Soria, with about 41,000 inhabitants, is one of Spain's smallest provincial capitals, in Castile and León, on the Duero river at over a thousand metres. The province is among Europe's least populated, and the Soria ¡Ya! movement was one of the first to call for attention to depopulated Spain. The city is linked to the poets Antonio Machado, who taught and married here, and Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, who set some of his legends here. See Spanish literature.
What to see
- The cloisters of San Juan de Duero, a 12th-13th-century Hospitaller monastery, with interlaced arches of Arab and Eastern influence, unique in Europe.
- The church of Santo Domingo, with one of Spain's finest Romanesque façades, carved with biblical scenes.
- The hermitage of San Saturio, built over a cave in the rock along the Duero, reached by a riverside walk.
- The co-cathedral of San Pedro, with its Romanesque cloister.
- The Numantine Museum, with finds from Numantia.
- The Palace of the Counts of Gómara and the Plaza Mayor.
- The school where Machado taught and Castle hill, with its park and views over the Duero.
Numantia
About 7 km away lie the ruins of Numantia, the Celtiberian city that held out against Rome for years and in 133 BC, besieged by Scipio Aemilianus, chose death over surrender, becoming a symbol of resistance. See ancient art in Spain.
Nature
- The Laguna Negra, a glacial lake surrounded by pine woods and rock walls in the Sierra de Urbión, where the Duero rises, linked to a legend by Machado.
- The Río Lobos canyon, a natural park with a limestone gorge, vultures and the Templar hermitage of San Bartolomé.
- Calatañazor, a medieval village, and Gormaz castle, one of Europe's largest caliphal fortresses.
Festivals and food
The San Juan or de la Madre de Dios festivals, in late June and early July, with the Cuadrillas, bulls and Jueves La Saca. Specialities: Soria butter, with designation of origin, torreznos, mushrooms and autumn níscalos, lamb, paciencias from Almazán and wines from the Soria Ribera del Duero.
Getting there
Soria is about 225 km from Madrid and 160 km from Zaragoza, linked by bus and regional trains.