A Monday morning wander through the old town of Valladolid.
Visiting anywhere in Spain is going to be difficult on a Monday. Museums and even cathedrals are often closed, except for the more tourist haven cities. Valladolid was no exception to what I call the “Monday curse,” even though it is one of the larger cities in Spain.
Now for a little background. Valladolid was mostly a small village, if that, until the 10th century. The area was completely abandoned for over a hundred years as the remaining Christian kings had the Christian population of the area move north, away from the invading Muslims. People started to move back in 1084, after a larger Christian presence could be protected.
Valladolid witnessed some big moments in its life. The Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabelle I of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon were married here. The city even the residence of the kings of Castile in the 15th and 16th centuries, and briefly, the Hapsburgs in the 17th century. Christopher Columbus died in a house here in 1506, which is now a museum.
Since it was Monday and basically everything was closed, I planned to only visit for a morning and move on to some smaller towns in the area. Valladolid is actually a fairly neat city and a great place to wander.
Starting at the Plaza Mayor (Main Square) on a damp and foggy morning.
Stacked tables and chairs waiting for patrons.
There are many similar buildings in Madrid.
I love that double wooden covered balcony.
Spain loves to put giant covered balconies around the corners of buildings. I’m all here for it.
Look at that cute theater!
The Academia de Caballeria in the Plaza de Zorrilla.
Parque Campo Grande. I quite liked this park. If it was drier, I probably would have stayed longer.
A very interesting pigeon house. Pet pigeons, maybe?
I really liked this area.
There were a couple of really nice fountains.
My favorite thing about this park was this cute little squirrel. Double paw tuck!
There was also some ducks and swans.
And they had a nice pond to hang out in.
Little smushed San Juan de Letran.
Monumento a Colon. Of course there is a giant monument for Columbus.
There are some really fancy buildings along the park.
A mismatched, yet fancy building.
Another fancy one.
Heading towards the Cathedral of Valladolid. Still a bit foggy.
The Pasaje Gutierrez, arcades like this were basically early shopping malls and they often were pretty ornate.
Cathedral of Valladolid close up.
The super fancy University of Valladolid.
The Palacio de Santa Cruz, a Renaissance palace, that is now part of the university.
I love a good courtyard.
Santa Maria de Antigua is next to the cathedral.
I found an open church!
Nuestra Señora de las Angustias is very yellow.
This church did have some nice retablos, or altar pieces.
San Pablo. That facade is ridiculous, in a good way.
The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is used for non-palacey things today.
I found another random open church, San Miguel y San Juan.
There is a lot of 3D-like figures on this altar.
I was very glad to find this church open. It’s very unique looking, very robust.
San Benito is very Gothic and even robust inside, too.
My Monday morning stroll around Valladolid was much more enjoyable than I expect. I even spent more time here than planned. If you are an architecture lover, this is a great city for a stroll. I wasn’t able to go into the cathedral or the museums, but I quite liked Valladolid.
Check out my next update where I explore walled Ávila!
