I take you back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see new areas and old repeat with some of them as introduction to my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family, This post is due to finding me again pictures in my cd rom vault that should be in my blog for you and me. Therefore, let me tell you about this is Zamora !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The City of Zamora is located in the Province of Zamora, in the autonomous community of Castilla y Léon and in the kingdom of Spain, It is 66 km from Salamanca, 122 km from León, 93 km from Valladolid, 253 km from Madrid, 101 km from Braganza, Portugal, and 55 km from Miranda de Duero. Its collection of Romanesque buildings stands out, comprising the 23 churches within the municipality and the 14 churches in the historic center, data that place Zamora as the city with the greatest number and quality of Romanesque churches in Europe. This Romanesque heritage also includes, in addition to the cathedral and twenty-four other churches, a castle, walls, a bridge, two palaces, and nine houses, which is why Zamora is considered “the city of Romanesque art.” Furthermore, its collection of 19 Modernist buildings is also significant. Among its festivities, the celebration of Holy Week stands out, declared of International Tourist Interest and a Site of Cultural Interest.
Two highways pass through the city, one running east-west and the other north-south: the A-11, or Autovía del Duero, which connects to Toro, Tordesillas ; where it joins the A-6, Valladolid, and Soria to the east; and the A-66, or Autovía Ruta de la Plata, which follows a dual carriageway route of the N-630. The N-630, also known as the Ruta de la Plata, connects the city to Benavente, León, and Asturias to the north. The N-631 branches off at the Ricobayo Reservoir, heading towards Mombuey. To the south, the N-630 connects to Salamanca, Extremadura, and Andalusia. We came on our road warrior trails from Toro 41 km away (see posts) along the Autovia del Duero or A 11 highway to the exit/salida 455 A dir Zamora on the ZA12 road which becomes the N122 road passing the N630 road with the Duero river on hour left hand side continue bearing right into the Centro Urbano or City center go to trafic circle and turn U return beaing left onto the Calle Puerta del Obispo which take you to the Cathedral and we found on street parking,
For info passing by as never taken it, the Estacion de Zamora train station, originally inaugurated in 1864 as a stop on the railway route between Medina del Campo and Galicia, is now a modern station built in the Neo-Plateresque style in 1927. With the arrival of the AVE high-speed train in 2015, the station was integrated into the Spanish high-speed rail network, allowing for faster, direct connections to Madrid, Galicia, and other key locations across the country. The station is located in the Las Viñas neighborhood, about 600 meters from Avenida de Las Tres Cruces. On the second floor, there is a terrace decorated with a triangular pediment, a clock, and two coats of arms. The ground floor consists of a series of Renaissance-style arcades that form a longitudinal gallery. A cresting crowns the ornamentation of the façade.
The official RENFE on the Zamora train station : https://www.renfe.com/es/es/inspirate/estaciones/estacion-zamora
Other things to see here are many, need to return but briefly the ones interesting one from my point of view are the Santa Iglesia Catedral del Salvador or Holy Cathedral Church of the Savior, which dates from the 12C. It is a very simple cathedral in its form. It has a Latin cross floor plan, three naves of four bays each, and three apses that were replaced by a Gothic chancel in the 16C. The dome, with its exterior scale-like decoration, is the most outstanding element of the temple and a true symbol of the city. On one side of the cathedral is the Cathedral Museum, which features an extraordinary collection of Franco-Flemish tapestries from the 15C to the 17C, the most outstanding being those of the series dedicated to the Trojan War. The many churches located in the old town: Church of San Pedro and San Ildefonso. Church of San Claudio de Olivares. Church of Santiago de los Caballeros. Church of San Isidoro. Church of La Magdalena. Church of San Cipriano. Church of Santa Lucía. Church of San Andrés. Church of San Esteban. And Church of Santa María la Nueva. Also, the castle which is close to the Cathedral but again missed it ; it is pre-Romanesque foundations and a general Romanesque structure from the 10C to 17C. The murallas or enclosed walls from the 11C to 13C, dating from the time of Alfonso III of Asturias and Fernando I of León. The Palace of Doña Urraca de Zamora, daughter of King Fernando I of León. New or Stone Bridge, was built between the 12C and 13C, Old City/Town Hall, from the late 15C, currently the headquarters of the Municipal Police. The Alhóndiga del Pan or Bread Granary ,of Arab origin. Palace-House of the Counts of Alba de Liste, from the 15C, currently a Parador (state-run hotel). Former Hospital of the Incarnation, from the early 17C. Monastery of San Jerónimo. It was one of the most magnificent monuments the city possessed, comparable perhaps only to the cathedral. Unfortunately, hardly anything remains of all that splendor. The Old Bridge or Olivares Bridge from 1534, some remains of this bridge still stand, which provided access to the city through the gate of the same name, also called the Optimal Gate at the time and now known as the Bishop’s Gate or Olivares Gate. The central market began in 1902 and it was inaugurated in 1904. It is located in the Plaza del Mercado (Market Square). The Zamora Museum comprises a section dedicated to archaeology, another to fine arts, and a third to the history of the city.
