Ciudad Rodrigo

TRASTAMARA CASTLE


The municipality of Ciudad Rodrigo is located in the autonomous region of Castille-Leon, in the southwest of the province of Salamanca. Its strategic location, just 25 kilometres from the Portuguese border, is to blame for the fact that, over the centuries, this town has been in-volved in numerous wars that have marked its history and urban shape. The historic centre of Ciudad Rodrigo is one of the best examples of military architecture in Spain!


In the 11th century, after a Christian victory over the Muslims, the area came under the power of King Alfonso VI, and its repopulation was entrusted to Count Don Rodrigo. He gave his name to the city. The number of inhabitants grew from the 12th century onwards thanks to King Ferdinand II of León, who surrounded the city with the wall that still surrounds the town. To strengthen the defensive character of Ciudad Rodrigo, in 1372, King Henry II of Trastamara ordered the construction of a castle in the most inaccessible part of the city, which was integrated into the wall and served to reinforce the protection of the population.


Thanks to the wall and its castle, Ciudad Rodrigo became a bastion in the fight against the Muslims and against the emerging Portuguese kingdom during the late Middle Ages. Over the centuries and due to its frontier status, Ciudad Rodrigo was severely damaged during different conflicts, such as the War of the Portuguese Succession in the 17th century or the heavy siege suffered by Napoleonic troops during the Spanish Independence War in the 19th century.


Nowadays, the castle of Ciudad Rodrigo, witness to so many battles throughout its history, has a much friendlier appearance. Since 1931 it has housed the Parador Nacional de Ciudad Rodrigo, a beautiful hotel full of charm. Its status as a Parador Hotel helps in its conservation and allows you to visit part of its facilities, even if you are not staying there. Don´t miss this opportunity!


The castle has beautiful, well-tended outdoor gardens, access to which is free and from which you can enjoy stunning views of the fertile plain of the river Agueda. This view can be en-hanced even more if you visit the keep after paying an entrance fee. This gigantic square tow-er was built in the 16th century and included palatial rooms that make it a small fortress. Af-ter climbing 80 steps, we reach the top of the medieval tower, crowned by a crenellated para-pet. The effort will be worth it. From this viewpoint, we can enjoy almost endless views of the historic Salamanca region of Socampana, a limitless canvas of pastures populated by holm oaks and watered by the Agueda river. And under our gaze, a vertiginous natural escarpment helps us understand why the great-great-grandfather of Isabella the Catholic built his fortress here.


Castle Alcazar of Henry II of Trastamara (National Parador of Ciudad Rodrigo)
Plaza Castillo 1
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

FANCY AN HORNAZO?


During your visit to Ciudad Rodrigo, you will find a multitude of bars where you can enjoy the famous tapas, many of them based on meat products, such as tripe, ears, brains, bacon, pork snout and kidneys. You can also taste a variety of omelettes or try a tapa of the famous cod a Brás, a Portuguese recipe so popular in this region thanks to its proximity to Portugal. In addition, all these delicacies can be accompanied by excellent local wines, such as those from the nearby Sierra de Francia or Arribes del Duero.


But just in case these tapas are not to your taste, we have prepared an alternative that will delight all palates. This is one of the most typical recipes in the province of Salamanca, and you can try it in many establishments in Ciudad Rodrigo.
We are talking about hornazo, a true delicacy. Its dough is made with oil, milk, water, white wine, brandy, egg, flour, yeast and salt. Then it is filled with pieces of pork products, such as pork loin, chorizo or ham. It has the appearance of an empanada and is served in both bars and pastry shops.
The origin of the hornazo comes from the province´s capital and is related to the oldest trade in the world... Let´s take a look at its curious history!



In November 1543, a very young Prince Philip, who was to become the great monarch Philip II, arrived in the city of Salamanca to marry María Manuela of Portugal. He stayed in town during the days of the festivities. During this stay, the very righteous prince was able to see that this city, as well as being a true temple of knowledge, was also a temple of pleasure... Salamanca was an important university town, so many students attracted prostitutes who found a safe business in a predominantly male population.
In an attempt to purify the city of so much sin, Prince Philip issued a decree that the prosti-tutes of Salamanca were to be expelled to areas outside the city walls during Lent and until the end of the holy days.
Once this period had passed, the prostitutes could return to the city on the first Monday after Holy Week. When the banishment came to an end, these women were welcomed by the young people with such joy that they celebrated a great feast where they ate and drank to their heart´s content and where everyone ended up drunk and bathing in the river Tormes.



