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Castilla was for
centuries the buffer between the Moorish empire to the South and the Christians to the
North. Not surprisingly it therefore had an awful lot of castles and
was named accordingly. It is split in two by the mountains of
the Navacerrada, just North of Madrid. To the North is Old
Castile (Castilla y Leon), with castles, hill towns and culture beyond your wildest dreams.
Amazingly it is still relatively unspoilt and, despite the occasional
tourist buses, you can still visit
Segovia
(UNESCO heritage site with Roman aqueduct, Disneyland castle, cathedral and
more Romanesque churches than the rest of Europe put together) without
necessarily meeting a single American.
To the South is Castilla-La Mancha, home of Don
Quixote, windmills and, although arguably not quite as stuffed full of
cultural gems as its northern neighbour, still well worth a visit.
Sandwiched between the two Castillas is the capital, Madrid, home to some of
the best fish restaurants in Europe despite being about as far as is
possible from the nearest sea. |
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