This tour can show you five tourim places in Sanabria.
The route is less than 2 Km.
1) Murallas: N 42° 03.338 W 006° 38.070
Towards the E the Puerta de San Francisco was built. At the S end, the new gate of the Arrabal was opened, in front of the disappeared fort of San Carlos. In the SW zone there was also a postern, still visible in the 18th century plans. In the northern part of the walls, a strong masonry and ashlar wall was built to reinforce the fence, and on that wall, in front of the old Principal, another 15 m alley was opened. long, 3 wide and almost 4 high. This gate, formed by two strong walls perpendicular to the wall, must have been vaulted (Gutiérrez González, 1995: 62, 362), and it is the only one that has been preserved in the Puebla de Sanabria area.
In front of it, a bridge spanned and still does the moat that was dug in the rock, communicating there with the "Old Road" that surpassed the subsequent starry fences.
Today a good number of the reforms carried out in those years on the town's walls can be clearly seen, as well as the sloping platform located to the south of the castle, known as the Portuguese, in which a still appears. small sentry box with good seating.
A notable number of canvases of the walls of Puebla de Sanabria remain standing, mainly next to the castle, in the E and N of the enclosure, although there are vestiges of relative importance scattered and hidden among the houses towards the W and the center of the town. town.
In Puebla there have been two defensive enclosures. The first and smallest, the one that protected the farmhouse near the castle. The second included almost the entire plateau, up to its edges, on which the town extends. The latter would later be completed at its ends (and some other external point) with bastioned advances.
In the middle of the 15th century, the first belt of walls must have been built to a large extent. This is deduced from the inauguration by the count of 1451: "I close the doors of said Villa and close it with the llauee dellas ... and after they were closed, he opened them ...". And doña María Pacheco reminds us that during her marriage to Rodrigo Alonso Pimentel they were concluded since both "same one ... closed the town."
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2) Ayuntamiento: N 42° 03.263 W 006° 38.036
"A 15th century building built in masonry, with ashlars reinforcing angles and corners, which reserves a good ashlar factory for the main façade, using lighter granite and thus creating a chromatic contrast with the rest. At the ends, twin turrets topped with pyramidal spiers and balls, with three sections separated by imposts and the blind panels highlighted with a recess giving triangular, square and curved shapes."
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3) Iglesia Santa María del Azogue: N 42° 03.280 W 006° 38.036
It is located at the highest point of the town and, like most of the Romanesque churches in the area, nowadays it is a mixture of styles as a result of the numerous reforms undergone.
It has a Latin cross plan with a polygonal head, a corner tower, a sacristy, a dressing room and other rooms.
Of the Romanesque part, only the box of walls of the nave with its two façades, although its main interest lies in the western gable, on which a slender Baroque tower was attached.
The southern door is under a porch located between the tower and the southern arm of the transept. It consists of three round archivolts flared on jambs. The exterior decorated with tetrapetal flowers, the middle one is a baquetón surrounded by stems that intersect to form rhombuses and the interior is formed by a nacelle between two boceles.
The other door, the western one, is made up of four pointed archivolts. Separate mention deserve the columns, and the statues attached to it, made of slate stone, while the rest is made of granite. A bearded knight's head is embedded on its key. The capitals contain figures of ferns, stalks, ellipses and human figures and above the door there is an oculus or porthole, also Romanesque. The chambrana shows a worn checkered pattern of great simplicity.
Under the atrium there is a Romanesque granite baptismal font with a frustoconical shape and decorated with an angel between two flower-lined crosses, a man facing the front with a book in his hands and another in profile, hooded, all of which is extremely barbaric."
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4) Castillo de los Condes de Benavente: N 42° 03.307 W 006° 38.028
"The castle has a barrier with wide towers and vaulted shooting chambers and a unique parade ground. It has a regular square plan and has in the center a large keep, popularly called 'macho', with several floors and a cantilevered bridge. It was built in the last quarter of the s. XV as castle-palace by the fourth Count of Benavente, Don Rodrigo Alonso Pimentel, member of the powerful Castilian nobility and owner of numerous castles.
Inside it is the Center of the Fortifications, where the visitor knows in an entertaining way the history of the castle and therefore of the town, as well as the rest of the fortresses of the province. In the northern part of the walled enclosure, there is the Governor's House: Ecomuseum of Sanabria, Carballeda, Valles del Tera, Villafáfila and Parque de Montesinho. It is about recreating the journey that centuries ago the Pimentels, Counts of Benavente, made from Portugal to Sanabria, and from there they set off to the rest of the Zamoran areas."
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5) Museo de Gigantes y cabezudos: N 42° 03.238 W 006° 38.045
The Museum of Giants and Big Heads is located in the Workers' Hall, headquarters of the Catholic Workers' Association. It is a building integrated into the historic center of the Villa and that goes unnoticed since it does not flaunt great ostentation.
Despite this, it keeps in its interior figures of incalculable value, the Giants and Big Heads of Puebla de Sanabria. Considered one of the best gigantic troupes in Spain, its tradition dates back to 1848, the date on which there is evidence of the presence of two tall figures, the Black and the Chinese. They were used to announce the festivity of Our Lady of Victories and accompany her steps in her solemn procession (September 8).
Later, for fear that this tradition would disappear because it was considered pagan, in 1955 the Municipal Corporation acquired two other giants: the Zapatero and the Zapatera. From this date the number of members increased. In 1991 the Kings were acquired, in 1996 the Sanabreses were incorporated and finally in 2002 the Counts of Benavente, former owners and lords of the Villa, joined the group.
At present, they continue to fulfill their function entrusted to them long ago, they walk through the streets of the Villa on September 7, cheering and encouraging young and old with their incessant characteristic dance (they turn 180º from left to right) and accompany the patron saint on the day of his procession, on September 8.
The Giants are always guarded by smaller figures, the Big Heads. In the museum you can see a total of 26 Big Heads that represent mythological beings: devils, witches, dwarfs, magicians... through literary characters: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Dumbo, Pinocchio... even civil guards, gentlemen, Napoleon etc Some of these little "big heads", such as the civil guard, the Napoleon and the giantesses, also date from 1848.
In this curious place, we can also enjoy images of the festivity and other typical figures of enormous tradition, such as the Fire Bull that runs through the Plaza Mayor every night during the Las Victorias festivities.
In the same way we will enjoy the multitude of reminders of the places where the Giants go as great ambassadors who are from our region.
The museum is open during summer hours (from June 15 to September 31 approx.) from Tuesday to Sunday. The rest of the year you must arrange a visit at the Tourist Office, whose contact details can be found.
For more information about the giants and big heads during the Las Victorias festivities.
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