The unique and magnificent Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the most resplendent constructions the Romans left throughout the length and breadth of their vast empire. It was built to carry water from the mountains to Segovia, it is the symbol of the city and legend has it that it was built by the devil.

Theories point to it being built in the first century in the time of Flavius, and also to the time of Nerva or Trajan, none of which prevents it from its place at the top of the list of civil engineering constructions in Spain. Its 166 Guadarrama granite arches are made up of blocks of stone held together by an ingenious balance of forces using no mortar. It is an extraordinary construction whose useful purpose stands in perfect harmony with its beauty and which served the city until recent times. It has hardly been altered through the centuries.
The only damage done was during the 1072 A.D. attack on Segovia led by the Muslim Al-Mamún of Toledo when 36 arches were damaged. The arches were restored in the 15th century by Friar Juan de Escobedo, a monk at the Monastery of El Parral. Since time immemorial there have been two niches where statues of pagan gods probably stood and which were replaced in the time of the Catholic Monarchs, Fernando and Isabel, by statues of San Sebastián and the Holy Virgin. Underneath the niches there used to be an inscription in bronze lettering relating to the foundation of the ‘bridge’ and of which today there remains only the trace of the letters.

 
- Source in Riofrío, or the Acebeda to the first sand trap: The path can be followed on foot, starting at the Puente Alta reservoir, located at the 87 km mark on the N-603 road linking Madrid and Segovia via Guadarrama, following the river to the dam on the Cabeza Grande hillside and returning via the sheep-shearing houses of Santillana and Casa Grande, then taking the road which links La Granja and Segovia.

- The Aqueduct in the City of Segovia: Starting at the road from La Granja, it continues via the house known as the Casa de Piedra (House of Stone), a sand trap which removed impurities from the water and controlled the flow of the water, a construction from the 15th and 16th centuries.

- The Aqueduct in San Antonio El Real: This is where the first water conduits leave the main channel; the plans of the water system are kept at the Municipal Archive of Segovia. At this point the structure starts to be visible and there are stone blocks cut in the image of the Aqueduct, probably dating back to the 16th century.

- The Second Sand Trap: Continuing along the wall, the aqueduct comes to the second sand trap which is very similar to the first, with Roman stone blocks. This section - which has undergone a lot of reconstruction - is where the single series of arches begins.

- The Plaza del Azoguejo: The Aqueduct stands at its highest in the Plaza del Azoguejo and there is a series of 43 arches on two levels. The two niches can be seen. In one there is a statue of the Holy Virgin and the traces of the bronze inscription of the consoles which has not been deciphered in full.



- Consuelo Wicket Gate: From the top of steps the full length of the construction can be seen and there is an impressive view of the city. This is where the arches end although the channels continue through the upper part of the city to the Alcázar.

- The Plaza de la Reina Doña Juana: Under the square water distribution inspection covers have been found. The channel continues to the Plaza de los Huertos and the Plaza Mayor.

- The Plaza Mayor Sand Trap: A gallery was recently discovered which the main channel of the aqueduct passed through. A tank removed impurities from the water and signals the beginning of a network which distributed water to the Jewish quarter and the Canonjías district.

- The Aqueduct at the Alcázar: This is the last part of the aqueduct for which there are archaeological records. It is mentioned in a document dating back to 1504, in the times of Queen Juana, referring to the Decree on the Aqueduct Water of the City of Segovia.
 

The beautiful pinnacles over the apse of the cathedral gaze down on the Plaza Mayor and are a gathering point for storks in the evening. Built in late Gothic style, construction on the cathedral began in 1525 under the direction of the Gil de Hontañón family of architects and with the altruistic cooperation of the people of Segovia. It replaced the Old Cathedral which stood in what are now the gardens of the Alcázar and was destroyed during the Revolt of the Comuneros in 1520. On the west side is the main façade, known as the Puerta del Perdón (Door of Pardon) which was designed by Juan Guas and has a statue of the Virgin.

In front of this façade there is a paved area which is used for cultural events. The tower, located on the Epistle side, is one of the most striking elements of the cathedral given its great height, and until the middle of the 20th century the bell ringer lived there. From the tower there is a striking view of the city although special permission from the Chapter is required to go up it.

The San Geroteo Portal, named in memory of the first bishop of Segovia, lies to the south. To the north stands the San Frutos Portal which was built at the beginning of the 17th century in honour of the town"s patron saint. Another point of interest is the apse, which is adjacent to Calle Judería Vieja. It has limestone buttresses and pinnacles in florid Gothic style surrounding the great dome. The ground plan has three naves with a transept, with a semi-circular apse at the head and ambulatory, surrounded by chapels.

