Vivar del Cid was designated a historical site in 1992. The town is focused on the figure of El Cid. Perhaps some of the most significant landmarks are the stone marking the League Zero, the symbolic start of the Way of El Cid, next to the old flour mill, and the statue of the medieval knight. Opposite it, a stone displays the palaeographic version of the first verses of the Cantar de Mío Cid.
Also in Vivar, in the Convent of El Espino, you can see the coffer that, according to tradition, used to hold the only extant manuscript of the Cantar, which is now in the National Library. It is a good excuse to buy the home-made cakes and sweets they make in the convent, some of them with names reminiscent of El Cid, such as the ‘Tears of Doña Jimena’.
Further information in the fact-file on Vivar del Cid.
Rev.: JGG 18.07.22