Teruel: May 18th

 Teruel is where we left the motorway to travel the 20 miles inland to Albarracin, but Teruel is a destination in its own right.

It has a history stretching back to pre-Roman times, in fact, the Romans destroyed the city as a reprisal. It was a Moorish stronghold after the 8^th Century and later architecture reflects the Moors’ influence long after they were deposed: it’s called Mudejar style.

The cathedral, dating from the 13^th century, shows this mixture of Christian and Islamic influence. The cathedral bell tower which could comfortably fit into any Arab city.

Inside, it’s mostly traditionally European Spanish, with amazingly ornate decoration everywhere. Just look at this domed ceiling.

And the intricacy of these wood carvings! The photo is but a small part of a huge floor to ceiling work behind the main altar.

Now we’re back again to Islamic design, with an incredibly detailed ceiling. The photo is quite inadequate.

We’ll leave the intensity of the cathedral after a final look at how the two styles combined to produce these most elegant arches.

The city itself feels very Spanish, with squares, pavement cafes and bars. There don’t appear to be many foreign visitors as we all stand out like sore thumbs so can't be missed.

Even the manhole covers display a certain elegance. Tempting to bring one back to replace the dour Anglia Water manhole cover from which our garden is regularly flooded.

Running into the old quarter is a 600 year old aqueduct, of course, not functioning any more.

The above photo was taken from an unusual small public garden where the plants were displayed vertically, set in a moisture-retaining type of felt. Jane was very impressed, but I’m not sure how our version is going to look back in our garden in Hartford!

Teruel is a middle of the road city, rather than a primary tourist destination, so it has plenty of typical Spanish establishments like this bar.

The city’s recent history is more tragic. It occupied a strategic position in the Spanish Civil War and a bitter battle was fought during the winter of 1937 – 1938. It was a record cold winter, with 4 feet of snow and temperatures dropping to -18C. Each side suffered over 100,000 casualties but finally Franco’s army triumphed having superior weapons and supplies – and not inconsiderable help from Nazi Germany.

We headed back to Albarracin for our final evening before leaving. On the way back, Teruel airport grabs our attention as it’s full of parked planes. It seems the airport is used by fleet operators who park out-of-service planes, presumably at low cost. The photo only shows a few of the many aircraft as it’s difficult to the right angle from the road.

Leaving the airport, the road follows the twisty river back to Albarracin. It’s a pretty run, on well surfaced roads. In many places the scenery is more dramatic, but there’s nowhere to stop to photograph. More excuses!

We have enjoyed our visit to this area, and tomorrow we’re bound for the Pyrenees Ordesa National Park, just on the Spanish side of the border with France.