DESCRIPTION
“Spanish city and capital of the province of the same name. It is situated on a defensible, rocky promontory between the rivers Eresma and Clamores. The population is c. 50,750. It was important in medieval Castile as a royal fortress and treasury, an ecclesiastical centre, and the home of a thriving textiles industry.” https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T077398
ACCESS
HISTORY
Segovia is the city in which Isabella I declared herself queen,
List of Historic Humans of España relevant to España: Ida y Vuelta
SEGOVIA LECTURE NOTES
AQUEDUCT
“The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, probably built c. A.D. 50, is remarkably well preserved. This impressive construction, with its two tiers of arches, forms part of the setting of the magnificent historic city of Segovia. Other important monuments include the Alcázar, begun around the 11th century, and the 16th-century Gothic cathedral.”
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/311
“The Aqueduct of Segovia is a unique structure from the Roman Empire that still conveys its original character and remains a prominent and evocative feature of the regional landscape It represents both the expansion of the Roman Empire during the 1st century A.D. and the attention to aesthetics and functionality that are so strongly associated with the engineering prowess of the Roman world. The Aqueduct of Segovia functioned for many centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire and served the communities of Segovia well into the modern era. Today it is one of the features of the landscape of Castilla y León that gives character to the region and is well-deserving of the attention it is receiving for its continued protection and stabilization.” -The World Monuments Fund
No mortar was used in the construction of the aqueduct.
CATEDRAL
ALCAZAR
“The Alcázar of Segovia is an unforgettable castle. It was built at the end of the Middle Ages – the beginning of the modern era, and today it’s considered one of the most unusual in the whole of Europe. It was built in a mixture of Gothic and Mudejar styles, with a few Austrian touches. The slate tiles topping the turrets and the side wall shaped like the prow of a ship give it the look of something straight out of a fairy-tale. So, it’s hardly surprising that Orson Welles used it in his Chimes at Midnight, or that in all probability Walt Disney chose it as the model for Cinderella’s castle.” https://www.spain.info/en/discover-spain/segovia-monuments-spain/
“The Alcazar commands a strategic outcropping of the city’s plateau high above the juncture of two small rivers. It is, of course, everyone’s personal castle in Spain. Built in the eleventh century and rebuilt in the early fifteenth, it has a dashing, even romantic intimacy with its site that is difficult to equal. Muslim influence is seen in the name and in the building itself, particularly the interior.” — G.E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1990. p80.
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
Ham, Anthony; Quintero, Josephine. Lonely Planet Madrid (Travel Guide). Lonely Planet Global Limited, 2021.
Phillips, Jr, William D.; Rahn Phillips, Carla. A Concise History of Spain (Cambridge Concise Histories). Cambridge University Press, 2017.
Shields, Graham. Madrid (World Bibliographical Series). ABC-CLIO, 1996.
Steves, Rick. Rick Steves Spain (Travel Guide). Avalon Travel, 2016.
EDITOR AND LAST UPDATE
John William Bailly 19 June 2022
COPYRIGHT © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Bailly Lectures 