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The historical region of Old Castile, together with the province of León, is practically the same as the present-day region of Castilla-Léon, Castile and León. It is the essence of the meseta, Spain's central plateau, baked in summer and frozen in winter. Perhaps this hostile climate played a part in the development of austere spirituality which characterizes its great cities: León, Burgos, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Salamanca... The visitor will find these, and smaller places such as El Burgo de Osma, Soria or Covarrubias, as rewarding as anywhere in Spain.

 

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 quick - for centuries, it pushed and shoved to get elbow room for itself between the Kingdom of León to the north-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, 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 perhaps 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 slight 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

Segovia is 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 page for the city of Segovia covers its history, main sights (the aqueduct, the Alcázar, Segovia Catheral) and one minor one, the Segovia Mint, eating and drinking in Segovia, how to get there and more.

Or you may prefer to take a look at the province of Segovia, 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.

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 underpopulated 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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