The streets of the city’s Romanesque old town, the Casco Medieval, still circle like a spider’s web around either side of the central hill, while a neater grid of later developments, Ensanche, lies below on the plain. All Vitoria’s graceful mansions and churches are built from the same greyish-gold stone, and many of the medieval buildings are amazingly well preserved. The finest of Vitoria’s buildings, on c/Fray Zacarías near the cathedral, include the Palacio de Escoriaza-Esquibel, with its sixteenth-century Plateresque portal, and the Palacio de Montehermoso, now run as a cultural and exhibition space. On the southern edge of the old town, the porticoed Plaza de España is a gem, while the neighbouring Plaza de la Virgen Blanca is more elegant, with glassed-in balconies. If you find the hill itself a bit of a challenge, Vitoria offers a remarkable feature: moving stairways climb it from both the east (Cantón de San Francisco Javier) and west (Cantón de la Soledad) sides.