Original subtitles

Hi, I'm Rick Steves, back with more of the best of Europe.

This time we're in Castile, in the heart of Spain

exploring Toledo, Avila, Segovia and Salamanca,

Ole!

The region of Castile, or Castille, is the birthplace of so much of what we consider Spanish:

the great kings, the language, the castles

and an empire which financed the great discoveries and ruled much of the world

in its 16th-century heyday.

We'll two-step back in time,

marvel at El Greco,

pop some explosive pickles,

check out Spain's most awe-inspiring medieval walls,

drop in on a bachelorette party with the local troubadours,

and then we'll settle into one of Europe's most enchanting scenes.

Europe's Iberian peninsula is shared by Spain and Portugal.

Madrid, Spain's modern capital, lies in the region of Castile.

We'll start in Toledo,

swing by Segovia and Avila, before our finale in Salamanca.

Toledo is so well-preserved

and packed with cultural wonder that the entire city has been declared a national monument

you'll see no modern buildings.

It's an ideal place to savor the delights of Spain: cultural, historic and tasty.

Spain's historic capital has 2,000 years of tangled history crowded onto a high, rocky perch.

It's protected on three sides by a natural moat (the Tagus River)

and everywhere else by formidable man-made fortifications.

Toledo was for centuries an important Roman transportation hub

with a thriving Jewish population.

After Rome fell, the city was ruled first by the Visigoths and then by the Moors.

Centuries later, when the Christians conquered the city,

they made it Spain's political and religious capital.

In the 1500s, when the city reached its natural limits as defined by its river,

the king packed up and moved his capital to more spacious Madrid.

Toledo became a political backwater,

only to be rediscovered by Romantic 19th-century travelers.

Today, while small in population and of minor importance politically,

Toledo remains a vital center of culture, art and religion.

Physically, it survives much as it was when Europe's most powerful king called it home.

Toledo's handy escalator

gives those approaching the city from the bus station or car park

a sweat-free lift into town, particularly welcome in the hot summer.

Lassoed into a tight maze of lanes,

Toledo has a confusing medieval street plan.

But major sights are well-signposted.

Explore and remember, some of the best attractions come without signs.

For centuries, Christians, Jews and Muslims enjoyed this city together.

Toledo's history is a complex mix of these three great religions

with an impressive record of peaceful co-existence.

Physical reminders of Toledo's multi-cultural history are everywhere.

In the year 711, zealous members of the world's newest religion, Islam

conquered the Iberian peninsula.

For seven centuries, these North African Muslims, called Moors, dominated Spain.

The Moors were impressively tolerant of the people they ruled,

allowing Jews and Christians to practice their faiths freely.

With cultural ties stretching from here, across North Africa

all the way to Arabia and beyond,

Moorish civilization here, in Spain was a beacon of learning in Europe's so-called �Dark� Ages.

Mathematics, astronomy, literature� and architecture�all flourished.

After Christians took back Toledo in 1085,

many Moorish craftsmen and builders stayed on

leaving their Arabic imprint on the city for generations to come.

This looks like a mosque, but it's actually a Jewish synagogue.

It was built in the 1200s for Jews by Moorish craftsmen.

The decor, while Arabic in its style, comes with Jewish motifs

the shell is a Hebrew symbol calling worshippers to listen to the word of God.

While the men worshipped in the main area, women worshipped behind the screen.

200 years later, the mosque-like synagogue was retrofitted to be a Christian church.

The peaceful co-existence couldn't last forever.

Spanish kings united Spain into a Christian nation.

They gave Jews and Muslims a choice: convert or leave.

In 1492, sure, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.

But that was also the year the Spanish Christians exileded the Jews

and successfully kicked the Moors back into Africa.

A sweet left-over from its Moorish days? Toledo's famous mazap�n.

Shops all over town sell mazap�n goodies in ready-made gift boxes�

but I like to select my own.

A great thing about travel is trying things you never tried before

for years I've been looking at these frutty mazapan and I've never tried one.

It's actually good, but I'm going to stick with the purists.

Toledo's main square is the inviting Plaza Zocodover.

