Snow in Segovia

A small jewel of a city perched on a plateau amid olive groves and greenish farms, Segovia with its aqueduct and fairy tale like Alcazar Castle is a delight.  We walked it’s medieval streets and cobblestone walks gazing at the many churches and houses.  The Cathedral is considered one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe.  Like many cities in Spain that emphasize their historic past his one also heralds its Jewish heritage even though the Jews didn’t arrive here until the 1300’s and were expelled in 1492.  The Jewish quarter is small although there were five synagogues, non operating today.  There does seem to be an interest in exploiting the interest Jewish visitors have in their history.  It was cold and cloudy in Segovia most of the day but as we were getting ready to leave a blizzard like snow began.  We hurried to the train station and made it back to Madrid by dinnertime.

The aqueduct, constructed two millennium ago by the Romans originally ran nearly 17 kilometers bringing fresh river water to the city.  It is nearly one hundred feet high and is built of granite blocks.  It has 167 arches.  At the entrance to the historic part of the city there is a staircase that we we climbed to the top of the aqueduct.  At the top the breathtaking panorama of the city stretches out.  One question that comes to mind seeing this amazing engineering feat is why today there are so many parts of the world that do not seem to be able to bring in clean drinking water.  And the subsequent health problems that causes.  Surely if the Romans could do it 2,000 years ago modern technology should be able to also.  

Outside of the historic area it seems like a thriving and lively city.  We did not stay long enough to explore as we just did a day trip from Madrid.