| In fact, the meseta
is subdivided into northern and southern submesetas,
the northern submeseta being Old Castile and León (the
southern half of the plateau is New Castile). It is higher
than New Castile, more mountainous and more extreme in climate,
though fertile enough to provide the prosperity for Spain's
Christian mediaeval kingdoms: Asturias which became Galicia,
then León; and Castile. Castile's emergence was far
from easy - originally it was only a semi-independent condado
bound to the Kingdom of León from which it split, then
for centuries, it had to push and shove to find elbow room
for itself between the León to the west, the Kingdom
of Navarre and the Kingdom of Aragón to the east, and
Moorish emirates, caliphates or kngdoms to the south. They
were brutal times, as shown by the host of castles which gave
the region its name (and it is worth remembering that a castle
has a two-way function - to resist attack and to attack from),
but fascinating times. On the one hand, violent lawlessness,
on the other, the extraordinary moral code that was chivalry,
religiousness taken to the point of ecstasy, a cultural flowering
watered by adversity. In certain ways, the most representative
buildings in Old Castile are its great Gothic cathedrals -
every provincial capital has one, and they are all immensely
impressive. The Castilian character matches this - Castilians
even today have a reputation for being quietly dignified,
taciturn (at least by Spanish standards), hard-headed to the
point of stubbornness, and, above all, very proud.
There is much more than cathedrals to attract the visitor,
of course - lovely mediaeval towns, historic monasteries,
and nature - sierras and river basins, mountains and valleys,
a rich flora and fauna.
Eating and drinking is a pleasure, here, as well. Castilian
food is staple Spanish winter fare, simple, filling Spanish
cuisine at its best, exemplified by a dish that bears the
name of the region - sopa castellana is an amazingly
simple bread and garlic soup, served in a hot clay dish with
an egg dropped in which will poach before your eyes. Platos
de cuchara - things you eat with a spoon - are the backbone
of Castilian cusine, more so even than the Castilian roast
meats for which it is famous. And surprisingly, some of the
most interesting wine regions in Spain are found in Castile
and León: Ribera del Duero, Toro, Cigales, and the
practically unkown one Bierzo.
Ávila
Ávila is the most mystical of Spanish cities, pervaded by
the personality and the austerity of Saint Theresa of Jesus..
For the City of Ávila, see under "Madrid
and Around," or the Spain and Portugal for Visitors
page of Ávila
City Links. The province
of Ávila, on the other hand is a high, windswept
plain dotted by mountains (the highest peak on the Spanish
mainland, Pico Almanzor (2,592 metres, over 8,500 feet) is
in Ávila), and empty, with a population (not including
the capital) of not much more than 110,000 for the entire
province.
Burgos
The province
of Burgos is Old Castile looking north, high, underpopulated,
with an extreme climate, important wine-producing areas, and
a number of surprisingly varied attractions for visitors,
from the Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey (where the chart-topping
monks sing) to the mountains of the Sierra de la Demanda or
the archaeological site of Atapuerca. The provincial capital
and one-time capital of the Kingdom of Castile, the old cathedral
city
of Burgos, on the N1 road between Madrid and Bilbao is
often omitted by visitors, which is a shame, as it is as handsome
and historic a city as you will find. Admittedly, its main
sights are ecclesiastical, most notably the cathedral itself,
and its folk have a certain reputation for provincial stolidness,
but it is an atmospheric place and has a rare grandeur.
León
The province
of León is a mountainous land with a climate of
extremes, from the freezing depths of winter to searingly
hot summers, where the germ of the reconquista sprouted
and where the nearest thing Spain had to a resistance movement,
the maquis, hid out after the Spanish Civil War. It
is crossed by the Camino de Santiago and has handsome places
like Astorga
to show for it, and Its capital
city and former capital of the Kingdom of León
is unjustifiably the most undervisited of Spain's great cathedral
cities.
Palencia
The province of Palencia
is squeezed between Cantabria to the north, Valladolid to
the south, León to the west and Burgos to the east.
