bullfighting events.

I’ll not try to describe the square. Just take a look at the photos.

It looks hot on the Plaza Mayor but in May at 1,068 metres above sea level (that’s higher than most Munros), it was actually perfect weather.

All of the buildings on the square date back to at least the 16th century.

Originally a 12th century Romanesque church, much of the existing Church of St John the Baptist, on the south side of the Plaza Mayor, dates from the 16th century.

I think that must be the Ayuntamiento (the town hall).

The east side of the square with it’s two bars...

The only thing I would add regarding the square is; it should be mandatory to sit and enjoy a beer and the free tapas from one of the two bars there. We were lucky; we visited on a week day and the landlord and other locals in the bar were keen to engage with us. I’m not sure how it would be at weekends when, we were told, the place gets packed with tourists from Madrid.

… and there’s the entrance to the bar we chose and a pork tapas.

Two more views of the Church of St John the Baptist. The one on the left is from Calle Mayor which leads to the castle. The one on the right is from the Plaza del Alamo.

Having refreshed ourselves with a couple of beers and some tapas, we finished our visit with a walk through the village to the castle and then back through the Puerta de la Villa to the Van.

Pedraza’s Castle which was built in the 13th century but significantly altered during the 15th century. It is currently owned by the family of the Basque Country artist Ignacio Zuloaga. He renovated and lived in the castle until his death in 1945. The castle is now a museum / art gallery.

Typical street scenes in Pedraza…

… and that’s the way back through the Puerta de la Villa to the Van (and Penafiel).

One last note for the calendar. On the first and second Saturday of July every year, the village holds ‘La Noche de las Velas’. It’s a bit of a fiesta which sees the village lights extinguished for 24 hours and 55,000 candles lit in their place while the village celebrates life with a series of music concerts and flamenco dancing. You cannot just turn up for this celebration. Access is limited to 5,000 people who must apply online for tickets towards the end of May. Now that would be spectacular.