We were 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 on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime Spain. Therefore, let me tell you about the Alcazar of Toro !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Toro is in the province of Zamora, Autonomous Community of Castilla y León in the kingdom of Spain, It is located 46 km from our rental house in Velliza, 62 km from Valladolid , 79 km from Salamanca, 148 km from Avila and 221 km from Madrid. The town stands at 722 meters above sea level. The town is crossed by the roads we took, the Autovia del Duero (A-11) that links Zamora provincial capital with Tordesillas. And the national road N-122 the alternative to the above highway, and more local.
The Alcazar,is the oldest building in the town, along with the remains of the first near the city. It is a fortified architecture, built in the 10C, rectangular with seven massive cubes located in the corners and in the middle part of each canvas, to which a tower of the Tribute was demolished in the 19C, It is ,also called the Royal Alcázar of Toro, It is a square defensive building with the primitive construction dates from the 10C, however the numerous reconstructions notice that it is a more recent building. It is located near the riverbank, located in a high, has defensive walls flanked by seven towers and were part of the set of walls that defended and covered the city. The Alcazar was a place of residence of the Catholic Monarchs.
This Alcazar was built by Alfonso IX between 1188 and 1195. The current form was configured from 1283, when Sancho IV donated Toro and his alfoz to his wife María de Molina. In the Alcazar the King of León Fernando III El Santo was crowned.There was locked Mrs. Constanza, promised of King Alfonso XI, when he married María de Portugal and was also killed, by order of the aforementioned king, Juan de Haro el Tuerto, lord of Biscay. Also in this place the boy Sancho de Castilla, natural son of Pedro I the cruel, died imprisoned by Enrique II. In the 15C, it served as imprisonment apart from the entourage of the dolphins of France. In that same century, the Alcazar de Toro was the last bastion of Juana la Beltraneja in those lands. It was governed by Mrs. María Sarmiento who heroically resisted the artillery of the Catholic Monarchs, under the command of Benavente and the Duke of Alba, until she was forced to an honorable capitulation. It was the scene of one of the most cruel killings of King Pedro I of Castile. On January 16, 1356, Maria de Portugal, wife of King Alfonso Xi, was there when his son Pedro El Cruel arrived and ordered his squires to kill several nobles who accompanied the queen was the residence of Juan II of Castile when He attended the Cortes, the Castle had its prominence during the Spanish War of Succession and specifically in the Battle of Toro that occurred on March 1, 1476. After the abandonment he suffered in the 16th century as a real residence, the castle began a slow decline.
The Alcazar is located by the first walled enclosure. The exterior walls subsist only from the primitive building. Rectangularly, it has seven solid cubes located in the corners and in the central part of each canvas. On the northern side is the one that is today the main door, which occupies the place where the Torre del Tribute was located, demolished in the nineteenth century. The remains of the original door – a blinded arch is appreciated – are found to the left of the current door. On the east side, an adintelada secondary door is blinded without us knowing if it is original or a later addition. Likewise, we can appreciate several quadrangular windows blinded today. The fence is protected by an previous enclosure, which today serves as a viewpoint, but that seems to protect the wall round from the south and the east. In the natural platform on which the Alcazar is settled, the boots of the wall that went down to the bridge and that began its journey to embrace the city to the east are appreciated. In origin, it isolated from the hamlet a deep pit, currently filled with demolition land, as demonstrated by the excavations made in 1976 on the occasion of the construction of a water tank. In addition, he was protected by another solid wall. This extra protection enclosure would occupy what is now the Plaza San Agustín Square.
Until 1505 he housed the famous tables of Juan de Flandes that composed the altarpiece of Isabel la Católica and that today look in the Royal Palace of Madrid and in several foreign collections, the misfortune of having positioned itself in favor of Beltraneja in the time of the Catholic Monarchs ,and of the community members at the time of Emperor Carlos, made the Alcázar be uninhabited in Felipe II days. It is even known that the Alcazar was desirable to reduce its defenses and avoid a possible uprising.In the 19C,it became a slaughterhouse and jail.
The Castilla y Léon regional tourist office on the Alcazar of Toro: https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/alcazar-toro
The Romanesque in Zamora province so the Alcazar of Toro: https://www.romanicozamora.es/en/monumentos/ver/fortress/78
The Toro tourist office on its heritage: https://www.turismotoro.com/index.php/es/toro-monumental
The Castilla y Léon regional tourist office on Toro: https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/heritage-culture/toro
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 the Alcazar of Toro !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 