It is an out-of-the-way sort of place, thinly populated and
geographically varied, full of nature reserves of one sort
or another, and in the north spills over into the otherworldly
Campoo region. The Way of Saint James runs through Palencia,
a short stretch of it at least, but the province's Romanesque
heritage is much more extended than just the Camino. And most
of the extraordinary engineering feat that was the Canal de
Castilla is found in Palencia - extraordinary, expensive and
futile, nearly a century's building effort culminating in
barely a decade of useful operation before the railways made
it obsolete. Palencia's
provincial capital city
feels like just that, and it is no coincidence that its cathedral
is commonly referred to as "La Bella Desconocida,"
the Unknown Beauty.
Salamanca
If Burgos is Old Castile looking north, the province
of Salamanca is Old Castile heading into Portugal, rolling
slightly downhill from the meseta to the frontier city of
Ciudad Rodrigo. It is less underpopulated than other parts
of Castille and León, being agriculturally rich and
an important crossroads, between central Spain and Galicia
, Extremadura and the north of Spain, and between Spain and
Portugal. The provincial capital, the old university city
of Salamanca is one of the most rewarding visits to be
made in the whole country (the Rough Guide used to call it
"the most graceful city in Spain"), its Plaza Mayor
is generally considered the most perfect in Spain, and it
has a host of historic buildings of great architectural interest.
And if you arrive in term-time, you will fnd its atmosphere
becomes enjoyably high-spirited and studenty.
Segovia
The province
of Segovia is typical Old Castile in its mountains and
plains, hardness of life and splendour of nature, with unexpected
treasures like the royal palace and gardens at La Granja de
San Ildefonso. By far its best-known draw for visitors though
is its capital, Segovia,
a mediaeval city like Toledo in New Castile, but with a quite
different feel to it. Its main sights are the Roman aqueduct
and the Alcazar, the Disney-like appearance of which belies
its sinister past. It is gastronomically important as well
- the cochinillo, slow-roasted suckling pig, is not
to be missed. The Spain and Portugal for Visitors pages for
the city of Segovia cover its history; main sights (the aqueduct,
the Alcázar, Segovia Catheral) and a minor one, the
Segovia Mint; eating and drinking in Segovia; how to get there
and more.
Soria
The slogan "Soria, Ni Te Lo Imaginas" (roughly,
"you don't know what you are missing in Soria) is very
appropriate for one of the most beautiful but least visited
provinces in Spain. The province
of Soria is Old Castile making its way into La Rioja,
Navarre, or Aragón, in other words prosperous farming
country, with plenty of wilderness thrown in. It is thinly
populated like the entire region but ,unusually for Old Castile,
Its capital
city does not contain an especially high proportion of
the population and its towns, though small (five or six thousand),
are attractive and interesting - places like San Esteban de
Gormaz or El Burgo de Osmo are a delight.
Valladolid
The province
of Valladolid is perhaps the most Castilian of the provinces
of Old Castile, in the sense that it is packed to its provincial
borders with castles, and that it was the centre of the Kingdom
of Castile and, indeed of the Spanish Empire. As well as being
the provincial capital, the city
of Valladolid is now also the capital of Castilla-León,
the largest region in Europe. It is one of the great cathedral
cities of Spain and Semana Santa here is unbelievable. For
many years, though no longer, it was considered that the Spanish
spoken here was the most perfect.
Zamora
The province
of Zamora is more León than Castile, most of it
having been an important part of the mediaeval Kingdom of
León. It is a varied province, in part because it is
slightly artificial, having been cobbled together in the nineteenth
century from bits of Valladolid and Ourense, in part because
of its location, facing on to Portugal and a little of Galicia
(Galician, Portuguese and even Leonese are still spoken in
rural areas), and in part because of its geography, with the
Mountains of León in the north and the Sierra de la
Culebra and the peaks of Los Arribes del Duero peaks in the
west forming a kind of bracket around the rest of the province,
more or less typical of the northern meseta, plateau.
It has in the past been a wealthy province (and even now is
much more populous than you would expect), being an important
E-W and N-S crossroads and having a relatively prosperous
agriculture. For visitors, it has a number of historical,
especially Romanesque remains, but its main interest lies
in its countryside. Zamora
the capital
city of the province is a very agreeable little place
(population 66,000) which calls itself "The Romanesque
Museum City" and has a cathedral noted for its Byzantine
influences, particularly in its cimborio, a kind of dome.
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