Trujillo

Just as numerous North American settlements were named after British explorers' home towns (the imitator often ending up dwarfing the original, as in Boston and York's case), thus many Spanish place names appear in South America. A large proportion of them could first be found in Extremadura, as the region's poverty led to many of the Conquistadores coming from here. For example, Medellín a village in southern Extremadura is a metropolis in Columbia.

Evidence of the Conquistadores' role in the history of Extremadura can be found in many parts of the region, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Trujillo. This beautiful town in northern Extremadura is also a city in Peru and was the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro, among many other famous (or infamous) Conquistadores.

Several of these explorers returned from their conquests of South America to parade their new-found wealth in their home towns, and so many of their mansions (often misleadingly called palacios) can be found in the streets of Trujillo.

The town provides a great staging post on the way to or from Madrid (perhaps even including a luxurious stay at the Parador), with a special recommendation for the stroll up from the lovely main square to the castle's great views.

As mentioned elsewhere in this guide, it's home to the annual National Cheese Fair, while visitors can also make a quick detour to nearby Guadalupe and its gorgeous monastery (see the relevant section), an important emblem for Iberian and South American culture.