Segovia and Avilla Spain ~ Where are the Jays

The last day trip we did from Madrid was a combined tour of the towns of Segovia and Avilla. We first went to Avilla which is a walled city. Saying it is a walled city is a little bit of an understatement. It is one of the longest walled cities in the world with 8,255 square feet of continuous walls and 88 semi circle turrents. It is also known as the Town of Walls and Saints. The walls were heavily built from repurposed stones some of which were old tombstones from Roman Tombs. The Saints part comes from St Teresa of Jesus who was born in this town and many pilgrims come here because of her.

Avilla

Jeff by one of the main gates to the walled city

St Teresa of Jesus

St Teresa of Jesus

St Teresa of Jesus was born in Avilla to a wealthy family who had bought a knighthood. Her father bought the knighthood to help his acceptance in Christian society since his father had been a Jew at one time and converted to Christianity rather than leave Spain. Her mother raised her as a devout Christian. Mom may have overdone the Christian upbringing because at a young age, her and her older brother tried to run away to help fight the Muslims or moors. Happily, an uncle saw them outside the walls of the city and brought them back. However, it was really the beginning for St Teresa. She would later join the local monastery and become a nun. She would become a mystic Christian and would also later push that the nuns should use less of their wealth on themselves and more for the people who needed help. Neither of these beliefs were very popular with the other nuns and some clergy to the extent she was punished until a Spanish King befriended here. She died on a trip to a neighboring town, so she was buried there. Well people in Avilla felt she should be buried in Avilla, so the coffin was opened 9 months later and while her clothing was rotted her body was intact. Someone took a finger then. The poor lady's burial site would change several times over the years because of politics. In the end, parts of her are still intact and in several locations. Geez what a tough after life!

Walls - long and strong

The tour ended with a climb up to the top of the walls and a chance to explore. Our guide warned us not to turn left at one corner, but to turn around or we would be gone too long/lost and left behind. Something about a really long way around!

Lots of churches

Segovia

Was our second town for the day and all I knew was it had a really impressive roman aqueduct. Jeff thought there would be a really interesting castle too. Happily, we were both correct. The first thing you see as you enter the town is the aqueduct. It is tall and very long and built without any type of glue/mortar just stone on top of stone. And still standing I should add.

As we walked around the town, our guide pointed out a unique building feature that is common in Segovia called graffiti. No not the current version but a much nicer version. It is where they texturized the walls/added patterns to the whole structure. After showing us part of the town, the guide set us free to find lunch and then join him for the walk to and tour of the castle.

Roman Aqueduct

pictures of various forms of graffiti

Originally a Mosque, then a Synagogue and then Convento Del Corpus Christi
We couldn’t go inside, but the bottom picture shows the interior.

Cathedral De Segovia

Alcazar

As I said above, Jeff was right there was a gorgeous castle in Segovia and it is called Alcazar. Look closely at the pictures because you have seen interpretations of it for years. Disney based Snow White's castle on this one. The castle was in use till the 1700s when there was a fire and most of the interior burned. We were told that one painting was original, one ceiling was the spare from the original structure and the rest of it was rebuilt. I have to admit I saw this one a day or 2 after the replacement castle in Madrid and I kind of prefer the style of this one although the new one is much larger and quite impressive. Like many old buildings in Europe, this one was added onto several times including one time so the king could impress his new wife. If you look closely at the picture below you will see different types of stonework and different building styles.