The Alcázar appears like an imaginary ship standing on the cliff above the point where the Eresma and Clamores rivers meet, festooned with the shades of ochre and blue of the plain and the mountains. In front of the entrance to the Alcázar there are well-kept gardens with statues by the Segovian sculptor Aniceto Marinas of Daoiz and Velarde, heroes of the War of Independence. To the left stands the Casa de la Química (House of Chemistry), built during the Enlightenment, where Louis Proust carried out his research.

Both sides of the castle offer splendid views of the Pinarillo (pine woodland) with the Jewish cemetery, the church of Vera Cruz and the village of Zamarramala.

A drawbridge over a deep moat leads to the fortress in its privileged position and it is possible that the site has been used since the times of the Celts. The fortress became a royal palace in the 13th century and took on its Gothic appearance in the times of Juan II and Enrique IV. Following a serious fire in 1862 which nearly destroyed it, it has undergone continuous restoration work since 1882 during the reign of Alfonso XII. The Alcázar Trust has continued this work, restoring its coffered ceilings, friezes, altarpieces and walls.

Rising up out of the northern part of the monument is the small tower of Alfonso X, the Learned, where which the king studied the firmament, and the 80m-high tower of Juan II decorated with beautiful sgraffito and 12 small towers. Miserable days were spent in its cold and narrow dungeons by nobles who had fallen into disgrace such as Don Alvaro de Luna, and other imaginary figures such as Don Torcuato in "El Delincuente Honrado" (The Honest Criminal), written by Jovellanos.

Visitors can climb up a steep and narrow winding staircase to the top of the tower where they can enjoy a stunning view of the city, including the San Marcos district, the village of Zamarramala and the quarry from which some of the stone used to build the Cathedral was extracted.

Inside, the rooms of the Alcázar surround the Patio de Armas (Arms Courtyard), a place often used for chamber music concerts, and the Patio del Reloj (Clock Courtyard). To the left are the rooms used by the Royal Artillery College and to the right, the Palace of the Monarchs of Castile, the heart of the building. Outstanding for their beauty are the Sala de Ajimeces (Mullioned Window Room), the Sala de la Galera (Galley Room) with its recently reconstructed coffered ceiling, the Sala del Trono (Throne Room) with a striking Mudejar ceiling taken from Urones de Castroponce in the province of Valladolid, the work of Xadel Alcalde who had built the ceiling that existed in the room before it was destroyed by the fire, the Sala de la Chimenea (Fireplace Room), Sala del Cordón (Chord Room), Sala de las Piñas (Pine Cone Room), the Royal Chamber, the Queen’s Dressing Room and the Chapel with an altarpiece of the Castilian school of the first quarter of the 16th century taken from Viana de Cega in the province of Valladolid and another devoted to St. James the Apostle, as well as the Adoration of the Magi painted by Bartolomé Carduccio in 1600. Of all these rooms, the Sala de Reyes or (Monarchs’ Room) stands out for its remarkable coffered ceiling with golden hexagons and rhombuses and an original frieze of 52 polychrome seated statues of the Kings and Queens of Asturias, Leon and Castile starting with Don Pelayo and ending with Juana la Loca (the Mad).

The walls which surround the city with a length of more than 3,000 metres start and end at the Alcázar.

The gates of Santiago and San Cebrían on the north part of the wall and the gate of San Andrés on the south part have survived to today. There were also a number of wicket gates: the Alcázar wicket gate, the Fuente Cercada wicket gate, the Picado of San Matías wicket gate, the San Juan wicket gate, the Consuelo wicket gate, the Luna wicket gate, the Sol wicket gate and the Obispo wicket gate. Today only the Consuelo and San Juan wicket gates survive, and the Sol and Luna wicket gates have been reconstructed.

  

This magnificent church is a compendium of Castilian Romanesque and is defined by its three porticos with columns, three apses, and a Mudejar tower which takes the place of the dome. Of particular interest are the carved capitals, the marble panel with the image of San Martín on the outside of the apse and the four columns in the form of statues on the façade. Inside there is a triptych by the Flemish painter Adrian Isembrandt, a number of paintings in the early Castilian style known as the Maestro of the 11,000 virgins, a reclining Christ attributed to Gregorio Fernández and a sculpture of St. Francis by Pedro de Mena.

Following the path of Calle de San Nicolás, the narrow street opens out into a pleasant place where the Church of La Trinidad can be found. This is one of the best preserved Romanesque churches in the city. In its simple and authentic interior some stunning paintings are kept.
 