Tourists come here today for more than mazap�n.

Toledo was the 16th century home of one of Europe's greatest painters, El Greco.

Born in Greece and trained in Venice, Domenikos Theotocopoulos

tongue-tied friends just called him �The Greek� or El Greco

moved to Spain to find work as a painter.

He found employment in Toledo,

where he spent the rest of his life and developed his unique style of painting.

El Greco-philes will want to visit Toledo's Santa Cruz Museum.

Originally an orphanage and hospital,

today its wards house 16th-century art,

including a superb collection of El Greco paintings.

His work mixes influences from all three of his places of residence�

�icon-like faces from his Greek homeland,

bold color and twisting poses from Italy

and the almost mystical spirituality from Catholic Spain.

El Greco painted supernatural visions

elongated saints� stretched between earth and heaven.

He painted souls, not bodies. Faces flicker like candles.

Thoroughly modern in its disregard of realism, his art feels contemporary even today.

This altarpiece, finished one year before El Greco's death,

is the culmination of his inimitable style,

It combines all his signature elements to express an other-worldly event.

While on earth the city of Toledo sleeps, a vision takes place overhead.

An angel in a billowing robe spreads his wings and flies up,

supporting Mary, the mother of Christ.

She floats through warped space,

to be serenaded by angels and wrapped in the radiant light of the Holy Spirit.

Mary is charged from within by her ecstasy of her faith.

No painter before or since has captured the mystery of the spiritual world like El Greco.

Nearby, the simple chapel of Santo Tom� holds El Greco's most-loved painting.

The Burial of the Count of Orgaz couples heaven and earth

in a way only the Greek could.

Imagine�you're at the burial of the good count right here in this chapel.

He was so holy, two saints even came down from heaven to help out.

The funeral is attended by Toledo's leading citizens.

Each face is a detailed portrait.

El Greco paints himself looking out at us� drawing us into the scene.

The boy in the foreground, pointing to the two saints, is El Greco's son.

The count's soul, symbolized by a ghost-like baby,

rises up through the mystical birth canal to be reborn in heaven, where he's greeted by Jesus,

Mary and all the saints.

A spiritual wind blows as colors change and shapes stretch.

Jesus points to St. Peter who controls the keys to the pearly gates.

The painting's subtitle:

�Such is the reward for those who serve God and his saints.�

Our hotel, the Residencia La Almazara,

while truly in the country, is just two miles out of Toledo.

The summer residence of a 16th-century cardinal,

it's a lumbering old place with inviting public spaces,

a sprawling garden

and simple but comfortable rooms.

Fond of the cardinal and, perhaps, this view,

El Greco hung out here for inspiration.

Toledo, Spain's leading Catholic city has a magnificent cathedral.

Shoehorned into the old center, its exterior rises brilliantly above the medieval clutter.

And the interior, so lofty and vast, is celebrated as the most Gothic of Spain's churches

and the most Spanish of Gothic churches.

Wander among the pillars and imagine when the light bulbs were candles

and the tourists were pilgrims

And for worshippers, past and present,

the windows provided spiritual as well as physical light.

Marvel through the iron gate at one of the most stunning altars in all of Spain.

The complex composition shows the story of Jesus' life� from his birth in the manger�

to his death on the cross.

While the centerpiece holds the holy communion bread and wine,

the entire altar conveys the Christian message of salvation through Christ.

While the cathedral is primarily a place of worship,

it's sacristy and treasury have enough jewels, great paintings and other art

to put any museum on the map.

My Spanish friend and fellow tour guide, Carlos Galvin, is joining us for dinner.

All that art and history stokes my appetite for a special meal.

Restaurante Cas�n L�pez de Toledo,

located in an old nobleman's palace, offers traditional spanish favorites

with a modern flair.

Here, they specialize in Castillan food

particularly game� like venison and partridge.

And it's always artfully presented, in a way that would have pleased the Spanish nobles

who used to eat here.

So, this is venison. Venison is very typical in Toledo.

Is this like partdrige ? Game.

Historically, this was a hunting area. Yeah.

