A hot air balloon festival aimed at making the activity more accessible to people with reduced mobility soared over the skies of Segovia in central Spain Friday, providing those with a head for heights astonishing views of some of the city's historical landmarks.

This was the first Balloon Accessible Festival to be staged in Segovia, which is located in the province of Castile and Leon some 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Madrid, although the popular tourist destination already hosts more hot air balloon excursions than anywhere else in Spain, according to the organizers. 

The four-day festival, which runs from July 19-22, enables non-vertiginous visitors a chance to take in a bird's-eye view of Segovia's historic center, a Unesco-listed World Heritage Site whose crown jewel is a magnificently preserved Roman aqueduct that has stood for almost 2,000 years.

From the air, its tall stone arches cast long shadows over the square and tiled rooftops beneath it, as captured by an epa-efe photographer aboard one of the balloons.

Segovia also boasts a towering Gothic cathedral a dominating Alcázar (fortress), also a World Heritage Site.