Roman ruins, ancient bridges, a random hermitage, and Portugal?
I would love to say that this random adventure happened all in one day, but this actually was two days of going off beaten path in the Spanish countryside.
On my way to Plasencia, I stopped at a little archaeological site in the middle of the countryside. The Ancient Roman city of Cáparra was on the main road, the Via de la Plata, between the northern city of Astorga and down to the capitol of Roman Lusitania, Emerita Augusta, modern day Mérida. Modern roads still follow this route, which I accidentally followed myself. The Via de la Plata also ran through Salamanca and Cáceres, as well.
Cáparra was once a walled city, with suburbs, but it wasn’t a very important ancient city. Not much remains of the city except from some ruins and an arch. The site is fantastically free and has signs in English.
All that remains of a grand city gate.
The remains of some large houses or insulae (apartment houses).
The forum gate was built over the intersection of the city’s main two roads in the 1st century BCE.
The old Roman road.
The Ancient Roman bridge heading north from the city. You can still drive over it!
After visiting Cáceres, I headed outside of the city for the afternoon on a little unplanned excursion. First stop was the Ermita de Nuestra de la Luz, a hermitage out in the Spanish countryside, surrounded by idyllic cow pastures.
It’s a lovely little church.
The porches were full of potted plants. Very cute.
The walls of the church are tiled in a gorgeous blue tile. The chandeliers are a nice touch. So very adorable.
Hermitage kitten, a must have to keep those mice away.
I took a wrong turn leaving the hermitage and found some cows.
Not that far from the Spain/Portugal border is a little town named Alcántara. I didn’t really spend much time in the town, but I did stop to see this cool building, the Convent of San Benito de Alcántara.
The 16th century convent building. Pretty cool looking.
Outside of town, a little bit closer to the border with Spanish border with Portugal, is a super impressive Ancient Roman bridge. The Alcántara Roman Bridge was built between 104-106 CE by the order of the Roman Emperor Trajan. One span of the bridge was destroyed by the Moors, but it was repaired in the 16th century. The bridge is still very much used today.
It’s amazing that this bridge still exists mostly intact.
They were redoing some of the pavement on the bridge. It’s normally wide enough for cars to pass each other. Barely.
A few minutes down the road…
I think I see Portugal! And the little hilltop village of Segura.
Another Ancient Roman bridge over the River Erges, which forms the border between Spain and Portugal.
Today due to open borders, the only reason you know you’ve crossed the border is a couple of signs. This one is on the bridge.
A very subdued border crossing today.
Since I hadn’t said I was taking the rental car across the border, I just walked across the bridge, took a picture with the Portugal sign and then turned around. Walking across the border and back counts as going to a country, right?
On my road trip around Spain, I stopped at many random places along the way. Tune in for more!
Check out my next update where I visit Trujillo and Medellin!
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
