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With a luxury cicerone, the consecrated

architect Paco Somoza

, we travel through Zamora to discover part of its industrial heritage, as unusual and evocative as it is unknown.

Born in Puebla de Sanabria in 1952, he was the one who carried out the intervention of the NH Palacio del Duero, a hotel that occupies part of the premises of what was previously a convent, later a power station and later an alcoholic.

Here there is iron, stone, cement, sheet metal, bronze, glass, wood ... and nothing is out of place.

That is inside, because outside the modern façade of the hotel coexists with

a huge brick chimney

(the tallest in Castilla y León) of La Vinícola -the old alcoholera- and the Romanesque church of Santa María de la Horta.

The picture is strange and stimulating at the same time, a modern interpretation of the Renaissance architectural complex formed by church, bell tower and baptistery.

"But it is understood," says Somoza, for whom a city that is not understood from the point of view of architecture is not a good city.

With them we go down to the Duero River, which is wide and mighty around here.

Romanesque church and industrial chimney of the NH Palacio del Duero.Ó.

C.

Throughout history, several floods washed away some of the bridges that crossed it.

The

Stone Bridge

, the oldest of those that are still preserved, was not unrelated to its medieval structure and numerous reforms have been added.

"The Duero was a true industrial corridor", explains Somoza planted in front of the

Aceñas de Olivares

.

The aceñas were mills located in the same riverbed that, unlike the conventional ones, had the paddle wheels in a vertical position and were located in the main river courses.

hydraulic devices

Those of Olivares were restored a few years ago (thanks to the efforts of Paco Somoza and Pedro Lucas del Teso) and today they house an interpretation center that tells the story of these hydraulic mills.

"The set of watermelons was one of the most important industrial activity centers in Zamora," says Somoza, who states that "they were

flour watermelts

."

"They are of medieval origin. First they belonged to the guilds, but then they passed into the hands of the Cabildo de la Catedral, which derived its greatest source of income from here, from grinding to make bread. That control of bread also gave it greater power. "

The aceñas de Zamora (further up there are others, those in Pinilla, which today house a restaurant and, downstream, others more) are

the oldest in Spain

and operated for more than a thousand years, until well into the twentieth century when, with the irruption of electricity, they stopped being profitable.

Modernist heritage

Electricity arrives precisely in a historical period of crisis and wars.

Europe needed flour to make bread and the place to get it was here.

The

flour factories

became big businesses and their owners became the nouveau riche.

And they could invest that wealth in what was in vogue at the time: building

a modernist-style house

.

"Here, that everything was sobriety,

rock and roll

appears

," jokes Somoza.

Francesc Ferriol, a disciple of Luis Domènech i Montaner, arrived in Zamora in 1908 hired as a municipal architect.

The Stone Bridge Shutterstock

To him, and others such as Gregorio Pérez Arribas and Miguel Mathet Coloma, the city owes its great modernist heritage:

Santa Clara Street

, in Sagasta Square, in the Market Square or in Balboraz Street.

Also in the flour factories themselves (like Bobo, on the outskirts, still in operation).

Zamora belongs in its own right to the European Route of Modernism, something that many people are unaware of and that surprises the visitor.

PRACTICAL GUIDE

How to get.

The A-66, the Ruta e la Plata highway, connects Zamora with the north and southwest of the peninsula.

Coach lines do it with Oviedo, Gijón, Barcelona and Madrid.

For its part, Renfe offers several frequencies from Madrid.


Where to sleep.

At the NH Zamora Palacio del Duero hotel, with 49 rooms.

From 58 euros / night.


Where to

eat

.

In Lasal.

Product of the land, seasonal and of the highest quality.


More information

.

On the web www.turismo-zamora.com

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Zamora

  • Castile and Leon

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