Pedraza

Pedraza is enclosed by walls with one surviving gate, and inside is a small grid of stone houses with wooden balconies, coats of arms carved on the lintels, a Plaza Mayor with irregular arcades and a Romanesque tower, and a castle at the far end that was bought and restored by the painter Ignacio Zuloaga in 1926 and still belongs to his family. Two Saturdays each July the village stages the Conciertos de las Velas: all electric light is switched off and around thirty thousand candles are lit in the streets, squares and windows for a classical concert in the Plaza Mayor. Tickets sell out and the village fills entirely. The rest of the year it is quiet, and its restaurants are known for roast lamb.

What you actually see

• The single gate - the only surviving entrance through the walls.
• The Plaza Mayor - irregular arcades under a Romanesque tower.
• The Zuloaga castle - restored by the painter, still family-owned.
• The candle nights - thirty thousand candles on two July Saturdays.

When to go

April to June and September to November for a quiet visit; the two candle nights in July are the village's event, requiring tickets bought well ahead and a plan for parking and transport. Winter is cold on the Segovian plain.

Honest expectations

Candle night tickets sell out within days and the village becomes impassable that evening. The castle interior is open only on limited days. Restaurants are pitched at weekend visitors from Madrid with prices to match.

Nearby

Segovia is thirty-seven kilometres southwest; Sepulveda and the Hoces del Duraton lie north.