Teruel, Spain

The little provincial capital of TERUEL is basically a backwater market town, catering for its rugged and sparsely populated rural hinterlands. The discovery that this is the only part of Spain where deaths outnumber births prompted the playful slogan "Teruel existe" ("Teruel exists"), which has helped to draw some curious visitors.

A likeable and impressively monumental place, Teruel holds some of the finest Mudéjar work in Spain. Like Zaragoza, it was an important Moorish city and retained significant Muslim and Jewish communities after its Reconquest by Alfonso II in 1171. As you approach town, the Mudéjar towers are immediately apparent. These – and the fabulous Mudéjar ceiling in the cathedral – should not be missed. The Centro Histórico, on a hill above the Río Turia, has a confusing layout, enclosed by the odd patch of wall, and with a viaduct linking it to the modern quarter to the south. Leading off to the north is a sixteenth-century aqueduct, Los Arcos, a slender and elegant piece of monumental engineering.

Arriving by train, you'll see straight ahead of you La Escalinata, a flight of steps decorated with bricks, tiles and turrets that is pure civic Mudéjar in style – note the iron gap in the wall to the left, where lifts shoot up to the paseo. From the top of the steps c/El Salvador leads to the Torre de El Salvador (daily 11am–2pm & 4.30–7.30pm; € 2.50), the finest of the four Mudéjar towers, covered with intricately patterned and proportioned coloured tiles.

The Catedral de Santa María de Mediavilla (daily 11am–2pm & 4–8pm, until 7pm in winter, last entry 30min before closing; € 3), built in the twelfth century but gracefully adapted over subsequent years, boasts another fine Mudéjar tower. The interior follows a more standard Gothic-Mudéjar pattern and at first sight seems unremarkable, save for its brilliant Renaissance retablo. Climb the stairs by the door, however, and put money in the illuminations box, and the fabulous artesonado ceiling is revealed. This was completed between 1260 and 1314 by Moorish craftsmen, in a gorgeous and fascinating mix of geometric Islamic motifs and medieval painting of courtly life.