And we're drinking wine from the Duorro region, from Northerrn Spain and Portugal, renown for it's wineyards.

A meal like this is a fine way to cap another great day in Castille.

Carlos and I are heading for Salamanca with quick stops in Segovia and Avila along the way.

Segovia, an historic town of 55,000 with a rich history and a famous Roman aqueduct

is well worth a short visit.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Segovia was a Roman military base in need of water.

So Emperor Trajan's engineers rerouted a stream into town

by building this nine-mile long aqueduct.

This massive structure, ingeniously constructed with no mortar

provided water to Segovia until modern times.

While locals claim it could still function today,

its primary function seems to be providing a backdrop for family fun.

Segovia's main pedestrian drag is clogged with people enjoying a festive spring day out.

While Romanesque churches and statues honoring 16th century local heroes are ignored,

kids get plenty of attention.

The Plaza Mayor marks Segovia's old town center.

It's early in the afternoon on a Saturday

and, as on plazas all over Spain, people are out with family and friends.

For this gang, it's prime time to enjoy an aperitovo

before heading home for the main meal of the day, a late lunch.

Segovia's Plaza Mayor wasn't always so idyllic.

It was long the scene of bull fights. Imagine spectators jamming these balconies

screaming �Toro! Toro! Ol酔

In the 19th century bullfights in this square were stopped.

When residents complained, town fathers gave them a more gentile form of entertainment

This bandstand.

The town's cathedral stands high above its main square.

Embellished to the hilt with pinnacles and flying buttresses,

it's a good example of that final overripe stage of Gothic called "flamboyant."

Segovia's Alcazar, or fortress, still seems to defend the far end of town.

Once the king's summer retreat and palace, it burned down and was rebuilt.

Like so many castle rebuilds in the Romantic 19th century,

it's a fanciful exaggeration barely resembling the original.

A short drive through more of Castile brings us to the fortified city of �vila.

�vila is famous for its perfectly preserved medieval walls.

For over 300 years, it was on the battlefront between Moors and Christians,

changing hands several times. Built in around 1100,

the wall is the most complete in all of Spain.

�vila's cathedral was actually built into the wall.

And behind the ramparts, the peaceful streets give a charming look at small-town Spain.

The Convent of Saint Teresa is built upon the birthplace of �vila's most famous resident.

Teresa wrote the most popular spiritual devotions of her age

and founded the Carmelite religious order.

Pilgrims remember the saint in this gilded chapel

A case full of relics includes Theresa's finger, complete with a fancy ring.

Local nuns cooked up the town's famous pastry

and now anyone visiting �vila enjoys its yummy yemas.

These pastries are like a soft-boiled egg yolk cooled and sugared.

In Spain, every town has a specialty

In Avila, it's yemas.

That's good.

Heading east from �vila, you feel immersed in the high and vast plateau of central Spain.

It's a rough land steeped in history and tradition.

And huge bulls on the horizon remind drivers, this is the land of bullfighting.

These fun bullboards are all over Spain, built years ago to advertise a local sherry.

A Roman bridge leads to the sunny sandstone city of Salamanca,

Spain's premier university town.

Salamanca is more youthful and less touristy than Toledo.

Enjoy a paseo, that's Spain's traditional stroll, with the local crowd down Rua Mayor

and into its famous main square.

Plaza Mayor, built in 1729, is the ultimate Spanish plaza

a fine place to nurse a drink and watch the world go by.

It's a stress-free, multi-generational mix that to me is quintessentially European.

The handsome town hall overlooks the square.

While most squares honor a king or saint,

this one also commemorates commoners from the region.

Plaques above the colonnade depict Castilian writers such as Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote,

heroes and conquistadors such as Cortez,

popular saints like Teresa,

kings and even dictators� here's Franco.

On Sunday after Mass, old-timers get-together to shake their castanets.

Sure you'll pay a little extra to eat here, but it's a bargain when you consider the ambience�

enjoying the finest square in Spain, savoring some of Europe's best people-watching.

Now, you come to a restaurant, and you don;t want to deal with the big menu

That's right, and then you order raciones.

