Valladolid is the main city of the region of Castilla y León, located in the center of this one. It has a great history made along hundreds and hundreds of years. Now we have many different places, monuments and buildings to visit and make our senses enjoy.
We can begin our walk in Plaza Colón, a place where we can see a monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. He lived for some years in Valladolid and there is also a House-Museum which you can visit and learn a bit more about his life.
After that, we can continue through the Campo Grande, a small park with hundreds of different kinds of trees, animals and long paths to walk hidden from the sun.
At one side of this park we can find the Plaza Zorrilla, a Spanish literature author who was born in the city. There is a big fountain placed in the middle of the square, it is said that watching the different waterjets you can guess what time it is, and at the background we can observe the imposing Cavalry Academy of Valladolid, a militar palace built in 1847, which has been used for military matters since then.
Our little walk can follow the crowd of people who is always wandering from Plaza Zorrilla to Plaza Mayor through Calle Santiago, one of our main streets of the city. On this street you can find the most famous boutiques in case you want to do some shopping, or if you are more on watching ancient and awesome buildings, it is worth it to throw an eye to the front of the buildings that are surrounding the street towards Plaza Mayor.
Once we followed the street until the end, we are arriving to Plaza Mayor, probably the most known place of Valladolid, where the most important events are celebrated at. We can find the Town Hall at the North side of the square, and a monument in the middle of it dedicated to the Conde Ansúrez, founder of the city. Some people says that the tower of the Town Hall reminds them the tower of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings. Jokes aside, this square has been renewed many times in the last years trying to keep its essence and awesome state of conservation.
The next step it is a must watch of the city, our Cathedral, once meant to be the biggest Cathedral in Europe, but the budget was overpassed with the costs of the construction and it had to be stopped. Nowadays you can get on a lift and go all the way up of the tower to get a view of our humble skyline. When we get down from the tower, we must continue to the Plaza de la Universidad and enjoy the front of the University of Valladolid Law’s Faculty, with columns presided over by lions made of stone. It is said that we should not count the number of lions unless we want to lose all the good luck we may have in our life, so be aware of that.
We may already have seen it from the top of the Cathedral but it is really worth it to walk down from the Plaza de la Universidad to the Plaza de Portugalete, where we can observe the Iglesia de Santa María de la Antigua, a church built in 1088 as mentioned in some ancient documents. It has been last renewed in 2010.
The next and last stop can not be but plaza of San Pablo, here we can see the Iglesia de San Pablo, with its huge and incredibly ornate front, it has been under renovations many times in the last fifty years because of all the small details that we must keep from getting destroyed. In front of this awesome church we can find the Palacio de Pimentel, the place where Felipe II ancient king of Spain was born in 1527. A traditional story says that they had to take him out of the palace through a window on the street aside because they were trying to assassinate him. On the other side of the square, there is the Palacio Real of Valladolid, the building is being used now as an army base.
There is many more places to visit in the city and around but this will not be the last post about sightseeings in Valladolid.
Until the next post!
Discover The Center Of Castilla 