Trujillo

Trujillo rises up from the boulder-strewn fields like a great granite schooner under full sail. From above, the rooftops and towers are worn and medieval looking. At street level, Renaissance architecture flourishes in squares such as the Plaza Mayor, with its elegant San Martín church. As in Cáceres, storks' nests top many towers—the birds have become a symbol of Trujillo. With roots in Roman times, the city was captured from the Moors in 1232 and colonized by a number of leading military families.