Don’t you know what to see in Trujillo? The essentials of the city of the conquerors could be hundreds. In this town that we all know as the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro. This beautiful Extremadura town stands out for its excellent and stately architectural heritage that we still do not understand why it has not been declared a World Heritage Site.
It is an artistic center with an important palatial architecture of the chivalrous oligarchy that stood out in the conquest of America and colonization. The architects were almost exclusively native. Let’s not forget that it was a defensive and military city and its remains prove it.
1. The Plaza Mayor
The main square of Trujillo is an excellent point from which to start our tour. Here is the most photographed and essential image of Trujillo, the equestrian statue of Francisco Pizarro of 1929, in case you did not know it was American sculptors who made it, Charles Cary Ramsay and Mari Harriman.
The square was the commercial center and center of shows and celebrations, it was and still is today, because today it is also a witness to parties such as El Chíviri and venue of the Cheese Fair. Surrounded by buildings of the most VIP characters of the Modern Age (Los Piedras Albas, those of La Conquista, Los Cháves-Cárdenas, the Pizarro-Orellana and Santa Marta) and the Church of San Martín.
2. The Walls and The Castle
The first time I climbed its walls I felt like the castle’s master, almost a caliph who ruled these lands. The wall rises over the hill known as Fox Head. It is a great fortress of the Caliphate of Córdoba marked with rectangular towers, two of them flank the main door. When you go through its narrow passages of wall from one tower to another it gives a bit of vertigo but if you see Trujillo you cannot miss it. You will enjoy stunning views not only of the fields that surround it but also of the architectural complex that you have around you.
3. The Parish Churches
- The church of Santa María La Mayor You’ll love it! It is beautiful and very interesting.
- The Church of San Martín in the Plaza Mayor that we have already mentioned above.
- The Church of San Francisco by the architect from Trujillo Francisco Becerra
4. The Palaces
- The Palace of the Marquises of the Conquest known as the shield. It is in the Plaza Mayor and the most impressive is its corner balcony with the Pizarro shield.
- The Palace of Luis Chaves el Viejo next to the church of Santiago. It is part of the defensive system. The Catholic Monarchs stayed there.
- Juan Pizarro de Orellana Palace that was a corregidor of Cuzco and colonizer of Peru. It is a work by Alonso Becerra. It has two topped towers and a gallery with Ionic columns entering the palace.
- The Palace of San Carlos next to the Church of San Martín belonged to the Vargas-Carvajal family who were Dukes of San Carlos, is the largest in the square with its typical corner balcony and its arcaded gallery.
- The Palace of the Marquises of Santa Marta de Alonso Ruiz de Avilés, companion of Pizarro in his wanderings, won the lordship of Santa Marta.
