Day 21: Layover Day in Segovia - Traversing the Iberian Peninsula from South to North - CycleBlaze

May 13, 2023

Day 21: Layover Day in Segovia

To ride or not to ride . . . that was the question of the day.  Since the temperature was a balmy 4C after breakfast with a brisk breeze, we opted to find a laundry mat instead of donning all the layers to keep warm when riding.  So, we missed seeing several castles.  Apparently, we weren't alone with this decision - no one rode today.  

We found a laundry mat and then returned to do a some maintenance on the tandem.  Afterwards we headed to the old city of Segovia to attend our planned tour of the Alcazar (fortress).  We were told that Disney used this particular property as a model for the castle we are all so familiar with. See what you think.

Our first sighting of the Alcazar of Segovia.
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kath vowlesI think that the rumour that Carcassonne was a strong influence on the fairytale castle is as likely to be true.😁
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10 months ago
The entry gate was once upon a time a draw bridge across a mote.
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This architectural design was visible all over the old city.
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The throne room.
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Check out the knees!
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A huge fresco.
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The elaborate ceiling of this room.
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The ceiling of the pine cone room. There were 294 pine cones on the ceiling.
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A sample of the stain glass we saw in some of the windows.
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A mudéjar design doorway.
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The gallery room has the kings and queens of Castile & Leon ringing the ceiling of the four walls of this room.
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King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, and their successor Queen Juana.
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A view from the gallery room window overlooking a park like former hunting ground.
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The altar room.
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One of the sculpted gardens of the Alcazar.
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The artillery room with a wide assortment of cannons.
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A cross bow with intricate engraving.
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The inner courtyard.
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An interesting blunt looking cannon on display in the Artillery Museum of the Alcazar.
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Vernon PhinneyA form of cannon designed to be what we call a mortar. Intended to shoot a cannon ball on a high arc to shoot over defenses like castle walls and into trenches dug by siege forces. This was a weapon used extensively in the US Civil War on entrenched enemy.
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10 months ago
Sanna PhinneyTo Vernon PhinneyThank you for the info - makes sense based on what we saw.
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9 months ago
Another cannon, but this one is on wheels.
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Vernon PhinneyA Cassion cannon designed to be pulled by horses and used with cavalry units where speed and agility on the battlefield was important
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10 months ago
View from the top of the Juan Tower of the Alcazar looking over the plains.
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View from the top of the Juan Tower of the Alcazar looking towards the Cathedral of Segovia.
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Some of us needed to duck at the entry door to the tower.
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The mote surrounding the front side of the Alcazar.
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This is the Juan Tower that we visited on our tour. It was a mere 142 steps up to the top.
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 After we finished touring the Alcazar, we headed to the Cathedral of Segovia to see its treasures, plus visit the bell tower with its 190 steps.

One of the two pipe organs in the cathedral.
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One of the many chapels in the cathedral.
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It's surprising how these chapel altars fill the space completely.
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The ceiling in this particular chapel was beautiful.
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The tapestries are huge and beautiful. All were made over the centuries in Bruges, Belgium.
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Chasuble that was handmade in the 16th century with gold and silver threads.
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We noticed the engravings on the larger organ pipes.
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The seating in the choir chamber.
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The main altar. We commented on how this particular cathedral is not as ornate as those we've seen in Malaga, Seville, Guadalupe, and Toledo.
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kath vowlesGood to see you are becoming experts in Spanish alterpiece architecture 😊
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10 months ago
After making the comment that this cathedral wasn't as ornate, we walked into the Sacristy and the gold overwhelmed us.
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This is used in current day processions.
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After walking through the cathedral, we took a guided tour up the bell tower.  This tower used to be the tallest in Europe (108 meters), but lightening struck it in the late 1600s and burned the top part of the tower.  It was rebuilt afterwards and now is a dome and only stands at 88 meters.  There are 190 steps to the top, but the tour broke it into 3 stages. At the first floor landing we watched a great movie projected on the walls about the history of the cathedral and bell tower.  The second landing was the home of the bell keeper and his family.  It's 85 square meters comprised of a salon, bedroom, and kitchen.  There was an attic space above which is where the bell keeper worked.  The final landing was the top where the bells are and it gave us an incredible view of Segovia. 

The clock mechanism in the bell tower keeper's residence.
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The holes in the ceiling are for the ropes attached to the bells above. The bell keeper used to ring the bells from this attic above his residence in the bell tower. These were in use up until the 1950's when the bells were finally mechanized.
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This hole in the attic floor allowed for one or two bells to be rung directly from the salon in the bell keeper's residence. This way he didn't have to run up any stairs to do his job.
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Once we finally climbed the 190 stairs to the bells, we had a 360 degree view over Segovia and the surrounding area. I believe we are headed over those plains when we leave tomorrow. (What's the saying: The rain in Spain falls mainly in the plains . . . or something like that . . . stay tuned.)
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Down below one can see the old outer city wall.
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Looking back towards the mountains we rode over the past couple of days in our effort to get to Segovia. You can see the aqueduct on the left middle.
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This is the largest bell in the bell tower - The Maria de la Paz.
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In case you were wondering just how old or just how much it weighs. In case you're not familiar with European numbering system, this bell weighs 1,384 kilos.
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This is the oldest bell in the tower. How old?
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La Mediana was made in 1480!
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We walked from our hotel which is across the street from the beginning of the remains of the aqueduct all the way along the aqueduct and then we followed it as it went underground to the Alcazar. We were able to follow the underground section by following along these medallions posted on the streets and sidewalks.
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Tomorrow we will ride onwards headed towards Sepúlveda.  Will we make it before the rain?!!

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