This festivity, called Lunes de Aguas, spread throughout the region but with a more demure character... Nowadays, on this date, families and friends get together in the countryside at snack time, dance and eat hornazo. Nothing to do with the old days...
The succulent hornazo can be eaten any day of the year and is a delicious mid-morning snack. Of course, this delicacy that looks like an empanada stuffed with sausage is an actual sin!

FARINATO, KING OF COLD, CUTS


Ciudad Rodrigo is the most important municipality in the southwest of Salamanca, a famous province for its gastronomy, closely linked to pork products. The extensive pastures that make up these lands are the perfect habitat for the region´s pigs to be reared in optimum conditions, providing the highest quality products.


As you walk around Ciudad Rodrigo, you will come across several establishments selling "ibéricos", all products derived from the Iberian breed of pig. One of the main characteristics of the pigs of this breed is that they have infiltrations of fat in their muscles that enhance the quality of their products. For a pig to be considered an Iberian breed, it must be at least 50% pure Iberian. And the higher this percentage is, the higher the quality of its derivatives.
In addition to the purity of the breed, another variant that determines the quality is the diet that these animals have had throughout their lives. The longer they have lived outdoors, the better the quality of their products, as the animals will have been able to feed on the grass of the pastures and the acorns provided by the holm oaks. Being loose in the countryside, the pigs walk more, and their meat is of better quality. The better the animal´s quality of life is, the better the products.



Now that you know a little more about Iberian products, we invite you to stop in front of the shop window of one of these establishments, if only to admire the products on display, a spectacle to behold. You will see that, as well as different delicatessen products such as olive oil, honey and other ambrosias, these shops, sell above all hams and sausages. And in Ciudad Rodrigo, the king of cold cuts is called farinato.
These Spanish cold cuts are pieces made of minced meat seasoned with different spices and aromatic herbs and stuffed into a skin made from the animal´s guts. Among the most famous sausages in Spain are chorizo, salchichon and morcilla, our black pudding. And in Ciudad Rodrigo, they also have their renowned farinato, the local product par excellence.
Made with lard, breadcrumbs, paprika and other spices, farinato is the star sausage of the town´s gastronomy. The importance of this product in the municipality is such that the inhab-itants of Ciudad Rodrigo and the formal nickname of "mirobrigenses" are also known by the nickname of "farinatos", a handle that they proudly wear...



Buying a farinato is a great way to bring the flavour of this city home with you. They are sold in convenient vacuum-packed strings that usually have a shelf life of about six months. We recommend eating the farinato warm, and it is the perfect accompaniment to fried eggs and chips...
A perfect souvenir of our visit when we are back home!

CIUDAD RODRIGO GRANDE DAME


Ciudad Rodrigo has a genuinely superb cathedral that surpasses in importance any other his-toric building in the city. The Cathedral of Santa Maria is a must-see treasure with a rich inte-rior and a spectacular exterior full of detail. It is the perfect monument to be photographed, although we warn you of a small risk: this Grande Dame will steal all the limelight in the pho-tographs!
This late Romanesque jewel in transition to the Gothic style began to be built at the end of the 12th century during the last years of the reign of Fernando II of Leon. However, its most excellent promoter was his son and successor, King Alfonso IX. It was built on a Latin cross plan with three naves, and its apse faces east.


It was built during a period of transition between styles. It has both Romanesque and Gothic details, although we will also find elements of later styles. Its construction began in the 12th century and lasted until the 14th century. Still, due to the damage caused by the Lisbon earthquake and different attacks, restoration works were necessary during the 18th century. It was in this period that the neoclassical bell tower was built.
The visit to its interior is done after paying an entrance fee of about €3. Once inside, you can enjoy its characteristic mixture of styles as you walk through its spectacular cloister, where you will find Romanesque, Gothic and even Plateresque elements. Inside the church, its ala-baster altar, elegant choir and rich cathedral museum make for an enriching visit.


