Torre Cepsa

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Torre Cepsa by Norman Foster, 2008
Paseo de la Castellana
Madrid, September 2025

“The Torre Moeve (Moeve Tower) is a skyscraper located in the Cuatro Torres Business Area in Madrid, Spain. With a height of 248.3 m (815 ft) and 45 floors, it is the second tallest of the four buildings in the Cuatro Torres Business Area complex, surpassed by Torre de Cristal by less than a metre. It is the second tallest building in Spain and the 5th tallest building in the European Union. It was successively named the Torre Repsol, the Torre Caja Madrid, the Torre Bankia, the Torre Cepsa between 2014 and 2024, and currently the Torre Moeve, depending on which major Spanish company had the lease. Designed by Lord Foster — and this also colloquially referred to as the Torre Foster, — it was built by a joint venture of Dragados and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas. The tower was initially known as Torre Repsol and would have served as headquarters for Repsol YPF oil and gas company. During the construction of the tower, Repsol decided to change the location of its future headquarters and the financial institution Caja Madrid purchased the building for €815 million in August 2007. In 2016 it was bought by Amancio Ortega, Europe's richest man and founder of global fashion group and Zara owner Inditex (ITX.MC), for €490 million euros through his property investment arm, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria, one of the biggest property companies in Spain. He purchased the tower from Abu Dhabi tycoon Khadem al-Qubaisi, whose fund had exercised a last-minute purchase option from Spanish lender Bankia (BKIA.MC), its previous owner. The current name of the tower refers to the energy company Moeve, previously known as Cepsa, headquartered in the building. It is likely to change its name once again if Moeve goes ahead with the plan to move its HQ to another part of Madrid.” (Torre Cepsa, Wikipedia)

Basilica of San Zeno

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Basilica of San Zeno
Piazza San Zeno
Verona, May 2025

“The Basilica di San Zeno (also known as San Zeno Maggiore or San Zenone) is a minor basilica of Verona, northern Italy constructed between 967 and 1398 AD. Its fame rests partly on its Romanesque architecture and partly upon the tradition that its crypt was the place of the marriage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. St. Zeno died around 371–380. According to legend, at a site above his tomb along the Via Gallica, the first small church was erected by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Erection of the present basilica and associated monastery began in the 9th century, when Bishop Ratoldus and King Pepin of Italy attended the translation of the saint's relics into the new church. This edifice was damaged or destroyed by a Magyar invasion in the early 10th-century, at which time Zeno's body was moved to the Cathedral of Santa Maria Matricolare: on May 21, 921, it was returned to its original site in the crypt of the present church. In 967, a new Romanesque edifice was built by Bishop Raterius, with the patronage of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. On January 3, 1117, the church, along with most of the city, was damaged by an earthquake; the church was restored and enlarged in 1138. Work was completed in 1398 with the reconstruction of the roof and of the Gothic-style apse.” (Basilica of San Zeno, Wikipedia)

Roman aqueduct

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Roman aqueduct
Plaza del Azoguejo
Segovia, September 2025

“The Aqueduct of Segovia (Spanish: Acueducto de Segovia) is a Roman aqueduct in Spain, built around the first century AD to channel water from springs in the mountains 17 kilometres (11 mi) to Segovia's fountains, public baths and private houses, in use until 1973. Its elevated section, with its complete arcade of 167 arches, is one of the best-preserved Roman aqueduct bridges and the foremost symbol of Segovia, as evidenced by its presence on the city's coat of arms. The Old Town of Segovia and the aqueduct were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.” (Aqueduct of Segovia, Wikipedia)

Church of San Lorenzo

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Church of San Lorenzo
Piazza San Lorenzo
Vicenza, May 2025

“The church of San Lorenzo is a Catholic place of worship in Vicenza, built at the end of the 13th century in Gothic style, in its Lombard-Padanian version of the 13th century. It is located in the central Piazza San Lorenzo, along Corso Fogazzaro, and was officiated by the Conventual Franciscans until 2017. The presence of the Franciscans in Vicenza dates back, most likely, to the time when their founder was still alive: perhaps 1216; his passage through the city, however, is not documented. It seems that in 1222 they officiated at the church of San Salvatore, the location of which is not clear, whether in contrà Carpagnon or in the contrà later renamed San Francesco Vecchio near the bishop's palace, where in 1232 they renovated or built their own church. It is certain, however, that in 1280 they exchanged this last church for the chapel of San Lorenzo in Portanova - built 40 years earlier close to the early medieval walls - and for an adjacent piece of land.” (Church of San Lorenzo, Wikipedia)

Palacio de Anaya

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Palacio de Anaya
Plaza de Anaya
Salamanca, September 2025

“Construction of the Anaya Palace began in 1760, based on plans by José Hermosilla. The entire building is in the neoclassical style, with highlights including the main façade, with four large Ionic columns topped by a triangular pediment, with wide steps leading up to it. Inside, the patio has a double gallery of 16 Doric columns on the lower floor and 16 Composite-Ionic columns in the upper gallery. The two floors of the building are connected by a magnificent imperial staircase on which there is a bust of Don Miguel de Unamuno. It is also known as the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé. It is currently the Faculty of Philology of the University of Salamanca.” (Anaya Palace, Spain.info)

Oratorio di San Giorgio

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Oratorio di San Giorgio
Piazza del Santo
Padua, May 2025

“The Oratorio di San Giorgio or St George's Oratory is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic chapel or prayer hall in Padua, region of Veneto, Italy. It is notable for its frescoed interiors. The oratory is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Padua's fourteenth-century fresco cycles, inscribed in 2021 for its exceptional example of 14th-century monumental painting. The oratory was initially built as a free-standing structure by the Marquis Soragna Raimondino de’ Lupi in 1376 as a family funerary chapel. The Oratory is located on the same plaza as the imposing Basilica di Sant'Antonio di Padova. The interior walls are lined with twenty-two narrative frescoed images, commissioned by Raimondino de’ Lupis, in the form of frescoes that depict scenes from the lives of Saint George, St. Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Lucy, and Jesus Christ. The altar wall displays the Crucifixion, and the barrel-vaulted ceiling is decorated with stars. Largely, this tomb has been lost to time, but it was said to include ten life-sized statues of de’ Lupi and his family, two of which are still standing today. Altichiero da Zevio and his associates, including Jacopo d'Avanzi and Sebeto da Verona completed the fresco cycle in 1384; during the Napoleonic Wars, they were whitewashed over until their rediscovery in 1837. As a result, many of them are damaged.” (Oratory of San Giorgio, Wikipedia)

Murallas

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Murallas (Walls)
Ávila, September 2025

“The Walls of Ávila, completed between the 11th and 14th centuries, are the defensive walls of Ávila, Spain, and its principal historic feature. These medieval fortifications are the most complete and best preserved in all the country. The Old Town of Ávila, including the walls and its extramural churches, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The work was started in 1090 but most of the defensive wall appears to have been rebuilt in the 12th century. The enclosed area is an irregular rectangle of 31 hectares (77 acres) with a perimeter of some 2,516 metres (8,255 ft), including 88 semicircular towers. The walls have an average width of 3 metres (9.8 ft) and an average height of 12 metres (39 ft). The nine gates were completed over several different periods.” (Walls of Ávila, Wikipedia)