Starting with Almoharín, a small town whose name is of Arabic origin, which depended 4 centuries ago on the lordship of Medellín and Montánchez, as well as Alcuéscar, because it was owned by the order of Santiago The patron saint of the town is the Virgin of Sopetrán. The church of El Salvador dates from the 15th century and could originally have been a defensive fortress, due to the architecture of its tower.

Then I would go to see Medellín as the main dish of the day, the birthplace of the best Spanish conquistador in America, Hernán Cortes, conqueror of the entire Valley of Mexico. The city has a beautiful Roman bridge, which has been rebuilt several times and the last one would bear the seal of Felipe II.



In the town, the castle stands out, which is from where I took the previous image of the bridge, and precisely that castle of Arab origin was built on the old Roman settlement. To build it, they used stone from Roman buildings as much as possible, but many of them survived underground.



This city, as mentioned, is of Roman origin and the Roman circus and columns and Roman remains have recently been recovered in different excavation campaigns. The importance of the Roman city comes from the great bridge that crosses the river. After the Romans, the Arabs would come and build a great fortification on top of the town.



Medellín, apart from the old area of the Alcázar, has a beautiful square with the statue of Hernán Cortes and two or three important churches. Unlike Trujillo, Hernán Cortes hardly lived in the city, since he would live in Mexico and marry a native, so he did not continue with buildings like those of the other town and there was no lineage of conquerors in the town.



On the other hand as religious buildings are the church of Santiago next to the castle. This church is from the 13th century in a Gothic style that would be modified to a Baroque with the 17th century reform. In addition, there is the most modern church of Santa Cecilia from the 16th century and much larger. It is in the Renaissance style. The altarpiece of this church was destroyed in the Spanish civil war.


Afterwards, I would visit for the last time Villanueva de la Serena, which, although it is a modern city, is one of the most populated in Extremadura and which, after the merger with Don Benito, will become the third most populous city, it has quite a history.
The center is in the Plaza Mayor where it is. It has a fairly large church, that of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. This church is from the 15th century, in the Gothic style. It has a Renaissance-style altarpiece from the 17th century that comes from another church.
The church in the 20th century suffered a fire and would be restored later.



Nearby is the Town Hall, in which Felipe II built the Town Hall and the necessary buildings for the Town Council. The work dates from the 16th century and is one of the oldest preserved town halls of the towns of Extremadura.

Nearby, on Calle Mayor, is the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, which was built next to the church of San Benito, by the Council of La Mesta to hold meetings and transfer the archive it had in Guadalupe.



Apart from these unique buildings, there are some palaces in the city such as the Bowling House, which was built in the first third of the 20th century. A singular building that owes its name to the decoration of granite bowls that decorate its façade.

Another of the palaces is La Jabonera, a building that houses a soap factory. It is eclectic in style, containing clear influences from iron architecture. The façade has plant decoration. The first floor windows are protected by wrought iron bars. Now it houses an exhibition of period costumes and this is the department of culture.

Day 1, Toledo to Mérida (CLICK to continue)

Day 1, Toledo to Merida (CLICK to continue)