12 Best Sights in Extremadura, Spain

The Casa de las Veletas (House of the Weather Vanes) is a 12th-century Moorish mansion that is now used as the city's museum. Filled with archaeological finds from the Paleolithic through Visigothic periods, the museum also includes an art section with works by El Greco, Picasso, and Miró. The highlight is the superbly preserved Moorish cistern—the aljibe—with horseshoe arches supported by mildewy stone pillars.

Travel back a few centuries in Cáceres's Ciudad Monumental (aka "casco antiguo" or "ciudad vieja"), one of the best-preserved medieval quarters in Europe. It's so convincingly ancient that Game of Thrones used it as a filming location. There isn't a single modern building to detract from its aura, a testament to the fact that Cáceres became a backwater plagued by war after Spain's Golden Age. It's virtually deserted in winter and occasionally dusted with a light coating of snow—a fairy-tale sight. Most of the city's main monuments are located here, but of Cáceres's approximately 100,000 residents, fewer than 400 reside within this tiny enclave.

After a day spent meandering through medieval passageways and marveling at ancient churches, this contemporary art museum, presided over by one of Europe's great modern art collectors, is a breath of fresh air. Highlights include sculptures by Ai Weiwei and Dan Graham and paintings by Josef Albers and John Baldessari. A much-anticipated renovation by Tuñón Arquitectos (of Atrio fame), finished in 2021, added soaring galleries and multimedia spaces to house the gallerist's entire collection. If visiting on a weekend, be sure to reserve entry in advance online.

The first thing that grabs your attention at this museum—located 14 km (9 miles) outside town—is the landscape that surrounds it: the Los Barruecos nature reserve. Spanning 800 acres, the park's otherworldly landscape comprises rolling grasslands, lakes, and enormous, peculiarly shaped boulders, which you can explore on foot. These curious natural forms inspired Wolf Vostell, a German artist of the Fluxus and Happening movements, to turn a defunct yarn factory within the park into a museum. Today you can still take in his bizarre, thought-provoking work—including a Cadillac surrounded by dinner plates and a wall of rusty Guardia Civil motorcycles.

This Gothic church, built mainly in the 16th century, is now the cathedral and the city's most important religious site. The elegantly carved wooden reredos (dating to 1551), left unpainted according to Extremaduran custom, is barely visible in the gloom. Follow the lines of pilgrims to the statue of San Pedro de Alcántara in the corner; legend says that touching the stone figure's shoes brings luck. A small museum in the back displays religious artifacts.

Construction on this church began in the 14th century, purportedly over the ruins of a mosque, and took nearly 300 years to finish. The interior is austere, with a 16th-century choir and walls lined with the tombs of prominent Cáceres citizens. The church opens at 10 most mornings, but check with the tourist office in case of changes.

This palace has an imposing granite facade, arched doorway, and tower, and the interior has been restored with period furnishings and art to look as it did when the Carvajal family lived here in the 16th century. Legend has it that King Ferdinand IV ordered the execution of two brothers from the Carvajal family, whom he accused of killing one of his knights. Thirty days later, the king was sued in the Court of God. Judgment was postponed until after the king's death, when the Carvajal brothers were declared innocent.

Wander the halls of one of Cáceres's great noble homes on a memorable guided tour (English available). Begun in the late 15th century and finished in the late 16th—hence the sumptuous plateresque facade—the palace bears the insignia of the Catholic Monarchs, who greatly enriched the Golfín family. See if you can also spot the coat of arms of the Golfines, situated beneath a gothic double window on the top floor.

After you pass through the gate leading to the old quarter, you'll see this palace, dominated by a soaring tower dating to 1515. Only three of the four corner towers remain, adorned with various coats of arms of the families who once lived here. Inside, there are classical colonnaded courtyards with Renaissance details, but they're no longer open to the public. During the Civil War, soon-to-be-Caudillo Francisco Franco declared this building the seat of his nationalist government before moving it to Burgos and, ultimately, Madrid. Until 2019, the facade bore a plaque memorializing the dictator, but it was removed as part of a larger effort by the city to scrub Cáceres clean of fascist propaganda once and for all.

The battlement tower of this palace is also known as the Torre de las Cigüeñas (Tower of the Storks) for obvious reasons. It's now a military residence, but rooms are occasionally open for exhibitions on the weekends.

This long, inclined, arcaded plaza contains several cafés, the tourist office, and—on breezy summer nights—nearly everyone in town. In the middle of the arcade opposite the old quarter is the entrance to the lively Calle General Ezponda, lined with tapas bars, student hangouts, and discotecas that keep the neighborhood electric with activity until dawn. The city's main Christmas market, selling candles, figurines, and sweets, is held here.

Overlooking Cáceres's Ciudad Monumental is this 18th-century shrine dedicated to the city's patron saint. It's built on a mountain with stunning views of the old town, especially at sunset. The panorama is worth the 15-minute drive—or even the grueling two-hour climb past chalets and farms—even if the interior of the church is rather mundane (barring the gilded baroque altar).