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What do you think of the effect of going through the door of the castle?
It is believed that the current Pedraza was the ancient Metereosa, mentioned by the classical author Ptolemy. Throughout history, the town had several names: Petrazán, Petracia Serrana, etc. It is also claimed that the mother of the first Roman emperor of Hispanic origin, Marco Ulpio Trajano (c-53-117) was a native of this town, as well as the Christian martyrs: Saint Eutrido and Saint Felicitas.
In the area numerous vestiges of prehistoric times have appeared, including a good number of cave engravings with zoomorphic representations of horses, cervids and bovines, which make it one of the most outstanding Paleolithic "sanctuaries" of the Castilian Plateau.
Pedraza like all these villas in the area, was repopulated after the reconquest of the territory between the tenth and eleventh century, getting its greatest splendor in the fifteenth century when it was the possession of the Velasco, lords of the town and its castle, although before It had belonged to the Herrera. He was part of one of the five ochavos in which the territory of Sepulveda was divided. The name of the villa refers to its location in rough terrain, and it is not more than a stone augmentative.
The medieval town of Pedraza rose between two hills, at the most brief point of a molar, which made it an impregnable bastion. The ruins of the Romanesque hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Carrascal are located at the entrance to the town, and its old town continues to adorn its old wall, whose only access is the gate known as Arco de la Villa, on which a inscription that refers to the fifth Constable Don Iñigo Fernández de Velasco, Lord of the town, as well as the old prison, which today can be visited. Pedraza during a good part of its history served as a fortress, sanctuary and market place for its entire region.
As we already said, the Pedraza castle is strategically placed on a rocky uplift, in which it is known that a pre-Roman castro existed. A good part of its factory is Gothic, having been the possession of Fernandez de Velasco Condestables de Castilla, for very later (1926) to become property of the Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga, who rescued it from ruin and abandonment. In this castle were held captive (s.XVI) the sons of the King of France Francisco I, turned into hostages of Charles V after the battle of Pavia. A good moat surrounds the first enclosure fortified with cubes and bastions, in a second the homage tower is located.
Throughout the old hamlet of Pedraza (Monumental Set and prize "C" of Tourism of Castile and Leon) we will see distributed palaces and noble houses that were property of magnates and cattlemen of the province that were settled in Pedraza, because it gave them right to use of common pastures, where graze their large herds of Merino sheep. We will see their facades come back by the coats of arms that remind us of Bernaldo de Quirós, Aguilar, Thief of Guevara, Miranda, Escobedo, Castellanos, Contreras, Perez de Zúñiga, etc. Among all of them, stands out the well-known House of Pilate and General Escobedo, who was secretary of Felipe II.
The Plaza Mayor, which was also known as the cattle square, is one of the urban jewels of traditional Castilian historical architecture. In her the stone portico and the balconies of the Town Hall are preserved, next to the old building of La Taberna. On this well-known urban space of Pedrada, the tower of the church of San Juan Bautista that preserves vestiges of its primitive Romanesque design, as the apse of the head and the slender tower, adorned in the upper bodies by double arches Romanesque. The interior of the temple was completely renovated in the Baroque period, conserving its Romanesque baptismal font, some good altarpieces and a 19th century organ.
It is believed that the current Pedraza was the ancient Metereosa, mentioned by the classical author Ptolemy. Throughout history, the town had several names: Petrazán, Petracia Serrana, etc. It is also claimed that the mother of the first Roman emperor of Hispanic origin, Marco Ulpio Trajano (c-53-117) was a native of this town, as well as the Christian martyrs: Saint Eutrido and Saint Felicitas.
In the area numerous vestiges of prehistoric times have appeared, including a good number of cave engravings with zoomorphic representations of horses, cervids and bovines, which make it one of the most outstanding Paleolithic "sanctuaries" of the Castilian Plateau.
Pedraza like all these villas in the area, was repopulated after the reconquest of the territory between the tenth and eleventh century, getting its greatest splendor in the fifteenth century when it was the possession of the Velasco, lords of the town and its castle, although before It had belonged to the Herrera. He was part of one of the five ochavos in which the territory of Sepulveda was divided. The name of the villa refers to its location in rough terrain, and it is not more than a stone augmentative.
The medieval town of Pedraza rose between two hills, at the most brief point of a molar, which made it an impregnable bastion. The ruins of the Romanesque hermitage of Nuestra Señora del Carrascal are located at the entrance to the town, and its old town continues to adorn its old wall, whose only access is the gate known as Arco de la Villa, on which a inscription that refers to the fifth Constable Don Iñigo Fernández de Velasco, Lord of the town, as well as the old prison, which today can be visited. Pedraza during a good part of its history served as a fortress, sanctuary and market place for its entire region.
As we already said, the Pedraza castle is strategically placed on a rocky uplift, in which it is known that a pre-Roman castro existed. A good part of its factory is Gothic, having been the possession of Fernandez de Velasco Condestables de Castilla, for very later (1926) to become property of the Basque painter Ignacio Zuloaga, who rescued it from ruin and abandonment. In this castle were held captive (s.XVI) the sons of the King of France Francisco I, turned into hostages of Charles V after the battle of Pavia. A good moat surrounds the first enclosure fortified with cubes and bastions, in a second the homage tower is located.
Throughout the old hamlet of Pedraza (Monumental Set and prize "C" of Tourism of Castile and Leon) we will see distributed palaces and noble houses that were property of magnates and cattlemen of the province that were settled in Pedraza, because it gave them right to use of common pastures, where graze their large herds of Merino sheep. We will see their facades come back by the coats of arms that remind us of Bernaldo de Quirós, Aguilar, Thief of Guevara, Miranda, Escobedo, Castellanos, Contreras, Perez de Zúñiga, etc. Among all of them, stands out the well-known House of Pilate and General Escobedo, who was secretary of Felipe II.
The Plaza Mayor, which was also known as the cattle square, is one of the urban jewels of traditional Castilian historical architecture. In her the stone portico and the balconies of the Town Hall are preserved, next to the old building of La Taberna. On this well-known urban space of Pedrada, the tower of the church of San Juan Bautista that preserves vestiges of its primitive Romanesque design, as the apse of the head and the slender tower, adorned in the upper bodies by double arches Romanesque. The interior of the temple was completely renovated in the Baroque period, conserving its Romanesque baptismal font, some good altarpieces and a 19th century organ.