Raciones are a little larger than tapas.

Ok, if you get a tapa, it's like a tiny plate Exacly.

So, these are Patatas Bravas, brava means brave.

Brave because they have a very spicy sauce.

And then, ofcourse, the stardard thing would be a little bit of Hamon.

What kind of wine is that ?

ok, this is Rioxa, from the north of the Spain

Oh, that's good.

So, if you want a strong spanish wine, the Rioxa is a good bet ?

yeah, a vino con cuerpo.

Yeah, full-bodied. That's a good word.

One of Salamanca's top sights is the Church of San Esteban, dedicated to St. Stephen

or Esteban - the martyr.

This is a fine example of Spain's Plateresque style

masonry so intricate it looks like the region's silverwork.

The facade features the stoning of St. Stephen.

Inside, priests are dwarfed by the over-the-top altarpiece.

This is a textbook example of the 17th century style, named after Jose Churriguera.

Nearby, Salamanca's covered market is a marvelous place for a cultural scavenger hunt.

Here, you'll find all the things important to daily life in Castille.

Fresh local produce...

Salamancan sausage

and hamlocks.

Ham (or jamon in Spanish), has a cult following here in Castille�

So, tell me , Carlos, about this entire mechanism

Is this typical ? Yeah, we have one at home

Every family has one of these, and we buy a Jamon every Chrismas

And we carve it like you do to the turkey. Is it difficult to cut ?

It's not difficult, do you want to try ?

What is the important thing ? To make it very thin.

So, the thinner, the tastier...

There you go, that's perfect.

Jamon iberico.

Next, for something with more kick, we're trying some banderillas

potent spikes of spicy pickles.

This is an assortment of everything on one banderilla. What is a bandereilla ?

It's what you stick on the bull. So, it's a fancy little spear.

An explosion of taste. Exacly. You eat them altogheter.

A highlight of any visit to Salamanca is its famous university.

The oldest in Spain, it was established in the early 1200s

and was one of Europe's leading centers of learning for 400 years.

Today, while no longer so prestigious, it's laden with history

Especially popular with american students for its excellent summer program.

The university's ornately-decorated grand entrance is another example of Spain's fancy Plateresque style.

The people studying the facade aren't art fans.

They're trying to find a tiny frog on a skull that students looked to for good luck.

Ok, up the column, take a left, find a skull, the frog's on top.

Now forget him. Let's follow the facade's symbolic meaning:

The bottom part thanks King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel for the money to make the building.

The middle section celebrates Charles V with the coat of arms of his Hapsburg empire

the world's only superpower in the early 1500s.

Finally, as a statement of the school's open-mindnendess,

the top honors the pope while putting him in the company of pagan gods.

This venerable arcade leads to lecture halls

where Spain's brightest minds grappled with issues raised by the dawning of a new age.

Imagine Golden Age heroes paging through these books and pondering these globes.

Cortez came here for travel tips.

The narrow wooden tables and benches, whittled down by centuries of studious doodling

are originals.

Professors spoke boldly from the pulpit.

It was here that the free-thinking monk Luis de Le�n taught in the 1500s.

He challenged the Church's control of the word of God by translating part of the Bible

from Latin into the people's language, Castilian.

Because of this, he was tossed into jail for five years.

When finally released, he returned to this pulpit and began his first lecture with,

�As we were saying...�

Courageous men of truth like Luis de Leon believed the forces of the Inquisition

were not even worth acknowledging.

Traditionally, Salamanca's struggling students

earned money to fund their education by singing in the streets.

This centuries-old troubadour tradition survives today as musical combos, called Tuna bands

dressed in distinctive outfits, play lutes, guitars and sing.

For a fee, they serenade fancy family gatherings.

And, celebrating with a beer after their gig's done,

they can't resist brightening a bride-to-be's bachelorette party.

And this fun-loving tuna band, the oldest in Salamanca

gave us a memorable trip finale back on the Plaza Mayor.

Thanks for joining us. I hope you enjoyed our highlights of Castile.

I'm Rick Steves.

Until next time, keep on travelin'.

Adios.