But the great jewel inside the church is the Portico del Perdon, which is not visible from the street even though it is located at the main entrance, as it is protected behind a sober portico due to its great value. It is a masterful work of art reminiscent of the famous Portico de la Gloria in Santiago de Compostela. This magnificent Gothic sculptural ensemble consists of twelve columns with the twelve apostles on them surrounded by different scenes from the life of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It is genuinely superb.
It is true that from the outside of the church, we can also enjoy two impressive doorways. The Puerta de las Cadenas is an essential portico located on the south façade facing the Plaza de San Salvador. It consists of a semicircular arch over whose archivolts shine five Rom-anesque statues representing Christ showing his wounds and accompanied by four apostles. Above them is a gallery with twelve pointed arches containing twelve Gothic figures repre-senting characters from the Old Testament. And above, a beautiful rose window illuminating the transept is spectacular!
Finally, on the north façade, next to the abbey, we find the Puerta del Ensolado or Ama-yuelas, true beauty in Romanesque-Byzantine style with poly-lobed archivolt.
Get your cameras ready before visiting this Great Lady because you will be able to photo-graph some natural treasures!



Catedral de Santa María
Calle Cardenal Pacheco 15
37500 - Ciudad. Rodrigo, Salamanca

AN "URIGINAL" MUSEUM


While travelling, we find now and then places that are the most bizarre and have their reason for being and can be exciting and appreciated. This is the case of a curious museum in Ciudad Rodrigo, right in the historic centre. We are not talking about an ethnographic museum, a provincial or cathedral museum, or the Urinal Museum. You read that right—a museum of the chamber pot.


The truth is that, if we think about it, the chamber pot is an object that has accompanied hu-mankind for many centuries, fulfilling a convenient function to perfection and helping to re-lieve a physiological need that we all have.


Being such a widely used object and so present in history, thousands and thousands of cham-ber pots have been manufactured worldwide, with thousands of different shapes, sizes and colours. For all these reasons and the excellent service it has always done for human beings, the chamber pot deserves respect and even a museum!


The founder of this museum, a local collector, named José María del Arco Ortiz, must have had the same reasoning. He dedicated many years of his life to collecting chamber pots worldwide, visiting flea markets, antique shops and even hospitals. Around 1991, he gathered many chamber pots to make an itinerant exhibition that exhibited the pieces in different parts of Spain and Portugal.


Over time, this stubborn collector continued to collect many more pieces thanks to his tenaci-ty and the contributions of chamber pots made by his family and friends.
And for this man, there was no better gift than a chamber pot! Finally, in 2006, he was able to make his dream come true and open the Potty Museum in his hometown, showing all the pieces he had collected over so many years.


The Urinal Museum of Ciudad Rodrigo has more than 1,300 pieces from 27 different coun-tries. The oldest of which dates back to the 13th century and is of Islamic origin. All the chamber pots on display are perfectly catalogued and documented, allowing us to observe their evolution throughout history.


Urinals of many different materials are on display, including iron, earthenware, porcelain and even glass, and some are even inlaid with gold and silver. They also come in all sizes, from tiny chamber pots belonging to dolls´ houses to the so-called dompedros, integrated into a wooden cabinet.


This museum is housed in an elegant 18th century stone building next to the Cathedral of Santa María, occupying premises that formerly formed part of the Diocesan Seminary of San Cayetano. Of course, in Ciudad Rodrigo, they have given the chamber pot a place of the highest level...


During your visit to this unique city, don´t miss the original Urinal Museum!


Museo del Orinal
Plaza de Herrasti s/n
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

UN EMOCIONANTE PASEO SOBRE LA MURALLA


Despite all the marvellous monuments in Ciudad Rodrigo, its main protagonist are undoubt-edly its walls, or rather, its ramparts. The historic centre of Ciudad Rodrigo is surrounded by a first wall dating from the 12th century, which construction was ordered by the monarch Fernando II of Leon. However, at the end of the 15th century, building a second wall sur-rounding the first one on the outside was necessary to increase protection thanks to a bas-tioned system of moats and counter-moats.


The first wall, which we can still find remains, was reformed in the 18th century, and its thickness was increased so that artillery could circulate along its upper part. Thanks to that reform, today we can enjoy a vertiginous wall that is eight metres high -even if it can reach 13 metres at some points-, and whose upper part has a wide walkway all along its contour, called adarve. And this is precisely the challenge we propose: to go round the wall walking along its adarve!


This is a challenge for everyone, as it is possible to walk the adarve for as long as you wish. The entire wall can be visited from the top, which means that you can walk around the whole of the old town along the ramparts.


The total diameter of the wall is 2,250 metres, but there are several access staircases distribut-ed along the walkway so that you can descend "to the mainland" whenever you wish.


This ease of access makes walking along the wall a must for visitors to Ciudad Rodrigo. Walking along the ramparts, you can enjoy marvellous views of the town and its surround-ings. Likewise, its moats, bastions, cannons and towers will take you back in time.


