Zamora is a small city, population of about 65,000, situated in the Castile and León region of north west Spain. It is only about 30 miles from the Portuguese border. The Duero River runs through Zamora on its way to the Atlantic which it reaches at Porto in Portugal.
Zamora is known as the city with more Romanesque churches than any other in Europe. Its 24 Romanesque churches dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries have earned it the nickname "the museum of Romanesque art".
In the old part of the city is the 12th century Cathedral of Zamora which is generally thought to be amongst the finest of the Spanish Romanesque buildings. It still has the original walls and gates. The 17th cloister of the cathedral has a museum which has tapestries of Flemish origin which were produced in the period between the 15th and 17th centuries Their subjects include the Trojan War, scenes depicting the Estruscan Roman king, Tarquin, and Hannibal’s campaign in Italy. Another important exhibit is a 16th century Gothic monstrance.
Zamora has a castle which dates from the 11th century. The castle has undergone extensive renovations and in November, 2009 the restorations were officially inaugurated by Spain’s Crown Princess Letizia. The restorations were carried out over a four period and during this time archaeological finds from the Bronze Age were discovered, giving researchers more insight into the development of the castle.
No visit to Zamora would be complete without sampling the many culinary specialities of the area. These include cheeses from the milk of the region’s many sheep, asparagus cultivated in Guareña, Sanabrian honey, and traditional steaks from Aliste. If you would like to try something more exotic there is pulpo a la sanabresa, made from octopus. Apart from the food it might be worth trying the Toro wines which are very dark, almost black, and have a rapidly growing reputation for taste and quality.
