Campaspero, Spain: travel guide to the stone village of the high Valladolid plateau

Campaspero is a town in the province of Valladolid, in Castile and León, set at more than 900 metres on the high plateau near the border with Segovia, which makes it the highest municipality in the province. Home to a little over a thousand people, it is a quintessentially Castilian village famous for one thing above all: its fine white stone.

For travellers searching for Campaspero, Castilian stone villages, the Stone Museum or the Ribera del Duero, it offers a distinctive heritage of quarrying and craftsmanship.

The village of white stone

Campaspero sits on a thick bed of limestone, and the working of its prized white stone has shaped the town for centuries. The same stone adorns its own bright streets and has been used in landmark monuments across the region, including the castles of Peñafiel and Cuéllar, the façade of the University of Valladolid and the church of San Pablo in the provincial capital. The quarrying tradition is celebrated in the only Stone Museum in Castile and León, set in the village's former schools, where visitors can learn how the stone is extracted and worked.

Sights and surroundings

On the Plaza de Santo Domingo stands the Baroque parish church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, an 18th-century building of stone with a single barrel-vaulted nave, while a large stone cross dominates the square. The town is known too for its roast lamb and lies on the edge of the celebrated Ribera del Duero wine country.

Practical information

Campaspero lies about 52 kilometres from Valladolid, roughly midway between the historic towns of Peñafiel and Cuéllar, each around 15 kilometres away, making it a good detour when touring the Duero valley.