The wall still conserves six of its eight original gates. Given the thickness of the wall, these gates are so vast that they look like tunnels through which you can enter directly into the Middle Ages. Speaking of gates, a good idea for the challenge is to walk along the ramparts from the castle area to the cathedral area, passing through four of these gates. Are you up for it?


To do so, we will go up the adarve through the access near our old friend El Verraco, at the entrance to the castle. Once at the top, we will start walking, leaving the Agueda River on the right side. The gates we will pass through are, in order, the Puerta de Santiago, the Puerta del Sol, the Puerta del Conde and, in the cathedral area, the Puerta de las Amayuelas.


In this twenty-minute walk, you will have covered half of the ramparts!


It is a luxury to walk this oval wall and observe the starry bastion that surrounds it from the heights. This colossal fortified complex looks so proud after having survived so many war-time events that, at times, it even seems to weep with emotion.

HIDDEN SECRETS


We will now introduce you to three iconic monuments of Ciudad Rodrigo that will tell us about this town´s ancient origins and help us discover some of the secrets of its past.


The first monument stands in the Plaza del Castillo and remains so sturdy that it seems to be firmly guarding the entrance to the fortress. We are talking about that strange zoomorphic stone figure that, no matter how hard we look at it, we can´t reasonably guess what animal it is. The Verraco de Ciudad Rodrigo is a monument sculpted in stone by the Vetons, a pre-Roman people who lived in these lands in the 6th century B.C. A gem from a remote past!


The Vetons belonged to the Celtic culture and were mainly cattle breeders and very belliger-ent. The lands they inhabited occupy a large part of the province of Salamanca, a fact that we know thanks to the numerous Vetone hill forts and different verracos found in different parts of these lands. Although each sculpture is different, and some look like a pig and others like a wild boar, they all have the generic name of verraco, which means "stallion pig". It is believed that the Vetons sculpted these figures as an offering to a god. However, this theory is not sure, and we can find other hypotheses about them, such as that they were used to mark dif-ferent grazing areas.


We continue our journey through time to discover more of Ciudad Rodrigo´s secrets. We go back to the 2nd century B.C. when the Romans founded the city of Mirobriga, today´s Ciu-dad Rodrigo, in these lands. It is precisely from this name, given by the Romans to the town that we get the nickname mirobrigense, so often used nowadays.


The second monument that will tell us about the past of Ciudad Rodrigo is part of its Roman heritage. At one of the entrances to the city are three colossal columns that are believed to have formed part of a Roman temple in ancient Mirobriga. They were found during the Re-conquest, and since the Middle Ages, the Three Columns have become one of the most em-blematic monuments of Ciudad Rodrigo, and they even are part of its heraldry.


The third and last secret that we will reveal has to do with the beautiful bridge that we can see from the castle. It crosses the Agueda River and is surrounded by a beautiful setting. Alt-hough its name is Puente Mayor (Main Bridge), many mirobrigenses refer to Puente Romano (Roman Bridge). The truth is that it is not very Roman anymore... Although it is not denied that its origin could have been Roman, nowadays, nothing remains of the original construc-tion. The bridge we see today is the result of different construction phases from the Middle Ages onwards...


After having met the vigorous stone boar, the three enigmatic columns that emerged from nowhere and the Roman bridge that is not Roman, we now know much more about the most remote past of Ciudad Rodrigo.


Verraco de Ciudad Rodrigo
Plaza Castillo s/n
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Tres Columnas
Calle Santa Clara s/n
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Puente Mayor / Puente Romano
Calle Álamo Grande s/n
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

A TOUR OF THE MAIN SQUARES


The area within the walls of Ciudad Rodrigo is a beautiful labyrinth of narrow streets full of small palaces, squares and churches. So that you can make the most of your visit to the city and admire its best gems, we have prepared a short but beneficial route for you. We will visit three iconic squares in the historic quarter of Ciudad Rodrigo, home to true architectural treasures. On this walk, we will cover a distance of about 500 metres, which will take us 15 minutes at most. Come with us on this route of squares!


Our walk begins in the Plaza Damaso Ledesma, a pleasant, tree-lined, rectangular square pro-tected by a gate and whose central point is presided over by a bronze bust of the prestigious musicologist from Mirobrigia, after whom the court is named.


