Contents
Spain is a country of afternoon siesta, temperamental women, hot climate and plenty of attractions.
People come here not only for carnivals and soak up the sun, but also to enrich themselves culturally by visiting historically significant places.
Cathedrals, ancient churches in the mountains, fortified military forts with a thousand-year history – there are a huge number of such places and one life may not be enough to see them all. Therefore, we have selected the 10 most famous places in Spain that you should take note of if you are planning to visit this beautiful country.
10 Fortress of Vila Velha (Tossa de Mar)
The city of Tosa de Mar, located on a small peninsula of the Costa Bravo, is a favorite destination for tourists who prefer medieval beauty.
Fortress of Vila Velha, which is the hallmark of the island, was built in the XNUMXth century (although its appearance of the XNUMXth century has survived to this day) and served as a fort protecting the Catalans from the raids of North African pirates.
The hundreds of years that have passed since then have treated it surprisingly gently: battlements, four watchtowers, stone loopholes – all this is very well preserved.
Inside the fortress you will find narrow streets steeped in antiquity, the municipal museum in the former home of the governor of the island, and much more.
Those who have visited Tosa de Mar claim that they simply do not want to return to large cities from this silence.
9. Alcazar of Segovia
Fortress Alcazar was built during the reign of the Arabs in Spain in the VIII-IX centuries and initially served as a fort. In the future, it was repeatedly used for other purposes: it was a state prison, a royal palace, and even an artillery academy.
Due to its location (it is built on a rock), the fortress is one of the most recognizable places in the country, which is often printed on advertising booklets. You can come here at any time of the year: all 11 halls are always open to visitors.
Interesting fact: in addition to the Royal Hall, the Hall of Weapons or the Throne Hall, there is also a Cord Hall and a Hall of Cones. In the first one, the walls are decorated with French ropes, and the ceiling of the second one is decorated with 392 handmade cone figures.
8. Prado Museum (Madrid)
This museum of fine arts was founded in 1819 and is now one of the twenty most popular in the world.
Every year it is visited by about 2,7 million tourists who come to see not only the paintings, but also the building itself, which is a monument of late classicism.
In local galleries you can find paintings by Raphael, Van Dyck, Caravaggio, Botticelli and many others. Periodically, paintings are taken out for display in other countries: for example, in 2011, most of the collection Prado Museum could be seen in the Hermitage.
7. Park Guell (Barcelona)
Count Eusebio Guell conceived the construction of the park at the end of the XNUMXth century, hiring the famous Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi to implement the idea. Construction of the popular Park Güell lasted for 4 years from 1900 to 1904, although the building was subsequently modernized several times.
On the territory of 17,18 hectares there is not only a vast park area, but also residential areas with bizarre houses. This becomes noticeable immediately at the entrance, where there are two unusual houses.
Until 2013, it was free to walk in the park, but now you will have to pay about 10 euros for this (a children’s ticket is about a third cheaper). Please note that it is more profitable to buy a pass on the Guell official website, as it costs more at the box office.
6. Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
Expiatory Church of the Holy Family (this is how the place is fully called) is the most ambitious project of Antoni Gaudi, surpassing even Park Güell.
The most surprising thing is that the building of the temple began to be built in 1882, but has not yet been completed. According to the plan, all work should be completed only in 2026, which makes Sagrada one of the main “long-term construction projects”.
This is due to the fact that the construction is not funded by local authorities or private investors, and the money is taken solely from the donations of parishioners.
Interesting fact: in fact, the church is not a cathedral, but a temple. The cathedral is the main temple of the city, but the Sagrada never was. The only cathedral in Barcelona is Saint Eulalia, which began to be built 600 years earlier.
5. Alcazar of Toledo
To appreciate the grandeur of this XNUMXth-century structure, you will have to travel to the province of Guadalajara in central Spain.
In the years when Toledo Alcazar was used for its intended purpose, it was an almost impregnable fortress, reliably defending the inhabitants of the city. It is noteworthy that the first fort on this site was built by the ancient Romans.
During its long history, the fortification was repeatedly destroyed and suffered from fires, but each time it was restored. The last time this happened after the civil war at the beginning of the last century, during which the castle was under siege from July 22 to September 27, 1936.
4. Montserrat Forest (Barcelona)
The name, meaning “cut” or “jagged” was given for a reason: the bald rocks really look bizarre. Where Catalonia is now located, millions of years ago there was a sea, the bottom of which, due to tectonic shifts, turned into a mountain range.
The convergence of the glacier caused the appearance of the Pyrenees, and Montserrat forest broke away from the general mountain “construction” and settled separately.
In addition to the greatness of the mountain itself, 1236 meters high and 10 km long, there is a monastery serving as a mecca for Catholics from all over the world. It was built in 1025 at an altitude of 725 meters above sea level.
3. Royal Palace (Madrid)
On this site in the Middle Ages there was a Moorish fort, later – the Alcazar of the Habsburgs, which was destroyed by fire in 1734.
Philip V, the grandson of Louis XIV, wanted to have a castle in Madrid that was not inferior to Versailles, and in 1764 his grandfather founded The Royal Palace.
The chic baroque design is the merit of Philip’s wife, who admired Italian architecture. At her insistence, Filippo Yuvarra was invited to start construction, and after his death, another Italian, Giovanni Sacchetti, continued the work.
Real masters were also involved in interior decoration: among others, the frescoes were painted by Caravaggio and Francisco Goya.
2. Walls of Ávila
The city of Avila, which is the capital of the province of the same name, is located at an altitude of 1128 meters above sea level, which makes it the highest provincial capital in Spain.
The main attraction is the fortresses walls 2516 meters long, encircling the historical center. They began to be erected as early as the 88th century, and to this day they have survived surprisingly well, including XNUMX towers around the perimeter.
In addition, here you can at the same time visit the XNUMXth century Avila Cathedral, several fortified palaces of the XNUMXth century, as well as many ancient churches.
1. Plaza Mayor (Madrid)
This square, which caught the era of the Habsburgs (the ruling dynasty since the XIV century), is considered by many to be the main one in the capital.
The famous playwright Lope de Vega, who lived in the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries, once called it the “navel of Spain”, emphasizing its grandeur and status. You can’t just take and visit Madrid without walking around Plaza Mayor.