Trujillo: Plaza Mayor, Castle and Cheese Fair

Trujillo rises above a striking granite outcrop, known as a berrocal, against which its towers and ruins stand out against the sky. Around Plaza Mayor, churches, castles and manor houses form an ensemble classified as a Bien de Interés Cultural. The town preserves both a medieval, Arab-influenced “villa” and a “city” dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.

The monumental Plaza Mayor is dominated by a bronze equestrian statue of Pizarro. For centuries, it was the social and commercial centre of Trujillo and hosted markets, festivals and a wide variety of events. Another place to visit is San Clemente.

Culture

The Castillo de Trujillo is located at the highest point of the town. It was built in the 13th century over an Arab fortress dating from the 9th or 10th century. Its surviving features include square towers, typical of Islamic military architecture, as well as the Patio de Armas and the Albacara.

The Iglesia de Santa María la Mayor dates from the 13th century and preserves Romanesque and Gothic elements. It may have been built over one of Trujillo’s Arab mosques. Inside are a Gothic high altar from the workshop of Fernando Gállego and a Plateresque choir.

The Iglesia de San Martín de Tours has the Gothic Portal de las Limas, dating from the late 15th century. Its interior also contains a 13th-century Templar image, an altarpiece from the last quarter of the 17th century and a Baroque organ made by Antonio de Larrea y Galarza in 1762. The Convento de Santa Clara complements this historic setting with a Renaissance cloister built in 1530 and a Plateresque bell gable.

La Alberca is partly carved into the natural rock. Two springs feed the structure; a broad, carefully crafted stone staircase leads down to them. On the other side of La Alberca, behind the round tower, are the remains of a fortified Visigothic building associated with Trujillo’s first knights and the origin of the Order of Alcántara.

The Aljibe de Altamirano is an Arab cistern with three naves and three barrel vaults. Since it was opened to tourism, it has been enhanced for visitors. The Torre del Alfiler was originally part of the Alcazaba wall and served as a defensive bastion. After its restoration in 2004, a centre interpreting the history of Trujillo was opened there.

Museums

The Planetario de Trujillo is located in the cloister of the Conventual de San Francisco. It uses a hemispherical pneumatic dome with a diameter of 12 metres and digital projection to provide an immersive experience.

The Museo del Traje “Enrique Elías” displays historical costumes in the former refectory of the Franciscan monastery, beneath Europe’s largest barrel vault. The Iglesia de la Preciosa Sangre de Cristo was restored in 2016 to house the Museo y Centro de Visitantes “Los Descubridores”.

The Museo y Centro de Visitantes “Los Descubridores” presents the process of the discovery, conquest, colonisation and evangelisation of the New World. It is divided into four sections and displays objects, documents and graphic information about the period of the New World from the perspective of seafaring and overland exploration. The Museo de la Coria is also located in the former Convento de San Francisco el Real and presents important stages in the discovery of the New World.

The Casa-Museo de Pizarro is dedicated to the famous conqueror from Extremadura and is located on the site of the former ancestral home of the Pizarro family. On the ground floor, it presents a reconstruction of the home of a 15th-century Spanish hidalgo, while the upper floor houses an exhibition about Pizarro’s life and work.

Festivals and gastronomy

Chíviri is a festival of regional tourist interest. It takes place every year on Easter Sunday in Trujillo’s Plaza Mayor and is characterised by traditional songs and local dress. Semana Santa de Trujillo is also classified as a festival of regional tourist interest.

The Feria Nacional del Queso has taken place in Trujillo since 1985 over the long weekend around 1 May, featuring cheese exhibitions and tastings. The cheese fair in May brings together more than 300 types of cheese from all over Spain as well as from several European and Latin American countries, and includes tasting competitions for sheep’s and goat’s cheese.

For official guided tours of Trujillo, the municipal tourism portal offers an online booking system.

For the broader travel overview: Cáceres.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Robledillo De Gata, Coria, Torrejón El Rubio, Barrado, Baños De Montemayor, Santibáñez El Bajo, Jaraicejo.