The old hill town is laid out in a concentric almond shape, with streets named after the trades that once worked there: Cuchillería (knife-makers), Herrería (blacksmiths), Zapatería (shoemakers), Correría (leather-workers). The street pattern has barely changed since the 12th century.
Climbing up from Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, the streets get quieter, the bars more local, and the building stock more original — old townhouses with carved doorways, Renaissance palaces tucked between modest medieval cottages. Squatters and a vibrant social-centre scene give parts of the upper old town a left-wing political flavour that the tidy lower city does not have.