We loved our two previous visits to Soria! This time I decided we needed to trace the line of the walls of Medieaval Soria, amongst other things!
A brief history of the walls of old Soria
The walls date from the early 13th century and were just over 4,000 metres long, c.4,500 yards. General Duran ordered the demolition of the walls in 1812 during the War of Independence (the Peninsular War of 1807-14). Today only a few bits of original wall remain although several sections are being restored.
The route
Our starting point was near the Plaza de Granados where the Puerta de Rabanera, Gate no.2, used to stand. We then followed the line of the walls up a narrow street to the Convent of Santa Clara. We were following the map above in an anti-clockwise direction.
(Above) The wall of Santa Clara (and the town), the graveyard of Santa Espina and the walls along the edge of the graveyard. The edge of the graveyard was the site of Gate no.4
From here we walked up the side of the hill, away from the line of the walls. The road leads to the site of the castle on top of the hill, and now the site of the Parador.
(Above) The walls of the castle, just below the Parador
From the castle the walls wound down the side of the hill to the north bank of the Duero and Gate no.5. Then the route is along the river to the bridge and gate no.6, which no longer exists.
The walls from the bridge have been largely rebuilt and we entered through a postern gate (not on the map) which lead past the ruins of San Gines and STEEPLY uphill!
The walls lead along a little park on the hilltop to the former Gate no.7. Here the road passes out of the town towards Numancia and later, Calahorra. After this the line of the walls follows roads, passing the Church of Santa Domingo, the site of Gate no.8.
There is a little section of wall before reaching Gate no.1 and then we found ourselves back at the beginning.
It took us two outings to walk round and we were very tired afterwards. I had definitely been too ambitious too early in the trip and Long Covid reminded me of that very firmly!