Original subtitles

(inspiring music)

(uplifting music)

- Our journey in Central Spain

begins at the historic city of Morella.

From there, we head west and discover Valdelinares,

the highest settlement in mainland Spain.

Continuing west into the mountains

is the remote town of Albarracin,

once a stronghold of the Moors in the 12th century.

In this central area of Spain are many

interesting and dramatic castles.

The Castillo Belmonte was abandoned in the 17th century

and restored into a mansion in the 19th.

One of the great sights of the region

of La Mancha are the white windmills.

And one of the best places to see them is at Consuegra.

To the west is Guadalupe, and the monastery of Santa Maria,

one of Spain's finest buildings,

and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Our journey ends at Merrida,

with its spectacular Roman remains.

Morella is an ancient walled city

on a hilltop in the province of Castillo,

with a history stretching back to the early Iberians,

who were followed by invasions from the Greeks,

Romans, Visigoths and Moors.

Morella is now a tourist destination

with many historic buildings.

One of the top sights is Morella Castle.

Due to its strategic position,

it was fought over for centuries,

right up to the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s.

The town is surrounded by castle walls,

giving the local population a measure

of safety in dangerous times.

Crammed inside them is a fine church, convent,

and a spectacular sprawl of ancient stone

whitewashed houses with rustic terracotta colored roofs.

But a different sort of danger appeared

in the late 17th century, and a much deadlier one.

Morella was severely affected by the plague.

After 20 years of suffering, the citizens decided

to buy a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The townspeople then processed it through the streets,

and it's said that the plague

immediately disappeared from the city.

To commemorate this, the Sexenni festival

takes place every six years,

with the town girls performing ancient dances in her honor.

This magnificent town is considered

one of the most beautiful in Spain.

Our journey takes us across central Spain,

from Aragon, through Castillo la Mancha, to Extremadura.

In summer, it's very hot.

Rivers dry up, turning them into passable tracks

until the rains come later in the year.

One description we have of this area

comes from the 16th century novel Don Quixote,

by Miguel des Cervantes.

The story follows the adventures of a minor nobleman

who reads so many chivalric romances

that he loses his sanity and decides to set out on horseback

across this landscape to bring justice to the world.

Today, careful drivers can also set out on an adventure

from dramatic mountain roads to miles and miles

of dirt tracks, for off-road enthusiasts.

Ahead of us is the highest village in mainland Spain,

Valdelinares, at just under 2,000 meters.

It has survived into the modern age

because in the winter, the area offers great skiing.

And unlike many of the larger ski resorts,

this village offers small, friendly hotels and restaurants.

It's also just as popular in the summer

with walkers and mountaineers.

Valdelinares' secret lies in a perfect combination

of the natural magnificence of the surrounding landscape

and the ancient beauty of its historic past,

which has survived relatively unchanged

for hundreds of years.

Dropping down from the mountains,

we find the small town of Mora de Rubielos,

which is dominated by its imposing castle,

a product of Mediterranean Gothic architecture,

and one of the best preserved in the kingdom of Aragon.

It was built in the 14th century, with walls that

are 25 meters high and, in places, five meters thick.

From the outside, it looks like a military fortress.

But look inside and it becomes a grand palace.

Over the centuries, it has been used as a church

and a convent, been a victim of a damaging fire,

and was finally restored in the 1970s.

Perhaps the saddest event in the history

of Mora de Rubielos was during the civil war of the 1930s,

when betrayed by informers and captured,

well over 50 republican volunteers were executed

by the nationalist army of the dictator General Franco.

(somber music)

Spain is the second largest producer

of wind power in the world after China.

In 2009, it overtook coal, producing 20%

of the country's overall energy production.

And this has resulted in a large drop

in greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, around 10 million homes are powered by wind farms,

such as this one, on the mountainous Sierra de Albarracin.

And nestling in the mountains is the town of Albarracin,

and considered to be one of the most beautiful in Spain.

It's been proposed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

This is a place that can transport a visitor

back into the Middle Ages, at the time of the reconquest

of Spain, when Christian forces

drove the Moors from the country.

It's named after the Albarrazin family,

who ruled the area during the period of Muslim domination.

It was they who built the Alcazar fortress

and the nearby tower in the 10th century.

After the reconquest, the kings of Aragon

completed the castle walls that surround the town.

And inside them is a place rich in history,

displaying its many cultural influences.

(soothing music)

We now enter the region of Castillo La Mancha,

and the town of Belmonte, with its historic castle.

This magnificent fortress was built in the 15th century

in a mix of Gothic and Moorish styles.

The castle is an unusual pentagonal shape

with six round towers.

Inside is a triangular courtyard.

It was practically abandoned between

the 17th and 18th centuries, and was more or less

in ruins by the early 19th century.

It was inherited by Empress Eugenia,

the wife of Napoleon III,

who began a major renovation project.

Until the Second French Empire collapsed in 1870,

it was then largely neglected again.

But all was not lost,

as the descendants of the empress, who own the castle,

began a major restoration program in 2010,

and opened it to the public.

