Béjar

Béjar is a town located in the middle of the Sierra de Béjar, in the Province of Salamanca (Castilla y León). The main element of the past of Béjar is its link with the family of Zúñiga, who received it in 1396, transforming it into a señorío and then into a duchy under the Catholic Monarchs. An important part of the economy of the area is still the textile industry, started and invigorated by the Dukes of Béjar from the sixteenth century. Its monuments include the medieval wall, the palace of the Dukes of Béjar, Baroque churches such as Santa María la Mayor (Saint Mary Major) and El Salvador (the Saviour), and the garden town of El Bosque, the pleasure villa of the Dukes.