Segovia, chief town of its province and the see of a bishop, is built on a rocky hill almost 100m/330ft high, encircled by the little rivers Eresma and Clamores, on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Its picturesque situation, its unique Roman aqueduct and its numerous old medieval
buildings make Segovia one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain.
History
Originally an Iberian foundation and a center of resistance to the Romans, Segovia was for several centuries a place of considerable importance. Under the Romans, who captured it in 80 B.C., it lay at the junction of two military roads. After the Visigothic and Moorish periods the town was resettled by the Counts of Castile, and it was for long a favorite residence of the kings of Castile, including Alfonso X, the Wise. Isabella the Catholic was proclaimed Queen of Castile here in 1474. Juan Bravo, one of the leaders of the rising of the Comuneros against Charles V, was born in Segovia, and was also beheaded there. Segovia enjoyed further periods of prosperity under the Trastamara dynasty, and after falling into oblivion for a time rose to fresh brilliance in the 18th century under the Bourbons. Something of this splendor can still be felt in the modern town.
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