Monastery in Soria
Also known as Claustro de San Juan de Duero
Paid entryThere is an entry charge.
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 one square. The mix makes it one of the strangest medieval structures in Spain. Run as the medieval section of the local museum, it charges only a token fee and is free to enter on weekends and public holidays. It sits a short riverside walk from the city, near the free Monastery of San Polo ruins and the cliff-set Hermitage of San Saturio, so all three chain into one easy half-day loop along the water.
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Other places worth the walk, and what each one costs.
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.
Working out what Soria costs?
The whole of Soria