Zamora, with about 60,000 inhabitants, is a provincial capital of Castile and León, on a crag above the Duero river near the Portuguese border. It is called the "city of the Romanesque": its old town has over twenty 12th- and 13th-century Romanesque churches, the highest concentration of any city in Europe.
History
A frontier town disputed between Christians and Muslims, it was fortified in the Middle Ages and called la bien cercada, "the well-walled". In 1072 King Sancho II of Castile besieged it and was killed before its walls by the nobleman Vellido Dolfos, who fled through the gate now called the Traitor's Gate: the episode gave rise to the saying No se ganó Zamora en una hora, "Zamora wasn't won in an hour", and appears in the Cantar de mio Cid.
What to see
- The 12th-century cathedral, with its Byzantine-inspired dome of stone scales, the museum with Flemish tapestries and the wooden choir.
- The castle, next to the cathedral, with gardens and views over the Duero.
- The walls and gates, such as the Traitor's Gate and the Puerta de Doña Urraca.
- The Romanesque churches, such as San Pedro y San Ildefonso, Santa María Magdalena, with its carved portal, San Juan de Puerta Nueva and Santiago del Burgo.
- The medieval stone bridge over the Duero and the aceñas, old river mills.
- Modernista buildings, a surprise in a medieval city, especially around Santa Clara.
- The Holy Week Museum and the Baltasar Lobo Museum.
Holy Week
Zamora's Holy Week, of international tourist interest, is among Spain's oldest and most austere, with silent night processions, the singing of the Miserere and hooded brotherhoods such as the torch-bearing Buena Muerte, and the procession of the Capas Pardas, in traditional woollen cloaks.
Food
Arroz a la zamorana, with pork, bacalao a la tranca, Zamorano sheep's cheese, pan de Zamora and wines from the Toro and Arribes designations.
Around and getting there
Arribes del Duero natural park, with the river gorges on the Portuguese border, the wine town of Toro, with its collegiate church, and Lake Sanabria. Zamora is linked to Madrid by high-speed train in about an hour and a half. See also Salamanca.