Loop from Soria

01 Church

Monastery of San Juan de Duero

Monasterio de San Juan de Duero

On the bank of the Duero facing Soria lies a cloister now open to the sky, whose arches intersect and form horseshoes, under a clear Mudéjar influence. The Knights Hospitaller of St John kept a commandery here, of which the church survives, with two small canopies topped by domes. Bécquer set two of his Leyendas here.

02 Heritage

Ermita de San Saturio

You enter the hermitage through the cave that tradition attributes to Saint Saturio, then climb against the rock to the octagonal church. Clinging to the rocks above the Douro, the work of Pedro de Ajín was completed in 1703. Antonio Machado slipped it into "Campos de Soria", and the balconies of its chapter rooms open onto the river.

03 Heritage

Numantia

Numancia

On the Cerro de la Muela, above the Duero, the Celtiberians of Numantia held out against Rome for twenty years. Surrounded by Scipio Aemilianus and starved for thirteen months, most chose death over surrender in 133 BC. Facing the plains swept by the cierzo wind, you can grasp the isolation of this siege.

04 Lake

Laguna Negra de Urbión

Beneath a rock face where griffon vultures nest, this lake of glacial origin lies at 1,753 metres, ringed by Scots pines. It's easy to see why Antonio Machado drowned the parricide sons of La tierra de Alvargonzález here, so bottomless do its waters seem. Yet it is no more than eight metres deep.

05 Nature park

Monumento natural de La Fuentona

Watch the Abión gush from a pool of crystal-clear water, fed by the underground reserves hidden in the Sierra de Cabrejas. Beneath this mirror, divers have explored a network of flooded galleries down to 115 metres below the level of the spring. Further down, the river runs between limestone cliffs where griffon vultures nest.

06 Castle

Castillo de Calatañazor

Of the Padilla family's castle, built in the 12th century, a few sections of wall remain along with a truncated keep pierced by a Gothic window. The old parade ground has turned into an arcaded square, where the lord's pillory still stands. Approach the edge, where the rocks drop sheer to the Valle de la Sangre.

07 Castle

Castle of Ucero

Castillo de Ucero

On its rocky spur above the río Ucero, this ruined fortress watches over the mouth of the río Lobos canyon. The bishops of Osma used it at times as a retreat for trout fishing, at others as a prison for clergy; the keep retains its gargoyles and rib vault. Cross the river and climb the sunken path between the rocks.

08 Heritage

Ermita de San Bartolomé

Deep in the Río Lobos canyon, this early 13th-century church blends Romanesque and Gothic, right down to its portal with six pointed archivolts. Notice, on each arm of the transept, a rose window whose tracery forms a five-pointed star of Islamic inspiration. Around the building rise the limestone walls of the canyon.

09 Church

Burgo de Osma Cathedral

Catedral de la Asunción de El Burgo de Osma

In the former chapter house stands the tomb of San Pedro de Osma, whose bas-reliefs keep their original colouring. Begun in 1232 in place of a Romanesque cathedral, the Gothic church counted among its canons Dominic de Guzmán, canonised in 1235. At the high altar, the altarpiece by Juan de Juni and Juan Picardo tells the life of the Virgin.

10 Castle

Castle of Gormaz

Castillo de Gormaz

General Ghalib had this caliphal fortress built in 965 on a ridge above the Duero, on the northern edge of al-Andalus. Its stone walls run for nearly a kilometre, punctuated by towers, and at the time formed the largest stronghold in Europe. From the riverbank, follow this long line as it hugs the contours of the hill.

11 Castle

Castillo de Berlanga de Duero

On Coborrón hill, Berlanga de Duero layers the Tovar family's seigneurial castle, built between 1460 and 1480, with an artillery fortress begun in 1512. Its five-metre-thick walls end in a parapet sloped against cannonballs. Admire too the façade, the only remnant of the palace of the Dukes of Frías, burned in 1811.

12 Museum

San Baudelio de Berlanga

Ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga

In this Mozarabic hermitage from the late 11th century, eight horseshoe arches spring from a single central pillar like the fronds of a palm tree. Its paintings, sold in 1922 and stripped from the walls, ended up in the Prado and in American museums. Before leaving, lean over the tombs cut into the rock at the foot of the apse.

13 Monument

Roman arch of Medinaceli

Arco de Medinaceli

The only three-bayed Roman arch in Spain, it stands on the hill of Medinaceli. Move from its west face, turned towards the village, to its east face, open to the valley and worn by the weather. Its inscription in gilded letters dedicated it to Domitian, then was altered in 98 to honour Trajan.