Trujillo

Introduction

Trujillo is a town in the Spanish province of Cáceres in Extremadura. It lies about 200 kilometres to the southwest of Madrid and 40 kilometres to the east of Caceres. Despite its small size, it had an important role in Spanish history. It was the birthplace of two of the most important conquisadores of South America, Francisco Pizarro, who conquered Peru and Francisco de Orellana, who as first European travelled the length of the Amazone river. The town itself was an important Roman city, later taken by the Visigoths and the Moorish invaders.

Sights and Activities

Plaza Major in Trujillo

© Herr Bert

Due to its history the city has a mixture of sights dating from the Romans, to the times that the riches of the explorations came back to the city with Pizarro.

• City Walls
• Plaza Major
• Alcazeba (the Castle)
• Church of Santiago
• Church of Santa María la Mayor
• Church of San Francisco
• Church of San Martín
• Palace of the Marquis of the Conquest
• Palace of the Orellana-Pizarro family
• Palace of the Duques de San Carlos
• Home-Museum of Pizarro
• Museum of Cheese and Wine

Events and Festivals

Chiviri

The Chiviri is a festival on which the people of Trujillo celibrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. The party starts at sunset on Easter Saturday. From midnight an orchestra plays traditional tunes, mostly based on works of the poet Goro (who lived and worked in Trujillo). The crowd many in typical regional dress gathers on the Plaza Major, dances and sings along with the music. When the music stops most people will either hang out on the square, or find a place in the pubs or clubs to continue the celebrations. On Sunday the International Folklore Festival takes place at the Plaza Major.

Fiestas patronales en honor a la Santísima Virgen de la Victoria

A long title but in short they are a couple of festivities to honer the Virgin of Victory, which is taken from here normal place in the castle to the church of San Martin. There are a couple of religious festivities, but during these days there are also cultural events taken place. The Fiestas, take place at the end of August, early September.

Feria del Queso de Trujillo

Since 1986 every year on the 1st of May there is a huge Cheese Fair on the Plaza Major. Here you will find producers of cheese from all over Spain selling their cheeses.

Trujillo

© Herr Bert

Getting There

By Plane

The is no airport near Trujillo. The small airport of Badajoz is about 1.5 hour away by car, but only has a very limited flight schedule. The best way to get to Trujillo is probably to fly into Madrid Barajas Airport, and from there connect by car or bus to Trujillo.

By Car

Coming from Madrid motorway A-5 leads directly to Trujillo. After Trujillo the A-5 run until the Portugeze border, changing to the A-8 that end up in Setubal, just south of Lisbon

By Bus

Avanzabus has regular services between Madrid and Trujillo, a trip that takes just over 3 hours, and as well connections to Caceres taking under 1 hour. Check the website of Avanzabus for time schedules and prices.

Eat

The most famous restaurant in Trujillo in La Troya on Plaza Major, known for its local dishes, and huge portions. A menu of €15 consists of an all you can eat starter, a second dish and desert. As extra's there is always Tortilla Patata, Salad, Bread, and water and wine included. The restaurant was run by an old woman, which pictures with clients and newspaper articles are hung on the wall in the bar.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The international access code for Spain is +34. The emergency number for police, ambulance and the fire brigade is 112.

In cities you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios'. The latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones. These shops are used a lot by foreigners to call to their mother country.

The main mobile network operators in Spain are Yoigo, Vodafone, Movistar and Orange, as in most of Europe voice and data coverage is generally good in urban areas however it can be patchy in rural locations. Cheap mobile phones (less than €50) with some pre-paid minutes are sold at FNAC or any phone operator's shop (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange). Topping-up is then done by buying scratch cards from the small stores, supermarkets, vending points (often found in tobacco shops) or kiosks.

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.
Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.

External Links

• Official Website