Año: 2020

The small church of San Justo, in the medieval quarter of El Salvador, beyond the wall, in Segovia, houses one of the most impressive collections of fresco Romanesque paintings in the country. The condition of these is reasonably good, given that they were only uncovered in 1962 during some restoration works carried out in the apse. The surface covered by these paintings is not only limited to the apse but also the high altar. The scenes depicted are very varied, ranging from the pantocrator surrounded by the Evangelists’ symbols as well as the descent from the cross and a couple of scenes from the Genesis or the mass of Saint Gil.

The whole scene is phenomenal although we do not know the name of the artist; given his technique and the subjects he covers he might have been originally from France or at least trained as an artist there. This theory is reinforced by the fact that, in the nave next to the paintings, added in the 17^th century, we find an amazing work of art known as the “Cristo de los Gascones”, a Christ in the cross statue dated around the 12^th century, made in wood and with jointed limbs; according to an old legend the image originally came from Gascony, in France, and was brought to Segovia by a blind mule that dropped dead by the gate of the church, thus stating the divine intention for the image to remain within the temple.

Segovia is universally known thanks to its Roman aqueduct, possibly the main landmark of the town. However, Roman presence in the town goes way back the 2^nd century CE, the time of construction of the aqueduct.

The Roman conquest took place approx. in year 96 BCE, during the military campaign of consul Titus Didius and after a relatively short period of time, the town became a Latin law municipality with Tiberius (early 1^st century CE) or with the Flavian dynasty (second half of the 1^st century CE).

It is widely believed that the 2^nd century CE is the time when Roman Segovia reached its most influential time in the history of its Romanisation, thanks to its privileged location right in the middle of the peninsula, very close to the mountains and in the mayor pathway between the east and west of the country and so the enormous potential for commercial transactions as well as an important cereal production and the open ranges. Political stability was guaranteed through the solidity of the state and the strength of its administration.

The construction of the aqueduct was necessary due to the problematic of bringing fresh water into town from the mountains, considering that the old town was established in the rock. We do not have any information whether funding was public, private or both, we do not even know whether the emperor himself contributed with some funding; likewise construction time has been estimated at no less than 10 years.

At the time, population must have been around 5,000 people and the monumental grandeur of the aqueduct must have been matched by that of other public works in the town centre.

Sadly we have very little information about Roman town but we include a photo of a recreation made by Casals that hopefully will be interesting to you. Enjoy!

Regarding the current situation of cautionary measures and trying to be responsible, concerning the rapid spreading of coronavirus COVID-19, we have decided to cancel all tours for at least 15 days. We will hopefully be back in business from the 27th of March onwards, although we are still not 100% sure about this date, will have to see what the scenario is by then. However, phone and mail are still working so please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, should you wish to.

This is a national emergency, it is not a holiday and it is time to stay at home. The fastest we deal with this, the fastest we will be able to get back to normal life and leisure activities.

Good luck everybody, we will beat the virus.