Plasencia, Cáparra and Hervás

Along the Silver Route you'll find, amongst others, the cities of Hervás and Plasencia: two historically important cities with a multicultural past which you will breathe in each and every corner.

Hervás, located in the Valley of Ambroz, grew from a 12th century shrine built by the Knights Templar, and lies next to the Santihervás River, from which it takes its name.

In the 15th century a Hebrew community settled in Hervás, a fact which has had a significant effect on this town. The Jewish Quarter, designated a Historic-Artistic Site, dates from this period. You can lose yourself in the maze of narrow streets, enjoy one of best preserved Jewish Quarters in Spain and immerse yourself in a past age in a quarter composed of houses built out of adobe and wood.

If you have time, take part in the Popular Festivity of The Converts, where the town steps back into the Middle Ages for a few days, with a historical setting in the Jewish Quarter. More than 400 townsfolk take part in recreating a typical village of those times with its habits and customs, representing a number of trades, with the participation of tradesmen, street players, craftsmen and other characters who lived in the town in the 15th century. In addition to the recreation of life in the village in times gone by, each year there are plays focussing on the Jewish community established in the town.

You are also invited to visit the Church of Santa María de la Asunción de Aguas Vivas, situated at the highest point in the town. Another interesting building is the 18th century Baroque palace of the Dávila family, which currently houses the Pérez Comendador-Leroux Museum.

If you continue on the road to Plasencia, (between Oliva de Plasencia and Guijo de Granadilla), you will find the Roman ruins of Cáparra, situated in the Alagón Valley. There you can admire the arcus quadrifrons, or four-fronted arch, the most important and best preserved monument, under which the Silver Route passes. Nearby you will find the Silver Route General Interpretation Centre which will provide all the information you need about this magnificent route and the history of this Roman city.

And on the banks of the Jerte River we arrive finally in Plasencia, declared Historical Site of Cultural Interest. A place with a rich historic quarter, the result of the numerous different cultures which have passed through and its strategic location on the Silver Route. After being inhabited by Romans and Moors, Alfonso VIII reconquered and repopulated it in the 12th century.

Palaces, noble houses and important religious buildings give a monumental touch to the historic quarter. Part of the city walls remain with their gates and defensive towers, a concentric layout of streets which lead to the Plaza Mayor square. Here you will find the Town Hall and each year Martes Mayor (Tuesday Market) is celebrated, declared an Extremadura Festivity of Tourist Interest.

Another of the town's most representative buildings and which you really must visit is the Cathedral, divided into two, the Old and the New. The Old Cathedral is Romanesque (in spite of having been built in the 13th century by important architects such as Juan Francés, featuring the chapter house). The New Cathedral, in the building of which Covarrubias, Diego de Siloé and Gil de Hontañón, amongst others, took part, includes Gothic and Renaissance elements and features the choir of Rodrigo Alemán and the main altarpiece of Gregorio Fernández. Very near to the Cathedral you will find the Pérez Enciso Provincial Ethnographic-Textile Museum, the most important of its kind in the province.

Take a stroll through the medieval streets where you will find the House of the Dean or of the Two Towers, the Palace of the Marqueses de Mirabel, the Church of San Nicolás, the Church of San Esteban, the Episcopal Palace, the Provincial Hospital and the old Convent of Santo Domingo which is now a Parador. You may also want to try its delicious gastronomy with dishes such as mushrooms, pickled sauces, trout, and roast or stewed kid goat. Not forgetting the Iberian ham of the Dehesa de Extremadura, the cheeses of La Serena, Torta del Casar cheese, cherries from the Jerte Valley, etc. all DO (Designation of Origin).