Part 2: The City
By Jim and Laurel
When we arrived in Zamora we knew little about the medieval fortress city, once the vanguard of Spain’s Christian—Islamic conflict many centuries ago. Now, after a couple of weeks of two-hour daily forays, we have succumbed to its lively, yet understated, charms.
Each day has been a new adventure. We began with the obvious. From the Roman Bridge spanning the Duero River, we followed the city wall to the Bishops’s Gate outside the Cathedral (1151) and on to the Castillo (983). From the vantage point of the castle tower we were able to take in the Cathedral’s unique, if not impressive, Byzantine influenced dome.
Other mornings we searched the city for Art Deco and Modernism buildings built in the early 1900s or we sought out a cool respite in one of the many ancient stone churches. Zamora has the most Romanesque churches (24) in the world and many of them are living museums.
Some days, our quests were more hedonistic as we foraged the calles and paseos for churros and tapas, or a bottle of vino de Toro to accompany our standard albergue supper of a cool “ensalada mixta” (lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and whatever was left in the fridge by pilgrims the day before).
Zamora is a beautiful city of roughly 60,000 people and each day its streets swell and ebb with a population committed to good mix of work, commerce, and public socializing. Museums, parks, city squares, and markets have all captured our attention on one day or another. Even mundane chores such as shopping, taking out the garbage, hanging the laundry, or sweeping off the steps are constant reminders of just how “preciosa” this place is.
 |
The Zamora Castle and the view of the Cathedral from the castle tour |
 |
Exploring the streets and squares |
 |
Art Deco and Modernist buildings of Zamora |
 |
| Zamora has 24 Romanesque churches, the most in the world |
 |
Tapas and churros |
Beautiful!
ReplyDelete