Tordesillas used to be one of the Spanish Crown’s strongholds throughout the Middle Ages, starting around 1340 when Alfonso XI ordered the construction of a palace. In 1494, the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs signed a Treaty which divided the lands “discovered” by Columbus among them – of course, this Treaty was largely ignored by any other European powers which wanted to explore America, and never acknowledged by any indigenous people. In 1519, the town was part of the rebellion against Carlos I, naming his mother – and daughter of the Catholic Monarchs – Juana as queen, despite the rumours that she was insane. After the defeat of the revolts – and beheading of the instigators – the town lost importance.

We left early in the morning to try and ditch the traffic, but we were not successful – driving around Madrid, we ran into a couple of jams traffic caused only in part by the intermittent storms, which made the beginning of the road trip stressful. Thankfully, we parked at the outskirts of Tordesillas and the sun was shining again, as we had to cross the village on foot. Our first stopover was the Main Square Plaza Mayor. In the Castilian Main Square fashion, it is actually square in shape, with the main buildings supported by columns, where cafés and shops stand today. The current plaza dates back from the 16th century, and has been painted in a questionable bright mustard colour.

In the end, most of the history in Tordesillas is linked to Alfonso XI’s palace, known today as the Convent of Saint Clare Convento de Santa Clara, which stands a few minutes’ walk from the square. It was home, and later prison, to royal women, both loved and unwanted ones. It became a convent of the Order of Saint Clare in 1363, and the nuns living there were tasked with praying for the health and salvation of the Royal Family. Today, it is managed by the Spanish National Heritage Foundation Patrimonio Nacional. It can only be visited under supervision – seriously, aside from the guide, you get a security guard following you around – and photography is forbidden in all the interior areas.

The castle-convent was built throughout the 13th to 18th centuries. The oldest part of the building is a chapel dating from the 11th century, and the bulk of the construction was carried out in the 14th century. The monarchs employed Mudejar builders, a fact that yielded to multifoil arches, ceramic decorations, and Quran verses (officially “decorative nonsense”) in some of the chapels and the façade of the building.

Inside the palace there is a Baroque cloister and the gothic church, with a wooden ceiling painted gold and the emblem dragons of Carlos I’s shield. Truth be told, the church had been pretty much hyped up on me, so I found it a bit underwhelming.

The party separated for a bit so I could explore on my own for a while. I got to the stone bridge over the River Douro Río Duero, just called “the bridge” el Puente, right at whose ends stands a monument to the fighting bull Toro de Tordesillas. The associated bullfighting festivity was one of the oldest in Spain until it was vetoed by the regional government – the fighting bull was set loose in the meadow, chased by horsemen and lanced to death. Today, the festivity is controversial and it’s trying to find its place in the midst of new sensitivities.

I climbed up the medieval wall Muralla de Tordesillas to the park where the monument to Queen Juana Monumento a la Reina Juana I de Castilla stands, in front of the museum dedicated to the Treaty Casas del Tratado, and the church Iglesia de San Antolín.

We walked back to the car to drive off to the next spot in the route, and Tordesillas became the first spot where we spotted birds of prey during this trip, maybe a golden eagle Aquila chresaetos. Or, you know. Anything else.

We drove off towards the municipality of Zamora, a Medieval town and villa by the Douro, known for its Romanesque churches. We reached the Parador de Zamora in the middle of a horrible downpour that was over as quickly as it had started. The Parador hotel is a former noble family’s Renaissance palace, with a military style and a middle patio with a glass-window gallery

We had a late lunch and walked to the manor Palacio de los Momos, near the Main Square Plaza Mayor, home to a church Iglesia de San Juan de Puerta Nueva which has a sculpture representing two figures of the local Holy Week celebrations Monumento al Merlú. Other buildings include the old and new town halls Ayuntamiento Viejo and Nueva Casa Consistorial, and blocks of colonnaded buildings.

The first Romanesque building we came across was the church Iglesia de Santa María Magdalena, which contrary to many other places has got rid of the Baroque add-ons, and stands severe and naked in its stony glory. It is considered one of the most important and pure Romanesque constructions in Europe, sparsely decorated save for the tomb to the side.

From a side stop I overlooked the river Río Duero and the medieval bridge Puente de Piedra.

We continued off to the cathedral Catedral del Salvador de Zamora. It is considered the first cathedral in the “Douro Romanesque” style. After the original cathedral was destroyed during the Muslim conquest of Spain, the reconstruction began around 1151. It must have been finished towards the beginning of the 13th century. The building has two particularities – the thick tower, and the umbrella dome, in a style that travelled from Byzantium to the Islamic architecture and reached Spain with the Nasrid artists. The inside holds a cloister and two small museum – one of religious art and the other of archaeology.

Afterwards, we visited the ruined castle Castillo de Zamora – a purely-defensive Romanesque fortress built around the 11th century. The castle has a moat, and you can wander up the walls and defensive towers. The interior is ruined, but the ancient structure can be guessed by the arches and different walls that would have separated the fortress’ halls.

Finally, we explored a few more religious Romanesque buildings: Iglesia de San Pedro y San Ildefonso, Convento de Clarisas El Tránsito and Iglesia de San Cipriano. From the viewpoint next to this last church, we got to see a stork nest with a baby chick in it.

We had dinner at a restaurant called El Horno, a traditional places that offers tablas – wooden trays full of treats to share. We shared a serving of tabla de fiambres – Iberian sausages (ham, loin, chorizo…) and cheese on a bed of crisps.