A bit of history I like tell us the city was founded at the beginning of the Bronze Age and was later occupied during the Iron Age by the Celtic Vaccaei, who called it Ocalam. Settlement continued throughout the Roman Empire. The first documentary reference to the city appears in the Parrochiale Suevum of 569, where it is mentioned as Senimure, within the diocese of Asturica, belonging to the Suebian Kingdom. The city’s Arabic names were Azemur (“wild olive grove”) and Semurah (“city of turquoise”). The current name seems to derive from one of these last two periods and is cited as such in the Salmanticense as one of the towns recovered by Alfonso I from the Moors. During the Middle Ages, Zamora was once again captured and destroyed by the Muslims under Emir Muhammad and later reconquered by the Christians during the reign of King Alfonso II of Asturias, the Chaste, and fortified once more. King Alfonso III of Asturias, the Great, repopulated it with Mozarabs from Toledo in 893, surrounding it with walls and even endowing it with palaces and baths, making it, due to its location and characteristics, the most important fortress city of the Christian kingdoms. The period between the 10C and 13C is the most significant for Zamora within the Hispanic context. The Battle of Simancas (939) gave Ramiro II of León control of the Duero and Tormes valleys, making the city one of the main strongholds securing the frontier. Its importance declined, however, after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), which opened the southern Iberian Peninsula to the Christian kingdoms, thereby diminishing Zamora’s strategic significance. Zamora was one of the most important strongholds of the Kingdom of León, of which it was a part.
“Zamora, the well-fortified,” was called by Fernando I of León, “the Great.” This monarch rebuilt it in 1055, repopulated it with people from the mountains, and fortified it again, later ceding it to his daughter, Doña Urraca. Another milestone in the city’s history was the peace conference between King Alfonso VII of León and Alfonso I of Portugal. As a result, on October 5, 1143, the independence of the new kingdom was recognized, as reflected in the Treaty of Zamora, which officially marks the birth of Portugal as an independent state. In 1208, King Alfonso IX of León granted the city of Zamora a charter that included what is considered its first territorial delimitation. In early 1367, during the first Castilian civil war, the city definitively joined the cause of Pedro I of Castile and became one of his staunchest strongholds for the remainder of the conflict. After the Battle of Montiel, fought in 1369, Henry of Trastámara assassinated his half-brother Pedro I and began to reign over the Crown of Castile as Enrique II (Henry). Zamora gradually lost strategic, economic, and social importance. After the discovery of America, many people from the city were forced by the economic poverty of the region to emigrate to the continent, especially to South America, where many other cities bearing the same name have been founded.
Throughout the 18C, the city experienced a strong recovery, aided by the protection it enjoyed from the Crown, a process that was abruptly interrupted by the Napoleonic invasion. At the beginning of 1809, during the Peninsular War (Independance war in Spain) , Zamora rose up in arms against the French troops of Lapisse, Maupetit, and Soulignac. The occupation lasted three years, until 1812, and also caused serious losses to the city’s artistic heritage. Furthermore, the territorial division of Spain in 1833 ratified the definitive status of the city of Zamora as the provincial capital, classifying it within the Leonese Region. During the Spanish Civil War, Zamora was on the side of the Nationalist invading troops.
The City of Zamora on its tourist office : https://www.zamora.es/contenidos.aspx?id=10915
The Zamora tourist office on its heritage : https://turismo-zamora.com/la-ciudad-de-zamora.html
The Province of Zamora on the City heritage : https://turismoenzamora.es/patrimonio-artistico/zamora/
The Castilla y Léon regional tourist office on Romanesque Zamora : https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/route-romanesque-city-zamora
The Castilla y Léon regional tourist office on Zamora : https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/zamora
The Spain National tourist office on Zamora : https://www.spain.info/en/destination/zamora/
There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, Do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever, Again, hope you enjoy this post on this is Zamora !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 