Teruel. Up, Up On The Mountain

Just outside Teruel's train station we were welcomed by La Escalinata, an impressive Neo-Mudejar style stairway that one has to climb to actually get into de city. La Escalinata was built at the beginning of the 1920's and it's like nothing I'd ever seen before.

The city's other symbol are The Lovers of Teruel. The story of the Lovers took place in 1217. But people of Teruel still remember them, probably mainly to the mausoleum in the San Pedro's Church housing the mummified bodies of Isabel Segura (a rich lady) and Diego de Marcilla (a poor man who battled at Crusades to earn some money with the intention to return to get married with Isabel) whose love ended tragically. It's kind of a Romeo and Juliet love story. Diego went away to gather wealth and Isabela was supposed to wait for him 5 years. Diego was not heard from in those five years so on the day of the five years' close Isabel's father married her to somebody else. Right after the wedding ceremony Diego shows up with great riches but there was nothing he could do. So that night, Diego sneaks into the bedroom of Isabel and her husband and gently awoke her. He pleaded to her, "Kiss me for I am dying", but she refused. Upon hearing this Diego could not bear the separation between himself and his love, and with a sigh he died on the feet of his beloved Isabel. The next day, during Diego's funeral, Isabel showed up dressed in her wedding dress. She proceeded to walk to the front of the church and place a kiss on the man whom she had refused but in doing so Isabel died, falling prostrate on the body of the man whom she loved. Cheesy, huh?

The San Pedro Church is a magnificent 16th century mudejar style church. I loved the interior, so rich in detail and color. The Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon is a World Heritage Site in Spain. Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity. It also denotes a style of Iberian architecture and decoration, particularly of Aragon and Castile, of the 12th to 16th centuries, strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship.

The Cathedral is also in Mudejar style and though the interior didn't impress me that much in general, it's ceiling amazed me. The guided tour takes you up through the tower next to the old highly decorated wood ceiling so you can see it from close by.

The San Martín Tower dating from the 13th century is considered to be the most beautiful tower in Teruel. In my unexperimented eyes, all of them looked pretty much the same. Magnificent!

Teruel is seeable in 4 hours and you can still take your time to have lunch. Teruel is well known for its jamón serrano (cured ham), but they also have very good cheese. Yummy! We went to what seemed to be the most popular place in town, a tapas bar just next to the main square and we indulged ourselves in local delicacies, good music and friendly atmosphere.

Teruel is known for its pottery decorated with dark green animals, plants and heraldry. Unfortunately we visited on a Sunday and all gift shops were closed. Teruel is also the hometown Luis Royo, worlwide famous Spanish artist known for his sensual and dark paintings, its apocalyptic imagery, his fantasy worlds and mechanical life forms.

I would like to ad one more thing. Teruel is noted for its harsh climate (hot in summer and very cold in winter), it is situated at 915 metres above sea level so if you go visit during the winter time, be prepared for snow. Teruel might not be a very popular tourist destination yet but it's definitely worth  a look.