May 2 – The city of Cáceres was officially founded by the Romans in about 25 BCE, although it has been inhabited since prehistoric times.  It was overtaken by the Muslims in the ninth century, and they built a wall around the city.  This did not stop the Christians from taking it back several hundred years later.  Part of the wall remains:

There are stretches of Old City that show no evidence of modernization, making this a popular place to film movies about medieval times, and episodes of Game of Thrones.

We checked out the Concatedral de Santa Maria, where the service in progress continued regardless of the tourists gawking about. It has a very impressive carved wooden altarpiece, but is pretty small as cathedrals go.

Santiago, patron saint of Spain, is here with his walking stick and water gourd:

Outside the Catedral is the statue of a local Saint, San Pedro de Alcantara.  You touch his feet for a blessing.  Look how shiny his toes are:

The Templo San Francisco Javier has been deconsecrated and turned into a museum.  For one euro, you can explore from the tip of the highest tower to the cistern several stories down.

Views from the bell tower:

Exhibit of Nativity statues from all over the world:

Semana Santa exhibit:

Cistern below the church:

The Iglesia Santiago was closed, but signs of Saint James were in evidence outside. His carving above the door:

His shells:

His lucky storks nesting above:

And the Camino passing by the door:

The Iglesia San Juan had some lovely Madonnas:

We looked at old things in the Museo:

The art exhibit had a not-quite-Picasso:

…and a not-really-Van Gogh:

The Museo Arabe displayed collected Muslim artifacts from around the world:

Care for a game of Moors vs. Crusaders?

A lovely day!