Walk from the Plaza Mayor to the castle along Calle Mayor

Sigüenza is read from the bottom up. You start in the Renaissance Plaza Mayor, with its arcades facing the cathedral, and climb up Calle Mayor, the Puerta del Sol, the Plazuela de la Cárcel and the Plazuela de San Vicente to the castle, which crowns the city. It is a short but steady climb. The tourist office, in the Plaza Mayor, gives out a tourist map and another for children.

The Plaza Mayor

The square was not always there. At the end of the 15th century, Cardinal Pedro González de Mendoza, who was bishop of Sigüenza, had part of the wall knocked down to open a square in front of the cathedral's south façade, so that it could be seen better. It was the first example of Renaissance town planning in the city. Today it is the centre of life in Sigüenza: on one side the cathedral, on the other the arcades and, on the corner, the tourist office.

The climb through the medieval town

From the square Calle Mayor begins, where the Romanesque church of Santiago stands. At the top you enter medieval Sigüenza, the part that stretches between the cathedral and the castle, of narrow, winding streets that here are called travesañas. Christian, Jewish and Muslim merchants and craftsmen lived in them, and in the late Middle Ages there was a Jewish quarter and a Moorish quarter.

Along the way there are remains of the two medieval walls. The Puerta del Sol, on the eastern side, began as a simple gap in the Romanesque wall, of the 12th and 13th centuries; if you go out through it to the Paseo de la Ronda you will see the rest of that wall climbing up to the castle. On the Travesaña Alta two squares open out: the Plazuela de la Cárcel, overlooked by the old town hall, and that of San Vicente or del Doncel, with the house of Martín Vázquez de Arce's family and the Romanesque church of San Vicente.

The castle

At the top, the castle was a Muslim alcazaba that the bishops, lords of the city since Bishop Bernardo de Agén reconquered it in 1124, turned into their residence. Today it is a Parador. You can see the parade ground: access to the café is free and the courtyard is open Monday to Thursday from 11:00 to 13:00, unless the Parador closes it for an event. There is free parking at the end of Calle Valencia, next to the castle, in case you prefer to drive up and walk down.

If you go on a Sunday, have a drink in the café and walk back down through the streets of the Travesaña. Allow an hour at a leisurely pace. Sigüenza was declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1965, and since then it has been known as the City of the Doncel.

To round off

On the way you can go into the Casa del Doncel, La Plazuela and Santiago with a joint ticket, or do this same route with the guided monument tour, which starts at the castle and goes down to the square. At the bottom the cathedral and the Doncel await you.