What to see in Berlanga de Duero (Soria): from the collegiate church to San Baudelio

On a route through Soria province You will have the opportunity to walk through beautiful natural places, such as the Lobos River Canyon or the Black Lagoon, and, above all, discover outstanding heritage sites such as The Burgo de Osma, in addition to enjoying its gastronomy.

And in this regard, the people of Berlanga de Duero It must also become an essential stage.

Berlanga de Duero You find it southwest of the provincial capital, and half an hour south of the aforementioned Lobos River Canyon.

There you can visit heritage places as important as the Berlanga Collegiate Church or the Hermitage of San Baudelio, in the nearby town of Berlanga Casillas, in addition to the remains of his medieval castle.

In this medieval village which was a frontier at the time of the Reconquest, at the end of the 11th century, of which, as a curiosity, the famous character of El cid campeador.

In the 14th century it became a manor, and its most representative figure was Friar Tomas de Berlanga, from the 16th century, who discovered the Galapagos Islands and was Bishop of Panama.

What to see when visiting Berlanga de Duero in Soria

When you approach down the road Berlanga de Duero What will undoubtedly catch your attention is the figure of his medieval castle and its great walls.

Berlanga de Duero Castle

The origin of this fortification dates back to the time when this town was founded. medieval population, within the framework of the fight between Muslims and Christians.

A notable period was when the castle became the property of the Tovar family, in the last decade of the 14th century, and later, at the end of the 16th century, they built a palace at the foot of the fortification.

This palace was destroyed by the troops of Napoleon and now you will only see its façade, which is the access point to the interior of the castle.

When you visit the Berlanga de Duero Castle You will see that it has been recently restored, showing a tower of tribute and a double fortification.

The outer fortress was built in the 16th century due to the need to have a more robust defense to protect from artillery attacks.

On your walk from the castle through the real street Towards the center of this small Soria town of barely 900 inhabitants you will see some vestiges of its most vigorous era, such as the façade of a old manor house.

Or what was one Indian house with striking red colors in the decoration of its exterior galleries.

In the Plaza Mayor In the town you will also see examples of traditional Castilian architecture, with some houses with wood on the façade and porticoed galleries.

Collegiate Church of Berlanga de Duero

From there you will reach most outstanding monument of Berlanga de Duero, Collegiate Church of Santa María del Mercado, from the year 1530.

The imposing building of the collegiate church It was built at a time when Berlanga de Duero There were up to 10 Romanesque churches, when the Marquises of Berlanga, what were they Constable of Castile, they promoted having a single great church, with an abbot and canons.

It is a building Renaissance and late-Gothic style, in which neither the towers nor the cloister were built.

Upon accessing its interior you will find a almost square living room plan with three naves of the same height, a central choir, side chapels and a large central apse.

Its very thick columns support its ribbed vaults, and the enormous height of its interior will surely catch your attention.

Among its eight chapels, the Chapel of Santa Ana with an altarpiece from the 15th century, as well as the Coria Chapel octagonal in plan with a 16th century altarpiece, and in the center, the Sepulcher of the Bravos of Laguna.

For its part, in the Capilla Mayor Its wooden altarpiece will catch your attention. Balsain Baroque style, which is neither painted nor gilded, because it is assumed that the family no longer had financial means.

Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga

Now, without a doubt the most exceptional monument that you will be able to see in your visit of Berlanga de Duero is Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga, which you find just 7 kilometers away, next to the small town of Berlanga Casillas.

It is a pre-romanesque hermitage de mozarabic style, which is considered the Sistine Chapel of Mozarabic art.

La Hermitage of San Baudelio You will find it on the side of a small hill, and when you look at the exterior of this small stone building with an almost square shape, you cannot tell how exceptional its interior is.

When you enter you will see a characteristic structure of the Visigothic churches, but with a nave with mosque-style horseshoe arches, and an impressive central column with a palm-shaped roof.

All interior walls and ceilings were covered by fresco wall paintings, both Mozarabic and Romanesque, a part of which were removed at the beginning of the last century and can now be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of New York and in the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Now on the walls of the hermitage you can see copies of the originals.

Where and what to eat in Berlanga de Duero

Finally, facing your visit of Berlanga de Duero, there is a highly recommended place where you can enjoy a haute cuisine gastronomy, which is surprising to find in a simple restaurant in such a small town.

This is the Casa Vallecas restaurant, where mushrooms and truffles have a great role in the gastronomic which they carry out during the mushroom season, and throughout the year you have the option of a tasting menu (60 euros).

In the case of our visit we enjoyed a tasting menu special focus on truffle, one of the specialties of the gastronomy in Soria.

In this way we tried the following preparations: cheese, pear and fruit; brioche with truffle mayonnaise; truffle ice cream with herring caviar; cauliflower, rice pudding and truffle; circles in almond shade; potato and truffle soup; chickpeas with truffled yolk and cockles; Iberian pork tartare; ember; meringue, strawberry ice cream and truffle cream, and hidden under a blanket of land.

Map: where it is and how to get to Berlanga de Duero

Berlanga de Duero you find it 40 minutes by car southwest of Soria already two and a half hours north of Madrid.