Monday, May 9, 2011

Zamora, Castilla y León

During the recent May Day holidays, I made a roadtrip to Zamora in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León, not too far from Madrid.

Famous for its Holy Week or Semana Santa festivities, the city of Zamora is rather compact and can be explored on foot within a few hours. The Duero river that runs alongside the city lends a picturesque setting to Zamora's backdrop of medieval Romanesque architecture.

Apart from the old city walls & the old stone bridge, the many Palacios & Plazas, the Cathedral & the Castle, my personal favourite highlights of the city include the very charming street "Calle de Balborraz" and the quaint looking set of watermills "Aceñas de Olivares".


Above: A view of Zamora from across the Duero River.


Above: A sea of red flowers in an abandoned field.



Above: Images of Zamora.


Above: 'Aceñas de Olivares' watermills.


Above: Calle de Balborraz


Above: The Romanesque Church of San Juan at Plaza Mayor.


Above: Another example of Romanesque architecture - The Cathedral of Zamora.


Above: Housed within the restored medieval Castle of Zamora is the city's contemporary art center, displaying the works of local sculptor, Baltasar Lobo.

Not the type of Spanish city that is crowded with tourists, Zamora is a fairly quiet and pleasant place to spend the weekend or from which to venture across the border to Portugal, which I did.

Next up, a short post on Bragança, Portugal!

2 comments:

  1. No tourists I can understand, but what about every day residents ? There wasn't a single one in any of your pics - was the Town closed ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nope, the town certainly wasn't closed. It's just that sometimes I prefer not to have people in the shots. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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