One of the most iconic sights in all of Spain

are the white windmills of La Mancha.

They were introduced in the 15th century

by a returning knight from the Crusades,

who realized that these machines,

which used the wind to grind the corn,

could help the local millers be more efficient.

Windmills, like this one, were still being used,

until the beginning of the 1980s.

The best examples of restored Spanish windmills

can be found here in Consuegra, where several stand

in a line along the hill close to the old castle.

(cheerful guitar music)

They became famous in the 16th century

when "Don Quixote" was first published.

In his madness, the knight thought

the windmills were giants,

and he charged them with his lance.

(cheerful guitar music)

Today, 12 still exist of the original 13.

And each one has been given a name

of one of the characters from Cervantes' book.

Operating the mill was hard work, as the millers had

to carry sacks of grain, which could weigh

60 or 70 kilos, to the top floor.

They then rotated the sails to face the wind,

and poured the grain down into the revolving grinders.

(cheerful guitar music)

Also in Consuegra is its bullring.

Spain has always been famous for its bullfights.

And there are few places in the country

where a bullring cannot be found.

It's considered a national sport.

Its origins date back to 711 AD,

when the first bullfight, or corrida,

took place in honor of the crowning of King Alfonso VIII.

It's reported that each year, roughly 24,000 bulls

are killed in front of an audience of 30 million people.

But not all Spaniards agree with the sport or like it.

Bullfighting has now been banned in Catalonia,

one of the regions of Spain, and it's likely

that others will follow suit in the future.

Also, increased objections from around the world

will only add to the pressure

to eventually ban it altogether.

Fruit growing in the La Mancha region is a common sight,

with the crisscrossed patterns of different fruit trees.

However, it is viticulture, or wine-making,

which is the main agricultural industry.

In fact, it's a large part of Spain's economy.

And the country has over one million hectares of vineyards,

making it one of the most widely planted in the world.

But only third in actual production.

This is due in part to the very low yields

and wide spacing of the old vines planted on the dry,

infertile soil found in many Spanish wine regions,

particularly here in Central Spain.

(soothing music)

On a high hill near Aldea del Rey,

lies the crumbling fortress of Calatrava la Nueva.

(dramatic music)

Calatrava was the Arabic name of the original castle

recovered from the Moors in 1147,

during the period of reconquest, when Christian forces

battled with the Moors to regain their homeland.

Military orders such as the Knights Templar were founded,

where men could fulfill a vow

of perpetual war against the Moors.

And so in the 12th century, the castle became home

to a group of warrior monks.

(dramatic music)

However, even the Templars were unable to hold Calatrava.

And so the abbot of a Cistercian monastery

offered himself and an army of soldier monks to retake it.

And the castle then became the seat

of the Order of Calatrava.

Their church still survives,

lit by an immense rose window.

It was probably built by Moorish prisoners.

As was much of the castle during its enlargement.

And as with most castles, it's importance slowly faded.

And though the order kept hold of the castle,

it was abandoned after the religious confiscations in 1835.

Today, visitors can step back in time to a dramatic period

of religious warfare, and the founding of modern Spain.

Our journey now heads northwest, and into the region

of Extremadura, and past the Cijara Reservoir.

This enormous lake provided much needed water to the area.

It was created in 1956 by a dam along the Guardiano River.

The reservoir, which is 45 kilometers in length,

has been slowly filling ever since, and covers an area

of just over 6,500 hectares.

It's a huge recreational resource,

and in the summer is a popular place for swimming

and boating, as well as a magnet for fishermen,

who can try and catch pike, catfish and black bass.

People come here from across Europe

to get an unique fishing experience.

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The reservoir lies within the 25,000 hectare

Cijara National Game Reserve, where hikers my well spot

deer, wild boar, otters, lynx, black storks and eagles.

Nestling in the mountains is one of the most

important monasteries in Spain,

and an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Santa Maria de Guadelupe.

(ethereal music)

This outstanding building displays four centuries

of Spanish religious architecture.

It also symbolizes two significant events

in world history that occurred in 1492,

the reconquest of Spain by the Catholic kings,

and Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas.

Columbus was particularly devoted to the figure

of the Virgin of Guadlupe, which was so revered

in the 16th century, that she was made patron

of all Spain's New World territories.

And on his return from his first voyage,

he made a pilgrimage of thanks here for his safe return.

Indeed, the island of Guadalupe was named after this town.

The monastery is located, according to legend,

on the spot where the Black Madonna was found

in the early 14th century by a shepherd.

It had been hidden by the river years earlier

by Christians fleeing the Muslims.

Made of cedarwood, it had turned black in the water.

A small chapel was built on the site,

dedicated to our lady of Guadalupe.

King Alfonso XI invoked Santa Maria de Guadalupe

in a battle against the Moors.

And after gaining victory, he put it down

to the Madonna's intervention, declared the church

of Guadalupe a royal sanctuary,

and undertook an extensive rebuilding program.

Today, the monastery is cared for by nine Franciscan monks,

and it remains one of Spain's

most important pilgrimage sites.

The building is an architectural marvel of world importance,

and full of historical riches.

