We had a slow start to the day and then headed off, past the poppies to visit Tordesillas. We wandered over the medieval bridge into the town. We were too late for the 11 ‘o’ clock guided tour of the Royal Monastery, which was fully booked, so started with a visit to the Casas del Tratado (Houses of the Treaty).
These are are two adjoining palaces that received this name because it was here the Treaty of Tordesillas was signed in 1494, by which Spain and Portugal established the division of the territories which were being colonized in the New World. It was a really interesting exhibition which helped us better understand why Portuguese is spoken in Brazil and Spanish in the rest of South America. (https://www.olalisboa.it/articoli-su-lisbona/the-treaty-of-tordesillas)
After that we stopped in the Plaza Mayor for a coffee and I followed a trail of Spaniards carrying cake boxes to the local bakery and stocked up on bread and cake for our evening snack.
It was then time for our 12.30 tour of the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara. This was a palace built by King Alfonso XI in 1349 to celebrate his victory in the Batalla del Salado and then converted into a convent in 1363 by his son, Pedro I the Cruel. Declared to be a site of Cultural Interest in 1931, the monastery stands out because of its façade in the Almohad style, its Arabic baths and the altarpiece in the exceptional chapel of Saldaña. All the rooms contain elements of great architectural and decorative interest, including a clavichord which belonged to Juana la Loca. It was a brilliant tour (although only available in Spanish) and we were unable to take photos in most of the rooms, so got a guide book instead. A large part of the building was well-preserved since 1340 and, having always and to this day had resident nuns, had managed to escape attacks or fires which would have destroyed some of the architectural detail.
The actual palace where Juana 1 de Castilla (Juana la Loca) (1479-1555) was confined for many years (from 1509 until her death in 1555) has since been demolished and converted into gardens. She would regularly have attended this convent, however, for weekly services. She died in Tordesillas in 1555 when her coffin was placed in the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara and was then taken to her final resting place with her family in La Capilla Real in Granada. It is still a matter of academic debate as to whether Juana truly did suffer from mental illness, or if she was simply the victim of powerful men wanting to grab power. (https://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2010/11/13/grief-and-coffins-was-juana-of-castile-really-mad/)
After our two visits we strolled back down to a restaurant that we’d spotted earlier serving cochinillo (roast suckling pig). It was almost 2p.m. which, according to the waiter, was still quite early for lunch in this region of Spain. The restaurant was fully booked inside and soon filled up with Spanish outside. When we saw a family arrive all dressed up, with their daughter in her first communion dress, we thought we had probably chosen well! We were not disappointed as all the food was brilliant. Dave had sopa castellana which is a garlicky soup with an egg, I had artichokes with ham and then we both had cochinillo. While we ate several people went by on horseback, including a couple of carriages and some in flamenco gear. We discovered that the town was hosting a horse riding festival this weekend. After all that excitement, we ambled back to the campsite for a siesta!
We spent the rest of the day reading, writing the blog and planning the next stage of our trip. We strolled along to the riverside bar for a quick beer and it then started to rain, so we went back to the campsite.
Words of the day:
Palacio Real = Royal Palace
Casas del Tratado = Houses of the Treaty
Cochinillo = suckling pig
Travel tips of the day:
Don’t even think about having lunch before 2 in this part of Spain! 😃
Loads of cultural attractions are closed on Mondays, so Mondays work well for other activities.
Tordesillas the town that split the world.
Well, in never knew that.
Very interesting for you when you ‘bumped’ into Festival week.That is usually a very colourful affair.
Jx from Sunny Cornwall 🌻☕️