Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Béjar

What to see and do in Béjar (Sierra de Béjar, Salamanca): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Béjar

The bullring of El Castañar 700 m

Towns near Béjar

What to see in Candelario 2.4 km · 5 places
What to see in Navacarros 4.2 km · 2 places
What to see in Vallejera de Riofrío 4.4 km · 2 places
What to see in Navalmoral de Béjar 4.5 km · 2 places
What to see in Cantagallo 5.1 km · 2 places
What to see in La Calzada de Béjar 5.6 km · 2 places
What to see in La Hoya 5.9 km · 2 places
What to see in Sanchotello 6 km · 2 places

Spain › Castile and León › Salamanca › Sierra de Béjar › Béjar

What to see and do in Béjar

Béjar
Village
Béjar is a city in the province of Salamanca, in Castile and León, the capital and service centre of the comarca of the Sierra de Béjar, 73 km from the provincial capital, with about 12,000 inhabitants. Its origin as a town dates back to the second half of 1208, as a defensive stronghold between the northern and southern plateaus in the time of Alfonso VIII and on the border with the kingdom of León; it received its charter in 1260 and lived in the Middle Ages off livestock farming, to which viticulture was added from the 13th century. The urban centre, at 953 m in the valley of the Cuerpo de Hombre river, later became a cloth-making town: its textile industry dominated the 19th and 20th centuries and died out after 1970. It retains the Renaissance garden of El Bosque, commissioned by the 4th duke, and the bullring of 1711, the oldest preserved in Spain.
The old town of Béjar
Monument
Declared a historic-artistic ensemble on 20 July 1974, it spreads over a spur between the mountains and the river Cuerpo de Hombre, with the church of Santa María la Mayor with its Romanesque-Mudéjar apse and an organ built in 1723 of which only the case remains.
The palace of the Zúñiga family
Monument
The Palace of the Zúñiga, or Ducal Palace of Béjar, stands in Béjar, in the Sierra de Béjar (Salamanca). It originated as a rectangular castle built during the medieval Christian resettlement, which in the 16th century was transformed into a palace under Francisco de Zúñiga y Sotomayor, at the same time as the Renaissance garden of El Bosque was created. It preserves a Renaissance courtyard with the fountain known as Venera and the coats of arms of Francisco and Guiomar, who rebuilt it; one of its towers was destroyed in the 18th century by a fire caused by a lightning strike. It was declared a national historic-artistic monument on 3 June 1931. Cervantes dedicated the first part of Don Quixote to one of the Dukes of Béjar.
The Renaissance garden of El Bosque
Nature
A pleasure villa built by the dukes in the sixteenth century, it is one of the few Renaissance gardens of Italian design preserved in Spain, with a pond, statues, a small palace and a pavilion. It was declared an artistic garden on 11 January 1946.
The bullring of El Castañar
Monument
Built in 1711 to pay for the renovation of the sanctuary of the Virgen del Castañar, it is the oldest bullring in Spain among those preserved. It was thoroughly renovated in 1962 and declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC) on 7 May 1998.
The Moss Men
Activity
In the Corpus Christi procession residents parade covered in moss from head to foot. Tradition links them to the legend of the recovery of the town from the Muslims by men camouflaged with moss who climbed the wall unseen.
The Flemish clothmakers
Historical milestone
The ducal house brought Flemish master clothiers in 1691 to boost the textile industry. Many emigrated in the first years, but others kept arriving and in the nineteenth century fine cloth-making consolidated as the activity that defined the city.
The end of the Jewish quarter of Béjar
Historical milestone
In the summer of 1492 the Jews of the town were forced to convert in order not to be expelled. The synagogue was dismantled, its silver Torah crowns were sold or confiscated, and the duke, formerly their protector, seized properties.