The pyramid grid
Six hundred stone projections whose shadows shift with the sun.
Bernard Gagnon — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jebulon — CC0 · Reinhardhauke — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Reinhardhauke — CC BY-SA 3.0
**A 15th-century palace whose front is covered in six hundred projecting stone pyramids** — on the main street climbing from the aqueduct to the main square. ⚠ **The façade is the whole thing**: **stones carved as small pyramids** set in a regular grid across the entire wall — **so its appearance changes as the sun moves**, because every pyramid casts a shadow. ⚠ **Its purpose is disputed**: it is said to be **defensive camouflage**, **or an assertion of status**, ✅ **or — most probably — an Italian Renaissance fashion that reached Spain**; **its counterparts are the Palacio del Diamante in Valladolid and the Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara**. ⚠ **The building today is a school of applied arts** — **not a museum**. ✅ **But its courtyard is sometimes open**, **and its façade is always free.**
Six hundred stone projections whose shadows shift with the sun.
A Renaissance court, sometimes open free.
The street climbing from the aqueduct to the main square.
Calle Juan Bravo 33, 40001 Segovia, Spain
**A single line from the aqueduct to the Alcázar — the city is small and a day covers it easily.** ✅ **The natural order**: **the city sits on a long narrow hill** between two valleys, **with the aqueduct at its low eastern end and the Alcázar at its high western one**; ⚠ **so almost everything is on one line**. ✅ **Start at the aqueduct** in the Plaza del Azoguejo in the morning — **better light and fewer people**; **and climb the stair beside it to see its run from above**. ✅ **Then climb Calle Juan Bravo** — **the Casa de los Picos** is on your way, with palaces and fountains. ✅ **Then the main square and the cathedral** — **lunch here** (⚠ the square is dearer; the back lanes are better). ✅ **Then the Alcázar** at the western end — **in the afternoon**, ✅ **and climb its tower if you can**. ✅ **⚠ Then go down outside the walls** to the **Vera Cruz church** — **the best view of the Alcázar at sunset is from in front of it**; ⚠ **the climb back is hard, so plan for it**. ⚠ **With two days**: **La Granja** on the second (⚠ **and check the fountain schedule first**). ✅ **And try the cochinillo** — roast suckling pig, the city's dish.
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