Pedraza: Night of the Candles

Pedraza is a walled and medieval Spanish village, around 40 km from Segovia. Due to the fact that it was preserved beautifully, it was declared Historical Patrimony. It’s worth a visit any season of the year, but I went in an eventful day: “the Night of the Candles”

A little over a year ago, I was drinking a beer with my friends at a bar. For a moment and without even realizing it, I was enthralled by the conversation of the people sitting in the next table:

“Tomorrow we are going to Pedraza, it’s is the concert of candles.”
“It is really nice … all illuminated.”
“The problem is that many people are going and the concert is expensive…”

I had no idea what they were talking about so I grabbed my phone and looked up “Pedraza”, “Candles’ Concert”. When I looked at the pictures — wow, how amazed I was! I was dying to go but to go the next day was too hasty, so I had no choice but to wait a year.

A year went by, and I had nearly forgotten about Pedraza already, until I suddenly remembered and started to look up information again. The night of the candles is celebrated on the first two Saturdays of July. What a coincidence!_ “Pedraza was illuminated by the light of the candles for the second time in four days.”_ It was then or never and I was ready to go alone.

It was Saturday when I reached Pedraza at around six in the afternoon. It was crowded and access to the town was already closed. It’s recommended to arrive early in the afternoon because once the village is full, then there is no way to park. (If you look at the picture in the left corner and you will see a lot of cars parked).

The village is on a hill and it is surrounded by a cliff that protected it — together with its walls that completely surround it. It can only be accessed by a single gate.

We were hours away from dusk but people were already lighting up the candles around town. They were placed along the streets, hanging from windows and balconies and forming drawings in the ground.

It’s a really tiny village and can be seen fast. I walked along its streets several times. I saw the prison and the castle. I had to make time for nightfall. I had a coffee and I cream, I ate and had a pizza while watching the scenery.

A few more…

Sunset was coming and Pedrazas was starting to get illuminated.

There was a house I fell in love with, it was so beautiful and had dozens of candles…

The concert at the main square started at ten. It’s the only part of town that is closed to the public during the day. The music fills the village, it’s almost night time and everything is fully lit.

I highly recommend visiting Pedraza any day of the year. I will surely go back! My recommendation is you go early enough so you can park without trouble. If you want to stay the night you will have to book with enough time before everything is fully booked.

geschrieben von triky76 am 2013-08-16 in #Orte #candles #location #fuego #segovia #pedraza #escape-from-the-city #night-concerts #medieval-pueblo #luz-noche #muralla-castle