Our first excursion as a group was the Ruta de castillos. We started off in the town of Cuellar which houses a medieval castle built in the 12th century. We took a tour of the castle and learned the history behind it. After being a castle, it was then converted to a palace for the Dukes of Alburquerque in the 1400’s Then later, it was used as a prison during the Spanish civil war.
Our guide took us through the castle, into different rooms and to the top of the tower.
Our second stop was the city of Penafiel. We started at the Plaza del Viejo Cozo. This Plaza is used for bull fighting during August, and gave us great views of the castle that we were about to explore.
Once to the castle, we took another guided tour. We learned that this castle is shaped like a boat, and is shaped to fit perfectly on top the mountain- which offered a great view of the city and back in the day, was ideal for spotting enemies.
We then climbed the 70+ stairs to the tower, which is one of the highest points in the province of Castilla y Leon.