The ancient city walls of Sepúlveda had seven gates, and their respective keys are still preserved in the town hall. There are still many remains of what was once a great fortification, such as the castle, with a mix of Arabic, Baroque and some other periods styles, as is always the case with fortresses.
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The ancient city walls of Sepúlveda had seven gates, and their respective keys are still preserved in the town hall. There are still many remains of what was once a great fortification, such as the castle, with a mix of Arabic, Baroque and some other periods styles, as is always the case with fortresses.
The most curious thing is that one of its bells, the one they call the Zangana, still strikes every day the thirty-three bells that once warned the closing of the city gates.
The whole area was depopulated shortly after the Arab invasion, and then came the usual troubles between Moors and Christians to see who controlled the territory. In that struggle, the mythical figure of Count Fernan Gonzalez appears, who is said to fought body-to-body against a Muslim governor to who he ended up cutting off his head. If you go to the Casa del Moro, one of the many palaces in the historic Sepulveda, you will see how that episode is still remembered on its facade.
The village was repopulated with people willing to risk their lives in front of the Saracen danger and the kings granted privileges for its inhabitants to give them some incentive to stand the adventure. Because otherwise, it was no fun to go to live in a bordered territory which, in other words, at that time, it was an area of troubles day in, day out.
So as time went by, Christians, Jews and Muslims left their mark on Sepulveda, and many temples were erected. Of the ones that are still standing today, the most impressive are the five Romanic churches that you cannot possibly miss.
El Salvador’s church is a true masterpiece of Castilian Romanesque, and the one of Santos Justo y Pastor does not lag behind. From another of them, the one dedicated to the Virgen de la Peña, there is a beautiful view of the Hoces del Rio Duraton, and the Church of San Bartolome completes the lot. We have left this one for the end because it is the protagonist of a quite peculiar tradition.
Every August 23, on the eve of St. Bartolome's Day, when it gets dark, several little devils come down the steps of the temple and start hitting people with brooms. They have fun for about half an hour and then go back up the steps to wait for the next year because the saint only gives them that annual time for their naughtiness.
