getaway to segovia
castles and fortresses
This is one of the best things you have when you travel in a home vehicle and that is that you have everything prepared, to go on a trip.
This time we decided on a relatively close site, one hour away. From Madrid, at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama, we go to SEGOVIA.
Only a part of primacú-campers, because we cannot always coincide.
DAY 1. Friday
We left towards Segovia around 4:00 p.m. and before 5:30 p.m., we were already settling in at the campsite where we were going to spend the night during this weekend, the Aqueduct campsite. A very appropriate name for being located where it is, in Segovia itself, just 20 min. walking from the city center.
A very family campsite, quite spacious, it seems to have been a farmhouse in its time.
We put the caravan, some chairs around here, the table, the fridge, we scaled the awning and that's it, we were ready to go to know the city a little, because we had planned to live the two most important palaces of this place and the real Alcazar, but this we would save it for the second day.
In the first we took a short tour of the old town, approaching the foot of the majestic Aqueduct. Pharaonic work of the Romans, which continues to last through the centuries.
If the views at your feet are fantastic, we don't even want to tell you from above. You can check the volume of the construction and contemplate a large part of the city.
We continue the walk through the old part of the city.
We toured part of its pedestrian streets, visiting a few of the many churches that this beautiful city has.
Without realizing it, we reached the Plaza Mayor, where the colossal Cathedral of Segovia appeared.
This cathedral is known as the Lady of the Cathedrals for its size and elegance, it is a cathedral built between the 16th and 18th centuries , in a Gothic style with some Renaissance features .
It is not part of us to visit the church inside, so we took a tour around it, to enter the Jewish quarter.
Which we crossed and returned to reach the great Aqueduct.
We had neither time nor muschas but desire to walk, so the first day was over, we wanted to rest a little, because the second day was going to be intense touring the three destinations marked in our agenda:
The Rio Frio Palace, the Royal Palace of San Ildefonso and its gardens and the Royal Alcazar.
DAY 2. SATURDAY
Willing to spend a very entertaining day, we did not get up very early, because we had a reserved appointment at the PALACIO DE RIO FRIO at 11:00.
The palace was located 10.6 km from Segovia, in the municipality of Real Sitio de San Ildefonso.
The visit could not be guided due to COVID, nor could we record, but they did let us take photos.
The Royal Palace of Riofrío is one of the residences of the Spanish Royal Family , managed by the National Heritage agency .
The palace is Italian in style with a square plan and three stories high, designed by the Italian architect Virgilio Rabaglio in the image and likeness of the Royal Palace of Madrid .
The Museum of Hunting is of interest, as well as the chapel and its collection of paintings, tapestries and furniture. It is surrounded by an extensive forest of 625 hectares , where fallow deer and deer , among others, live.
Used by the kings exclusively for hunting, it has only been inhabited as a regular residence, on a temporary basis, by the kings Francisco de Asís de Borbón and Alfonso XII .
With our visit over, we went back down the narrow road that ran through the entire reserve. Once outside, we took the road to the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.
The Palace is another of the residences of the Spanish Royal family and is located in the Segovian town of Real Sitio de San Ildefonso . It is managed by the National Heritage 13 kilometers from Segovia .
Its name comes from an old farm that the Hieronymite monks of the El Parral monastery had in the vicinity. In 1719 King Felipe V had a chapel built in its surroundings, without demolishing anything of the old.
This palace has a beautiful and spectacular history, which we recommend listening to when you visit it.
It is a pity not to be able to show anything inside, as it is not allowed to record or take photographs.
Even so, it is a highly recommended visit if you enter these Castilian lands.
Right behind this palace are its gardens. MOTHER THAT GARDENS.
The entrance will be found on the side of the palace and when you are at the door, you see how huge and spectacular these gardens are.
Spanning one hundred and forty-six hectares , the gardens surround the palace and are one of the best examples of garden design in 18th century Europe .
The natural slopes of the hills that surround the palace were used as an aid to visual perspective and as a source of energy to make the water flow from each of the twenty-one monumental fountains that decorate the park.
Unlike in Versailles , where they had many problems to get the water pressure for the fountains, in the Palacio de la Granja the natural slope of the land was used to achieve a pressure not seen until then at the time, which allows some fountains exceed 40 meters high .
All the sources consume an average of 9000 cubic meters per hour if they work at the same time, the same amount of water that is consumed in the city of Segovia . The main deposit would be consumed in 13 hours ; that is why the sources have never worked at the same time and are intended to be turned on only when the king approached. For this reason, in addition to the deterioration that their continuous operation would entail, some work in the summer season, but all only work 3 times a year: May 30, San Fernando's day; July 25, the day of Santiago ; and on August 25, the day of San Luis .
Time was on us and he gave us lunch. We only had to see the Real Alcazar de Segovia and since we had the campsite in Segovia itself, we decided to go to the caravan and eat quietly there.
Without taking too long, if laziness does not enter hahahahahahaha, we were on our way to discover the Alcazar from the inside, we were going to explore its entrails.
And so we did, we parked quite far from the castle, because on weekends you cannot enter Segovia with the car, so we had to lower the food.
The Alcázar of Segovia , dating from the early 12th century, is one of the most characteristic medieval castles in the world. Its imposing profile rises majestically over the Eresma valley and is a symbol of the Old City of Segovia, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1985 . Palace and fortress of the Kings of Castile , its layout reflects the splendor of the Court during the Middle Ages, and its walls have witnessed battles, palace intrigues, royal weddings, and amazing events. In its two thousand year existence, the Alcázar has been a Roman fort, medieval fortress, royal palace, custodian of the royal treasure, state prison, Royal College of Artillery and General Military Archive.
In the Middle Ages , for its safety as well as for the proximity of hunting areas, the Alcázar became one of the favorite residences of the Kings of Castile, especially Alfonso X. It was inhabited many times being a silent witness of key events in the History of Spain such as the proclamation of Isabel la Católica (December 13, 1474)
The tower of Juan II culminates in a large panoramic terrace.
From it you can see a great view of the city. Especially in the neighborhood of the Canonjías, the cathedral and the Jewish quarter. The two stairs that you have to cross to get to the top add up to 156 steps , most of them in a rather narrow and inclined spiral staircase.
Thus ended our second day in the city of Segovia. A city that has transported us to the Middle Ages, to Roman times and part of the period dominated by the Arabs. We have been able to enjoy that mix of style that makes it unique.
DAY 3. SUNDAY
The last day we did not move from the campsite. We like to enjoy some of the days of the stay in them, their facilities, swimming pools, games area, of course, some coffee in their bar, because as you already know and you will have seen in our video, we are very coffee growers.
Another thing that we also take advantage of in the camping is to record them and then be able to show them on our YOUTUBE channel and here on our website.
You have the video of the El Acueducto campsite at the beginning of this post.
Without further ado, we say goodbye to Segovia, its aqueduct, its palaces, the Alcazar, its streets, churches and the Cathedral, a short but intense trip.