The old-world town of Soria, situated in the bleak upper valley of the Río Duero, on the right bank of the river, was an important frontier town in the Middle Ages, lying as it did on the Duero line which separated Christian from Moorish Spain. Now chief town of its province, it is still a relatively undeveloped small town. Its wealth of Romanesque buildings, however, makes it well worth a visit.
History
Nothing is known of the origins of the town. It was captured from the Arabs by Alfonso el Batallador, king of Aragon, and soon afterwards became part of the kingdom of Castile. Thereafter it played no significant part in history. A number of noted Spanish writers lived in the town, among them Gustavo Becquer, the essayist Miguel de Unamuno and the great lyric poet Antonio Machado (1875-1939).
From the hill on the right bank of the Duero which is crowned by the ruined castle there are fine views of the town and surrounding country. There is now a modern parador on the hill.
This 3km/2mi long canyon has been cut through the limestone rocks in the northwest of Soria province by the Río Lobos on its way to join the Duero. In addition to roe deer, foxes and wild pigs visitors may be lucky enough to see birds of prey like the griffon vulture, the golden eagle and the kestrel.
Farther into the town, in Calle de Aguirre, is the Palacio de los Condes de Gómara, a magnificent Renaissance mansion (16th C.) with an elegant square tower. It is the most sumptuous building dating from the heyday of the Mesta, the corporation of wealthy sheep-farmers which from the 13th to the 19th century controlled the summer migration of sheep from Extremadura into the more temperate regions of eastern Spain and exercised considerable political and economic power.
The most notable of Soria's many churches and religious houses is the 13th century monastery of San Juan de Duero, a former Templar house, outside the town on the left bank of the Duero. Round the ruins is a small open-air Archeological museum. The Romanesque/Gothic cloister displays an astonishing variety of arch forms, the most unusual of which are the intersecting pointed arches.
Diagonally opposite the Palacio Gómara, on the left, Calle San Juan leads to the 12th century Romanesque/Byzantine church of San Juan de Rabanera. The tympanum with its rich figural decoration came from the church of San Nicolás. The church has a retablo by Juan de Baltanás and Francisco deágreda.
On the right of the road into the town from the bridge over the Duero is the Co-Cathedral of San Pedro (12th-16th C.), which has a fine Plateresque doorway and a Romanesque cloister (12th C.) with paired columns and richly carved capitals. The finest thing in the church itself is a Flemish triptych of 1559 in the Capilla de San Saturio.
To the north of San Juan, in Calle Aduana Vieja, stands the church of Santo Domingo (second half of 12th C.), with the finest Romanesque facade in Soria. The sculpture on the doorway depicts Old and New Testament scenes; on either side of the doorway are two rows of blind arches with capitals telling the story of the Creation. The church has a beautiful retablo and good sculpture.
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Santo Domingo, Soria
Soria
