El Escorial was our first stop. It's a cute little town with one main attraction, the Monasterio de San Lorenzo, which has functioned as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school in the past.
More photos: El Escorial Album
The next stop was Segovia. It's hard to miss the huge aqueduct when you first enter the town. I couldn't quite capture the size of this thing with my camera but it is huge.
The 2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct is 2,500 feet long and 100 feet high, has 118 arches, was made from 20,000 granite blocks without any mortar, and can still carry a stream of water. It's hard to believe that this thing continued to function until the late 19th century. Gotta hand it to those Romans - they sure know how to build things that last.
Begun in the 16th century but not finished until 1768, the Segovia Cathedral is the last Gothic cathedral to be built in Spain.
The Alcázar originally was an Arab palace, but served as a prison for 200 years after that and then as a Royal Artillery School. The earliest reference to this palace is from 1120 but is thought to be older.
The palace burned down in 1862 and after being rebuilt has served as a museum. We heard rumors that this castle was used as inspiration for the castle at Disneyland.
Danny and I decided to climb the tower to get a better view of the city. We had to laugh when we saw the sign that said "Caution: 182 stair climb, not for the unhealthy or disabled". After climbing the almost 700 stairs at the Eiffel Tower this sounded like a joke.
View of the cathedral from the top of the tower
More photos: Segovia Album
1 comment:
That was definitely worth the 182 steps!
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