Beautiful Segovia – Spain

I’m not lost I’m exploring

The beautiful town of Segovia has plenty to see and if you’re in the area I would thoroughly recommend visiting. It’s a historic city north west of Madrid.

Segovia has very rich architecture, including medieval walls, Roman churches, a former Royal palace and a Gothic cathedral. It’s most famed for the iconic ancient Roman aqueduct. The aqueduct has 160 arches, most in the original granite, and stands above the square in the heart of the city.

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The aqueduct was constructed in the 2nd century and given how old it is the condition is impressive. Made of stone and declared a world heritage site in the 80’s.

The legend of the aqueduct

So the legend goes many years ago a girl had to walk 15km every day to collect water, then 15km back. She was tired and bored and prayed that she didn’t have to do it anymore.

One night she wished someone would create something so she wouldn’t have to walk and collect the water everyday. The devil appeared. He said ok I’ll grant your wish and build something to carry the water. I promise to complete it before the sun comes up, and if I do, in return you have to give me your soul.

He built the aqueduct and was almost finished just before sunrise. The girl realised what she had agreed too and regretted it, she begged the devil not to complete the aqueduct and told him it’s ok I prefer to walk everyday.

One stone was left incomplete and at that moment the sun rose so the devil hadn’t completed his end of the deal. The girl didn’t lose her soul and the aqueduct remained.

In the gap for the remaining stone, the local people put a statue of the Virgin Mary so the aqueduct can never be completed.

Some of the local restaurants give away a small jug as a gift after your meal, representing the girl in the legend.

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If you walk up to the top of the aqueduct and get a view across the city, you can see the devil statue with his one remaining brick. Amusingly, and I presume more recently, an iPhone has been added to the statue and you can see the devil taking a selfie with the aqueduct in the background!

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Things to see

It’s a beautiful city with plenty to see and lots of little streets to wander round. As well as the aqueduct you’ve also got the castle, cathedral, Jewish quarter and the Knights quarter.

El alcazar – the castle, famed for its Disney-esque style. You can go inside and take a tour of the internal of the castle.

The Cathedral – a beautiful building, is in the old Jewish quarter and I think cost 3 euros to enter. It’s ornate inside as you’d expect from the exterior. The organ was played the whole time we visited so was relaxing to wander round.

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It’s a traditional Spanish style cathedral built in the 6th century. Located in the ancient Jewish quarter, just off the main square – plaza mayor.

Restaurants

I definitely recommend Meson de Candida! it’s famous for its suckling pig, it’s so tender that they’ll chop it with a plate in front of you if enough people in your party order it. Portions are large! It’s not the cheapest restaurant but definitely worth it one night. They have a good selection of fish too, vegetarian options are limited.

They also offer an extensive choice of wine. Here’s a couple I recommend below:

The Practical stuff

Since covid most menu’s are a QR code so you’ll need a smartphone to view them.

Tap water is safe to drink so bring a bottle to refill.

The weather was a bit rainy and cloudy when we were there, the first rain they’d had in 3 months unfortunately! So I guess usually a more Mediterranean climate. It must have been unusual as when the rain got heavy one evening all the locals were out looking at it and taking photos!

As usual I recommend a Starling bank card for good exchange rates and ease of use on the app. https://www.starlingbank.com/

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