(ethereal music)

To the west of Guadalupe, and over a mountain ridge,

lies the town of Trujillo.

(soothing guitar music)

The old town contains a number of medieval

and renaissance buildings.

Many of these were built or enriched by the conquistadors,

adventurers, who set off to conquer the New World for Spain.

One of them, Francisco Pizarro, who was born here,

claimed Peru for his country in 1532.

And his equestrian statue stands

in the main square, the Plaza Mayor.

The castle is the highest point in Trujillo.

It was built in the 13th century,

on the site of an old Arab fortress

from the ninth or 10th century.

The square towers, typical of Islamic military architecture,

are incorporated into the later castle.

It's made up of two parts, the main courtyard,

and the albacara, which was a fortified enclosure

for the local population to move

into if the town was attacked.

To the north is the small town of Hervas.

The most significant part

is the ancient crowded Jewish Quarter.

These narrow streets afforded shade in the intense

heat of the summer, and perhaps a little breeze

as these two ladies try to keep cool.

The houses are made with adobe, a type of clay,

on chestnut wood frameworks.

The rust-colored roofs, covered with Arab tiles,

create an almost abstract design

of wonderful patterns when viewed from above.

We now head south, and cross the river Tagus,

which is the longest on the Iberian Peninsula,

with the greater part, 716 kilometers,

running through Spain.

Several dams and reservoirs have been

created along its route to provide

drinking water for much of central Spain.

In 2006, a new bridge was built across the Tagus.

In an interesting construction technique,

the entire length of each half span was built

vertically above the foundation piers,

and then carefully lowered out over the river

and closed at the crown, in one well-planned maneuver.

(soothing guitar music)

The city of Caceres was founded by the Romans in 25 BC.

The old town still has its ancient walls,

which contain a medieval town setting,

with no real outward signs of modernity.

Which was why, in 1986, the town was declared

a World Heritage City by UNESCO.

The reason was the city's practically unspoiled blend

of Roman, Moorish, Northern Gothic

and Italian Renaissance architecture.

30 towers from the Islamic period still stand in Caceres.

And they look down on the narrow cobbled streets

which twist and climb amongst ancient stone walls,

lined with palaces, mansions, arches and churches.

Protected by its defensive walls, the city has survived

almost intact from its 16th century period of splendor.

30 kilometers to the south is Montanchez Castle,

with its unrivaled strategic position.

The origins of this important fortress

date back to the Roman period.

It was then rebuilt by the Moorish invaders around 700 AD.

During the Christian reconquest of Spain

in the 13th century, the castle was enlarged,

including the construction of new castle walls.

And like many of the castles we've seen on this journey,

by the 17th century, it had fallen into ruins.

Running low on fuel, we land at the Talavera airport.

Talavera was the name given to the battle of 1809,

where the Anglo-Spanish army won

a great victory over the French, under the command

of the Duke of Wellington and General Cuesta.

Today, the battle is more likely to be with forest fires

during the summer months,

where these aircraft can be airborne in minutes.

Our final stop on this journey is at the town of Merrida,

one that preserves more important ancient Roman monuments

than any other city in Spain.

Back in 25 BC, when the town was founded,

it was called Emerita Augusta, which means the veterans

of the army of the Emperor Augustus.

It was designed to protect a pass,

a bridge across the Guadiana River.

It was to become one of the most

important cities in the Roman Empire.

The bridge is one of the longest in the whole Roman Empire,

with a length today of 721 meters.

It was in regular use until 1991,

when it was pedestrianized.

On the approach to the bridge is the al cazaba,

a ninth century Muslim fortification.

The temple of Diana stands in what was once

the central part of the Roman forum, where the principal

civic buildings of the city originally stood.

Its preservation is probably due to its incorporation

into a 16th century palace.

The temple's Corinthian columns still stand

in their original rectangular formation.

The Roman circus is modeled on the Circus Maximus in Rome,

and was used for chariot racing.

At its height, spectators could number up to 30,000.

After the fall of the Roman Empire,

and the eventual rise of Christianity in Spain,

the circus saw more use than the other Roman

structures in Merrida, since racing was considered

less sinful than other Roman spectacles.

The elliptical shaped amphitheater was built

around eight BC, and intended for gladiatorial fights

and combats between beasts or men and beasts.

It could accommodate 15,000 people,

with special seating for the ruling elite.

The sand-covered arena in the center once had

a fossa bestiaria underneath it,

which was a set of cages covered with wood and sand

where animals were housed before they were released

into the arena through trapdoors.

Close by is the theater, which was constructed around 15 BC,

and then altered over the next 300 years.

Its design follows the rules laid down

by the architect Vitruvius,

and corresponds to the typical Roman model.

It has similarities with theaters in Tunisia, France

and in Italy at Pompeii, and of course, Rome.

After the fall of the empire, it slowly decayed.

And actually filled with earth.

Until the late 19th century, when excavations began.

These classical Roman ruins are of world importance,

and have been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It's a perfect place to end this journey.

(dramatic music)

(inspiring music)

(uplifting music)