City in Spain
13 things to see12 of them free
A small Castilian city on the Douro River where the poet Becquer set his legends. The Romanesque Monastery of San Juan de Duero, the cliff-side Hermitage of San Saturio above the river, and the Alameda de Cervantes park make it one of Spain’s most literary and least-visited provincial capitals. Thin crowds, a walkable centre, and several free riverside sights make it one of the cheaper city breaks in inland Spain. It pairs well with Burgos on a Castile and Leon loop, with Madrid the usual gateway.
What to see
12 of these cost nothing at all.
The Alameda de Cervantes is Soria's main public park and the green heart of one of Spain's quietest provincial capitals. Locals still call it La Dehesa. It is free, open, and counts among the oldest urban public gardens in the country, with shaded avenues of ancient trees, a small chapel, ornamental fountains, and a music bandstand.
A medieval stone arch in the old town of Soria, a quiet survivor of the city's fortified past, free to walk through. It sits in the historic centre a short walk from Plaza Mayor Soria and the Church of San Juan de Rabanera, so it costs nothing to fold into a wander through one of Spain's least-visited provincial capitals.
A working parish church in the old town of Soria, free to enter and best known for the literary ground that surrounds it. The poet Antonio Machado set down some of his most quoted lines here: his young wife, Leonor Izquierdo, is buried in the Cementerio del Espino beside the church, and the elm in the churchyard is the one read into his poem "A un olmo
A small Romanesque church in central Soria, best known for its richly carved portal, which was salvaged from a demolished church and reset on this facade, and for the Byzantine-influenced apse behind it. Free to enter and one of the city's better examples of 12th-century stonework, it makes an easy free stop on a walk through the old town.
Romanesque church with one of the richest carved facades in Spain, rivalling those in France. Free to enter, and free to admire from the outside, where the sculptural detail alone is worth the stop.
Baroque cave chapel built into the cliff above the Douro, dedicated to San Saturio, the patron saint of Soria. A frescoed octagonal interior and river views reward a free riverside walk, and entry is free for most of the year.
A free stone bridge over the Douro on the riverside walk that links central Soria to the cliff-side Hermitage of San Saturio.
Romanesque monastery on the bank of the Douro River in Soria, famous for an open-air cloister where four sets of arches each follow a different tradition: pointed Islamic horseshoe shapes, interlacing Mudejar arcs, rounded Romanesque arches, and Byzantine forms, all on the same square.
Ruined medieval monastery on the Douro riverbank in Soria, linked to the Knights Templar and free to take in from the public path. The roofless arches frame the sky, and the riverside walk runs straight beneath one of them, which makes this one of the most atmospheric free stops in the city.
The wooded hillside above the Douro just outside Soria that Gustavo Adolfo Becquer turned into the setting of his Gothic legend "El Monte de las Animas," one of the most famous ghost stories in Spanish. It is open countryside, free to walk year-round, and pairs a literary pilgrimage with a quiet nature walk.
The Palace of the Counts of Gomara is the grandest piece of civil Renaissance architecture in Soria, a 16th-century palace whose carved stone facade runs almost an entire block. It now houses the city's courthouse, so the inside is off limits, but the exterior and its tall corner tower are the sight, and looking at them costs nothing.
Plaza Mariano Granados is one of the central squares of Soria, a busy social and commercial meeting point named for a lawyer and civic figure tied to the city's cultural life. It is free to enjoy and sits right beside the Alameda de Cervantes park, which makes it an easy, no-cost stop while crossing one of Spain's quietest provincial capitals on foot.
The Plaza Mayor is the civic heart of Soria's old town, an open public square ringed by the arcaded town hall, the neoclassical Palacio de la Audiencia, the Fuente de los Leones, and the church of Nuestra Senora la Mayor. It costs nothing to enjoy and works as the natural starting point for a walk through one of Spain's quietest provincial capitals.
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