Jewish cementery in Acera de Recoletos Street

"These are tombs from ancient times, where men rest in eternal sleep. There is no hatred or envy inside them. Neither love nor neighborly enmity. When I see them, my mind cannot distinguish between slaves and masters." These words by Mosheb Ibn Ezra, captured on a plaque, mark the location of the ancient Jewish cemetery discovered in 2002. The necropolis follows the pattern of other Hebrew burials on the peninsula: it is located in an area outside the urban area (which, in the 15th century, ended at Calle de Santiago) and near a watercourse (in this case, the Esgueva River, which used to flow through these parts before being buried). Many locals are unaware of the existence of this Jewish cemetery, now marked by plaques with Hebrew inscriptions indicating the estimated location of around a thousand graves.

San Francisco alley

Callejón de San Francisco is a large trompe-l'oeil that aims to visually extend the former street that led to Plaza Mayor. Abruptly cut off by the construction of a modern building, the wall was used to recreate what was assumed to be visible from its opening to the square: the facade of the disappeared San Francisco convent, where Christopher Columbus and Friar Alonso de Burgos, confessor of Queen Isabella, were buried. The model was made based on an 18th-century drawing by Ventura Pérez.

Hidden courtyards

In 1563, Portuguese chronicler Tomé Pinheiro da Veiga described Valladolid as a sumptuous city with about 400 palaces. Beyond the essential courtyards of palaces such as Santa Cruz, Condes de Benavente, Pimentel, or, of course, the Royal Palace, there are commercial, residential, or municipal buildings that still bear the origins of their palatial past. Take a look at Palacio de los Alarcón, converted into a passageway connecting Paraíso and Juan Mambrilla streets, or on the same street, Casa de los Zúñiga, now the University of Valladolid center. Take a break and explore the courtyards of the building at Calle Guadalcimero 9 (currently residential and commercial premises), Casa de los Gallos (Hotel Imperial), and the Caballo de Troya restaurant, named after the former tavern that occupied the site centuries ago.

Casas de Gabarrón

This creative burst is the work of Cristóbal Gabarrón, a native of Valladolid by adoption (responsible for interventions such as the Olympic Ring in Atlanta, USA, or the new headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels). Gabarrón's unmistakable stamp of optimism in the Barrio España seeks to squeeze the social role of art. The aesthetic break of the "Colorful Neighborhood" navigates between the flattest houses in the area with the boldest palette: pink, blue, yellow, green, and red elements highlight doors and windows with sinuous compositions, altering the silhouettes of the traditional miller houses to create a small oasis of imagination off the beaten path.

Osuary in the Church of El Salvador

The Church of El Salvador, where it is said that San Pedro Regalado was baptized, preserves one of the oldest human burial sites in Valladolid. Beneath the floor of the Chapel of San Juan Bautista lies a network of crypts dating back to the 15th century, some of which are visible through the glass floor of the room, along with a valuable ossuary containing numerous skulls.