Castilla y Leon Attractions

Above the town is the 15th century Castillo de la Mota, one of the finest castles in Spain. Brick-built, it was erected by Fernando Carreño in 1440. It was a favorite residence of Isabella the Catholic, who died in the castle. Her daughter Joan the Mad also frequently stayed here. Cesare Borgia (César Borja) was imprisoned in the keep from 1504 to 1506.

The collegiate church of San Antolín (1503) has a large and impressive retablo which was the work of many artists, including Juan Rodríguez and Cornelis de Holanda. Capilla de los Quiñones has a relief by Juan de Juni.

The Medina del Campo's Hospital was built by Simón Ruiz, a 16th century merchant and banker, and visitors can still see the wards. The church has a very fine retablo by Juan de Ávila, with sculpture by Pedro de la Cuadra.

The Palacio de las Dueñas in Calle Santa Teresa is a magnificent mansion decked with coats of arms, with a Renaissance gallery and a beautiful inner courtyard.

Aguilar de Campóo has preserved six gates in the old town walls, including the 14th century Puerta de Reinosa, with a Hebrew inscription which is all that remains of the old Jewish quarter. The 12th century castle which looms over the town is now in ruins.

There are a number of old palaces and mansions in Aguilar de Campóo ranging in date from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period.

The Early Gothic church of San Miguel, in the Plaza de España, contains many tombs of the 12th-16th centuries. Particularly fine are the tombs of the Conde de Aguilar and his wife and Archpriest García González. Other churches worth seeing are Santa Cecia (Romanesque) and Santa Clara (Gothic).

Béjar's most notable building is the fortress-like Palacio Ducal, the 16th century palace of the Dukes of Béjar, in the walled old town, which has a beautiful Renaissance courtyard and a magnificent staircase.

The brick-built church of Santa María, built in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 16th, has a fine sculpture of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias by Luis Salvador Carmona.

The Museo Mateo Hernández, in the church of San Gil, has sculpture and pictures of the Flemish and Spanish schools, enamels, porcelain, ivories and miniatures.

Above Béjar is the Santuario del Castañar (alt. 1,050m/3,445ft), from which there are fine views. The chapel, built in the 17th and 18th centuries, with a Baroque interior, is situated on the spot where the Virgin is said to have appeared to some monks in 1447. Since then the Virgen del Castañar, of whom there is a much venerated 15th century image in the chapel, has been the patroness of Béjar.

This is a 19th century summer house in neo-Moorish style. A stone fountain with a semi-circular bench and a stone staircase leads to a lower garden with a gazebo where the elms and planes are.