Maria Luisa

They got them in white

by belgianchocolate

I love parcs and gardens.
I love to watch people in parcs and gardens.
Valladolid has a real nice one in the center.
On the map it looks huge , and it is compared
to the area of the cities center.

One thing we saw were 'white peacocks'
They are just stunning! I did see them ones
before... but for free it was the first time.

They like to sit in a tree near the angel
waterfall in the center of the 'campo grande'

All along I've been saying to...

by bonmse

All along I've been saying to visit the Fiesta grounds. It's here where you will see the various cultural activities of the region of Castilla (of which Valladolid is the capital). At various points in its history Valladolid was the capital of the kingdom of Spain (or Castilla y Leon to be technically correct).

This picture shows a group of young ladies wearing traditional dresses of Castilla.

Visiting castles

by -deja.Ismael

The area around Valladolid includes one of the highest concentrations of medieval castles of Spain, and probably, of the world. There is even a local style, known as 'School of Valladolid'.

More pictures in the travelogue

Castles around Valladolid

by -deja.Ismael

"Me, in front of the castle of Torrelobatón"

A castle of 15th century, famous because it lodged the Headquarters of the rebels, during the War of the Communities (1519-1521). It is very close to Valladolid (15-20 minutes trip by car, going to the west). It is not visitable, with exception of some days, but it is planned to reform and open it more often.

"Another view of the same castle"

In this case, the guy is my brother. Good to have an idea about the dimensions of the castle, isn't it?

"Tiedra"

Following the same path, you find a concentration of several castles, almost at sight view ones from the others: Villavellid, Mota del Marqués, Tiedra, Urueña ...

The castle of the picture is the one of Tiedra, from 13th century, and is on sale: if you have $500,000, you may enter http://www.joyasinmobiliarias.com/joyas/castillos.htm and buy it ;-)

"Urueña"

We have almost reached the border of the province, and the ancient border between Castile & León. Urueña was, then, a town heavily fortified to defend this border, being its walls and the ruins of the castile still conserved. Actually, most of the town has not changed a lot, and looks like a true medieval one.

"Montealegre"

Now, we have to turn to the North, if we don't want to go too far. We find the castle of Montealegre, an ancient Templar castle, rebuilt as a residence by a medieval noble family.

Unfortunatly, we usually only can see the outwards of the castle, a pity, since, from its towers, we could see the neighboring castles of Belmonte, Torremormojón, Ampudia ... now,we are going to visit the last of them.

"Ampudia"

Ampudia is a XV century castle, actually it is in the province of Palencia, not Valladolid. Anyway, it is one of the best conserved castles of the area. It belongs to the Fontaneda family, the one who gave its name to a well-known (in Spain) cookies brand. They open part of the castle for visitors on Saturdays.

"Fuensaldaña, end of the trip"

Finally, in the way back to Valladolid, we may find the castle of Fuensaldaña. Built at XV century by the lords of the town, lodges currently the Cortes (Autonomous Parliament) of Castilla y León (visitable only by groups). Can you see the resemblance with the first castle of the travelogue? Both belong to the same School, known as "School of Valladolid".

BTW, the town is a good place to have dinner, in any of its restaurants.