Plaza Mayor of Trujillo
PALACES AND RENAISSANCE
The first look at the tourist map offers a strong conclusion: here there are palaces to tip shovel . For each nobleman who came to less than the Americas there is a mansion built with his benefits and his name, so the number is quite high. There are even more than the city can digest and many of them are waiting for some patron ( or hotel company ) decides to invest to get them out of abandonment. As, for example, the Portuguese painter Pinto Coelho did in his day with the Chaves Mendoza Palace. But far from turning this text into a real estate offer, it should be noted that the walk from the Plaza Mayor to the top of the city allows you to discover some surprises such as the Conquest Palace , the one of the Carvajal-Vargas or the Palace of Orellana-Pizarro , the latter being an example of civil Renaissance architecture with Italian influences. A style that is exhibited here without hesitation since it was trendy at the time and that showed like no other that behind those walls there was a lot of parné. It's not a matter of spending hours in front of each facade, but it is worth not passing by or letting yourself be fooled by some old-fashioned streets, very epic and that invite you to take a Facebook photo.
One of the rooms of the Palacio Chaves Mendoza
PIZARRO AND ORELLANA 'TODAY'
Francisco Pizarro and Francisco de Orellana, in addition to being namesakes, are the most famous Trujillo discoverers . The first achieved conquer Peru and the second spent his days doing Amazon expeditions . Today the two have left their mark on the city in a very different way. Let's say that Pizarro is the most mediatic, with a piece of statue in the Plaza Mayor which dates from 1929 and is a larger replica of the one that rests in Lima. He also has his private museum, the house where he was born, where in addition to discovering things like that coffee does not come from America, but that the Spaniards took it to grow there; certain curiosities are learned about the Pizarro family saga. Specifically, the figure of his father is discovered, Gonzalo 'The Long' , famous for his dimensions (and I'm not just talking about his height), which allowed him to get into the wealthiest bedrooms.
Orellana's legacy is more comfortable . The house where he was born is now a charming hotel (it barely has 5 rooms) but it reproduces and respects the original decoration, which makes it worth visiting (even if it is just for gossip). A highly recommended option to recharge your batteries before conquering the city.
Statue of Pizarro in the Plaza Mayor
LOOKING FOR STORKS
Trujillo must also be discovered by looking at the sky to find the many towers of its many palaces. Storks live here and spend the day crotoring , thus musicalizing the visit. For the most inexperienced, the ideal is to look towards the bell tower of the Church of San Martin or towards the colorful roof of the pin tower , where there will always be a watchful stork. This last tower serves as the Interpretation Center of the History of Extremadura and as an ideal balcony to continue looking for this bird. And if in the end you realize that your passion for ornithology ia, you will always have to do a little bird watching in the surroundings, which is why Trujillo is claiming to be the heart of one of the ideal regions for tourism based on bird watching.
Storks: the queens of Trujillo
RIDLEY SCOTT'S GRENADE
We already knew that Americans like our geography to use it as a film set. But using a Spanish city to appear to be another Spanish city is already the last straw. It's basically what Ridley Scott did for his 1492: The conquest of paradise , transforming the walls of Trujillo into the gates of Granada. The truth is that they have their resemblance, with their prominent military architecture controlling the territory and appearing above the hill. The Gate of Triumph It has remained in the minds of moviegoers as the one through which the Catholic troops passed victorious. From there, heading to the right, there is a small path with which you can walk outside the walls and that allows you to put yourself in the shoes of those who tried to conquer Trujillo or Granada or whatever.
Gate of Triumph
THE VIRGIN THAT TURNS
The castle of Trujillo is a giant of bare stone and of colossal proportions . You can even get a little lazy. But it is worth going in to walk its walls, get unbeatable views of the city and discover one of those bizarre religious scenes that reign in Spain. It is about the virgin that turns around, a sculpture that spends the day looking at the city from an unbeatable position. Until a parishioner throws a euro through a crack in the small chapel located in the main tower . That's when the 'miracle' happens and the virgin turns around for a while to the delight of the believers-folklores and to the surprise of the curious.
Views of Trujillo Castle
THE BILBAO ATHLETIC TOWER
The Church of Santa Maria la Mayor It has a very attractive Romanesque treasure: julia tower, the only architectural reminder of its original style. But beyond being one of the most iconic monuments in the city, this tower keeps an anecdote in the form of a shield. It turns out that its reconstruction was carried out by a master stonemason with a hobby by Athletic Bilbao without comparison . This fan wanted to show his passion for the Bilbao team with a shield in one of the upper vertices of the construction. But don't get confused, it's not a prank in bad taste, rather a nice freak that you have to discover with binoculars or with a good telephoto lens and that neither disturbs nor alters the essence of this monument.
The hidden shield of Athletic Bilbao
NIGHT VIEWS
I wish we could be sure that the nightlife in Trujillo is lively and dancing. Nothing is further from reality. he eats well , especially in mythical inns like La Troya and El Bizcocho, but so much food intake has only one solution: lower it by discovering the night views of the city. But it is not a matter of re-listing the previous monuments and saying the truism that they are also very beautiful at night. It is time to claim what is probably the bar with the best views in all of Extremadura. The abbey It has all the elements to win the heart of the traveler: a good bar, a good atmosphere, music that does not distort and, above all, a terrace that has an appeal that overcomes inclement weather. Its views of the castle mean that the cold does not get so hot and that in summer it is mandatory to have a copichuela while observing this well-lit medieval skyline.
_ You may also be interested..._*
- Spain, Hollywood film set
- All articles by Javier Zori del Amo
julia tower