Among the architectural gems that surround this square is the Palacio de Los Aguila. This Renaissance jewel, built in the 16th century by the senior lieutenant Don Antonio del Aguila, is the largest palace in Ciudad Rodrigo. Its emblazoned façade hides a garden and two interi-or courtyards. One of them has a marked Plateresque style in both its architecture and sculp-ture, with two floors of galleries with arches on three sides, decorated with medallions and coats of arms. Today, the Palacio de Los Aguila houses the Hispanic-Portuguese Centre for Heritage Studies, dedicated to conserving cultural assets from Spain and Portugal.


We continue our route taking Calle Sanchez Arjona to the left, crossing the Plaza Mayor fol-lowing an imaginary straight line and walking along with Calle Julián Sanchez. At the end of this curvy street, the Plaza del Buen Alcalde (Good Mayor Square), one of the most beautiful squares in Ciudad Rodrigo, awaits us.


This square occupies the site of the first house of the Lords of Cerralbo before the family moved their residence to the Casa de Los Cueto in the Main square during the 16th century.


Over time, the original family house was demolished, and on its site, this elegant square was built in the 19th century. Its arcades give it a clear Andalusian air due to the predominant colours of white and ochre.


On one side of the Plaza del Buen Alcalde, and on land that also belonged to the Cerralbo family, the Cerralbo Church was built at the end of the 16th century to house the family pan-theon of this illustrious dynasty. The peculiarity of this church is that its apse does not face east, as the site´s layout did not allow it. However, by the time the church was built, this prac-tice had long since fallen into disuse.


And right next to it, opposite the cathedral´s Puerta de las Cadenas, we will find the elliptical Plaza de San Salvador, at the end of which stands the Casa de la Marquesa de Cartago (House of the Marchioness of Cartago). Built at the end of the 19th century in Neo-Gothic style, it has beautiful corner balconies and a precious family coat of arms above the doorway´s lintel.


Enjoy this illustrious walk!


Plaza Dámaso Ledesma
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Palacio de los Águila
Calle Juan Arias 4
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Plaza del Buen Alcalde
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca




Iglesia de Cerralbo
Calle Cardenal Pacheco 6
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Plaza de San Salvador
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca


Casa de la Marquesa de Cartago
Travesía Campo de San Vicente 2
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca

A RENAISSANCE BREAK


After the sensory impact of seeing the extraordinary beauty of the cathedral of Ciudad Ro-drigo, we need a break for our minds to assimilate the grandeur we have just seen. And for this, there is no better place than the Plaza Mayor, whose serene Renaissance beauty will help us regain our strength.


Right in the heart of the city walls is the Plaza Mayor of Ciudad Rodrigo, an elongated space that has always been the central nucleus of its urban life and even remains so today. This is why this square, throughout its history, has been home to the most important buildings in town.


Three remain today, namely the Town Hall, the palace of the first Marquess of Cerralbo and the Palace known as the Antigua Audiencia. It is a good idea to recharge your batteries on one of the square´s terraces while you contemplate the buildings that have shaped the yard over the centuries and enjoy the atmosphere.


During the Middle Ages, this square became the centre of commercial life, as the so-called "small market" was held here, where vendors offered their products to the public, and differ-ent trades, such as scribes, were set up in the doorways of its buildings. The commercial func-tion of the Main Square is still in force today, given that today it is home to the most em-blematic shops.


With the 16th century came new Renaissance times for the Main Square. The Town Hall, one of the city´s most iconic buildings, was built on one of its sides. Its main façade, with two floors and an "L" shape, is flanked by two beautiful towers and is crossed by a gallery with arches supported by columns with Plateresque capitals.
Currently, the interior of the building also houses the Municipal Archives of Ciudad Rodrigo, which gathers all the documents that prove the last 600 years of the municipality´s history.


The stately mansion that presides over half of the square was also built in the 16th century. This is the Palace of the first Marquess of Cerralbo, also known as Casa de Los Cueto. Its façade is enveloped by a Plateresque frieze full of medallions and grotesque ornaments. It is presided over by the coat of arms of the Pacheco Osorio family, promoters of the mansion. Its upper floor, which was built in the 19th century, is crowned by an elegant balustrade.


To the left of this mansion and almost at the end of the square, we will see a distinguished small palace with a very long wrought-iron balcony. This is the Palace of the Old Court of Ciudad Rodrigo, which also served as a prison. This 18th-century neoclassical palace is now a hotel that still conserves original elements, such as its balconies and exposed stone walls. It has gone from jail to hotel!


Plaza Mayor
37500 - Ciudad Rodrigo, Salamanca