The city of poets that so inspired Antonio Machado, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer or Gerardo Diego, the one that allows itself to be embraced by the Duero is a serene city that is easy to enjoy.
Its history is linked to the Celtiberian peoples who populated nearby territories such as Numancia, but beyond the mythical resistance against invading Rome, its past also speaks of times of reconquests, of moments of splendor thanks to the Honored Council of La Mesta and of the havoc caused by the French invasion in the 19th century.
Beautiful cultural testimonies remain from that history that invite you to walk the quiet streets of Soria and delight in its essence.
The capital's Plaza Mayor preserves that popular flavor of eternal meeting places, that structure of the typical Castilian plaza in which markets have been held since the 16th century. Around it stand beautiful examples of noble buildings such as the Palace of the Court of the 16th century, the House of the Twelve Lineages used today as municipal offices, the House of the Common or the Plain State where the juries met every two years. representatives of the neighborhood groups, the palace of Doña Urraca, the fountain of the Lions ordered to be built by the Royal Economic Society of Friends of the Country of the city of Soria in 1798 and the Romanesque church of Santa María la Mayor, where Antonio Machado married and Leonor Izquierdo.
Through a side street you can access Caballeros Street, where the monumentality of the Provincial Council palace and the sculptural group in recognition of eight relevant historical figures with links to the province of Soria are surprising. Opposite, the Romanesque church of San Juan de Rabanera is one of the most important monuments of the city, with the magnificent Plateresque altarpiece by Francisco de Ágreda standing out inside.
On the way to the Alameda de Cervantes park, the palace of the Marquises of Alcántara is well worth a few minutes of attention to its façade.
With an area of almost ten hectares, the Alameda de Cervantes park is a botanical garden in the middle of the city. Its biodiversity includes more than one hundred tree species, many of them native and others brought from distant countries. On one side of this orchard is the popular 16th century Soledad hermitage, inside which a beautiful image of the Cristo del Humilladero by Juan de Juni is displayed.
Walking through the streets again, you reach Calle de los Condes de Gomara, but not before contemplating the magnificent Romanesque church of Santo Domingo, also an emblem of the city. Once in front of the palace of the counts of Gomara, undoubtedly the most imposing in Soria, it draws attention for the balance and purity of its lines, for the windows with Herrerian pediments and for its magnificent doorway.
Following the descending direction you reach the banks of the Duero, the river so closely linked to the city, but on the way the co-cathedral, a jewel of Castilian Romanesque, is well worth a stop. The medieval bridge that crosses the serene waters is a magnificent balcony to understand what this couple means. On one side the city and on the other the mills and the countryside, on one side the remains of the monastery of the military order of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, better known as the monastery of Saint John of Duero. Its beautiful cloister formed by forty-four arches in an irregular quadrilateral arrangement, together with the unique church, form an artistically very interesting complex.
On the other side of the bridge, downstream, is another of the emblematic places of Soria: the hermitage of San Saturio. Hanging over the waters of the Duero and built on a hermitage from the 4th century, it represents the place of popular fervor, in addition to being artistically very interesting, as witnessed by the church chapel with octagonal floor plans and profuse pictorial decoration.
The passage of the Duero around the city of Soria means the communion between the natural and the spiritual in a setting rich in biodiversity and mysticism.