 Built at the end of the 11th century this is one of the oldest churches in Segovia which stands on the site of what was probably an early Christian basilica, the first of a number of buildings whose tradition as religious sites has been kept to today. The city"s nobility are buried here.

In 1905 it was bought and restored by Daniel Zuloaga who turned it into his home and a ceramics workshop. It later became a museum dedicated to the family with collections of ceramics and an archive of documents. It all belongs to the State. In the area between the wall and the church, commonly known as “Los Zuloagas”, cultural activities are held in the summer.
 

Built in the late Romanesque style, its tower is considered to be one of the finest examples of its kind. Following a fire in 1896 it was dismantled and rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century, the Baroque spire being replaced by the tiled one we can see today.          The changes have not diminished the elegance of the tower, a characteristic mast in the city’s outline.
 

This is a perfect example of the Romanesque churches in Segovia, including as it does all of their typical characteristics, such as Islamic influence (its decoration and vaults in the style of the Caliphs), porticos which serve as meeting points like the galleries of a square, and graceful towers which lend an unusual character to the city skyline. It was built in the image of the Cathedral of Jaca and its tower conserves remains of an earlier Mozarabic building.
 

Next to the Aqueduct is a small Romanesque jewel, the 17th century church of San Justo with one of the few carved tympana of Romanesque Segovia, a graceful tower and valuable paintings in its apse. The Pantocrator is a highlight along with scenes of the Passion of Christ and the lives of the patron saints.

  

On the road to Zamarramala stands the Church of la Vera Cruz which was founded by the Knights of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in 1208 A.D., although popular tradition has it that it was built by the Knights Templar.
 
The inside of this twelve-sided church is very sober and moving and has a mysterious aura to it. There are two floors with Muslim-style ribbed vaults and the remains of paintings.

This has been a holy site for two religions, Christianity and Judaism. It was used as a synagogue until 1410 when it was confiscated from the Jewish community. It stands out for the brightness of its walls brought about by the materials used to build them.
 
The latest restoration of the church was completed in 2004. The rectangular space used for worship dates from the 14th century. Both the high altar and the area for the choir, which is divided into three naves by two rows of 5 horseshoe arches, were added later. A highlight is the beauty of the capitals. In this church we find an original mix of two cultures which combines Christian decoration with a number of altarpieces dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and paintings, with the architecture of what in earlier times was the Sinagoga Mayor of Segovia’s Jewish quarter.

Enrique IV, who had a hunting palace here, donated the monastery to the Franciscan order in 1455. When they left it in 1488 nuns of the order of St. Clare came to live here. At an angle with the Plateresque façade, decorated with praying statues of the Catholic Monarchs, Fernando and Isabel, is the church’s portal built in the style of Queen Isabel, with a diminished arch, an ogee arch and a trefoil arch under Morisco eaves.

Inside the church there are works of art which alone justify a visit to the monastery. There is a stunning Mudejar coffered ceiling over the Main Chapel and a one-of-a-kind sculpted Flemish altarpiece from the 15th century which recounts the Passion of Christ in a host of scenes.

In the part of the monastery which is open to the public, the cloisters, the throne room, the chapter house with its beautiful coffered ceilings, the refectory with frescos from the times of Enrique IV, and the Mudejar-Gothic cloister with its mediaeval garden may be visited. Three triptychs with terracotta figures of the school of Utrect and collections of documents, sculptures, paintings and furniture complete the visit.

This monastery was built in 1447 under the orders of Enrique IV, although legend attributes its foundation to the king"s favourite, Juan de Pacheco, the Marquis of Villena. The monastery is built around a number of Gothic, Mudejar and Plateresque cloisters.

After the sale of church lands in 1836 it was abandoned and plundered. Its reconstruction began after it was declared a National Monument in 1914 and Hieronymite monks moved back to it in 1927.

The incomplete façade of the monastic church bears the coat of arms of the Pacheco family. Another outstanding feature is the elegant tower on the top of which there is Plateresque cresting, the work of Segovian Juan Campero. The inside of the church, with its nave, gallery, side chapels and polygonal head, follows the Hieronymite model of construction, and was the work of the architect Juan Guas.

Among the outstanding works of art in this church are the portal of the sacristy, the tomb of Beatriz and the statues of the Apostles by the sculptor Sebastián de Almonacid in the high windows at the head of the church, the Plateresque artwork of the central altarpiece carved out of wood, and the large sculptures of Juan Pacheco and his wife, María de Portocarrero, the work of the sculptors Juan Rodrífuez and Lucas Giraldo.