Valverde de la Vera

At midnight in Holy Week the Empalaos walk barefoot through Valverde de la Vera: men with arms bound to a chestnut beam, crowned with thorns, heavy rings at their wrists, making the round of the village's fourteen crosses. A museum in a restored village house explains the rite. The castle of the Counts of Nieva and the church of Santa María de Fuentes Claras complete the visit.

Highlights

• Los Empalaos, the Holy Week penance rite dating back to the Middle Ages
• Museo del Empalao, in a traditional Vera house
• The castle of the Counts of Nieva, built in the 13th–14th centuries
• Parish church with the tombs of Leonor Niño and Diego López de Zúñiga
• Carnival on Ash Wednesday, with fried eggs and sardines in the square

Summary based on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), written with AI assistance.