Between Valencia and Toledo we spent two nights at a historic hill town that most non-Spaniards have never heard of.
Like most foreigners, we knew embarrassingly little about Cuenca prior to arriving on a high speed train, halfway between Valencia and Madrid on the AVE route. We knew nothing of the town's attractions, its lip-smacking cuisine, or that we're about to crash an end-of-summer fiesta at its medieval town square.
Most first time visitors to Spain would probably visit the Iberian heavyweights of Madrid and Barcelona, and for train travelers there are two obvious AVE routes: a shorter route via Zaragosa, and a scenic route through Valencia and Cuenca. We chose the latter based on the merit of two UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- Valencia's Silk Exchange and Cuenca's Historic Walled Town -- and booked two nights in Cuenca.
Not to be confused with the metropolis in Ecuador that assumed its name, Cuenca, Spain is a small ancient town perched upon a rocky outcrop, surrounded by precipitous canyons carved out by the confluence of two rivers. Google the name and you'll likely see its cluster of Casas Colgadas, or Hanging Houses, featuring balconies cantilevered into the sidewalls and bravely overlooking the precarious drop below.
Our first sight of the medieval townscape came as the bus driver expertly squeaked our bus through the narrow arch of the baroque town hall, terminating at the aptly named Plaza Mayor with cobblestone paths randomly stretching in all directions. Felix, the owner of our rental apartment, was already waiting for us.
Built on top of an ancient Moorish citadel, Cuenca is your classic Castillian hill town centered on a cozy town square crowned with a 13th century cathedral, still shielded by defensive walls dating back at least a thousand years when the Arabs named it Kunka.
Our apartment was located right at the cliff edge overlooking the deep, vertical gorges, merely 40m from the famous Casas Colgadas and a two-minute walk from Plaza Mayor and the cathedral. The old town is long and narrow with just one main street that stretches 700m from the 16th century watchtower of Mangana in the south to the ruins of the Moorish castle in the north.
Impressive for a town of its size is the imposing cathedral, in fact the first ever gothic cathedral in Spain dating back to late 12th century, about the same age as the similarly styled (and infinitely more famous) Notre Dame of Paris. Curiously born with a notably Anglo-Norman facade, it would almost seem more fitting in Belgium or Northern France than here in Central Spain.
The interior decor was decidedly less gothic in comparison owing to various facelifts through the centuries, from renaissance arches to baroque altarpieces. And if you're wondering what might be meeting Jesus's upward gaze ...
... it's the dazzling painted cupola above. The cathedral grounds is also endowed with a bishop's palace now serving as a display for its collection of relics and priceless art, including a couple of El Grecos.
Behind the cathedral is the unmistakable symbol of Cuenca, its 600-year-old timber-framed houses overhanging the vertical face of the canyon. While only three such specimens remain today, in centuries past they would have been part of an entire row of hanging houses on the cliff edge, probably rivaling the Hanging Monastery of China in terms of visual impact.
Beneath the Hanging Houses spans the Puente de San Pablo, a former medieval stone bridge rebuilt as a turn-of-20th-century iron structure soaring over River Huecar, linking the town with the old Convent of St. Paul that has since reincarnated as a classy state-owned hotel.
The 500-year-old Dominican convent was just a dilapidated shell until about 25 years ago when the government transformed it into one of its most stunning Paradors. No need to pay 150 Euros for a room just to take pictures -- just walk in for a coffee for a reasonable 4 Euros.
The convent's baroque church has also been reborn into an exhibition space featuring modern art installations from Madrid's Reina Sofia Museum, one of the top art museums in the world best known for its collection of Picasso and Dali.
The gorges formed the old boundaries of Cuenca until the second half of 20th century when the urban sprawl stretched to the flatland. Over two days we never had the incentive to venture outside the town as an old-fashioned fiesta, evident from the white linen draped all over town, was about to kick off.
Today's festivities turned out to be a medieval-themed, end-of-summer fiesta put together by the local government, bridging the void between the full week of Feria de San Julian in late August and the upcoming Fiesta de San Mateo in late September. While the action was thrilling enough for this foreigner, it must have been quite minor among Cuenca's countless annual ferias and fiestas.
It's a medieval-themed party after all, and the fiesta promptly kicked off with a procession of royalties accompanied by banner carriers and a small but energetic medieval band that kept on pumping out festival music until midnight.
To stir up more drama a couple of Warcraft-like minotaurs and wizards showed up on tall stilts to rough up the adults and high-five the small children.
While the fictional characters paraded through town, an open-air market sprouted up on Plaza Mayor and its side alleys peddling everything from handmade accessories to cheap clothing to some excellent deals on leather goods. We loaded up on all sorts of souvenir items and a leather handbag right here.
As for snacks, artisan pastries and sweets, local Machego cheese and Jamon Iberico. We even came across a makeshift stand pouring some delicious honey mead. Mead! Now that's a medieval fiesta!
As the sun began to set, a Segovian pig roast was getting seriously underway alongside some Andalusian paella and roasted salchichas. It was a little worrying to see all corners of Spain being incorporated into one eatery, but my wife already had her eyes set on the Cochinillo.
Our plate of Cochinillo arrived in the form of bony pig jaws and cheeks ... and none of the meaty legs or bellies. I hope it was just our luck of the draw and not because we're non locals, but it felt like a rip-off at 25 euros ... and that's before we learned the price of our Sangria: 9 Euros for a large cup! Now that's the biggest rip-off we encountered over 16 days in Spain.
Bill for Two Persons
| Cochinillo | 25 Euros |
| Sangria | 9 Euros |
| Bread Charge | 2 Euros |
| TOTAL | 36 Euros (CAD$54) |
After dinner we walked down to Puente de San Pablo again for a view of the illuminated bridge with the Parador in the background. The prospect of stumbling over the iron girder bridge in dark seemed a little too hazardous though, and we turned back after the Casas Colgadas.
One of the best night views actually came from our apartment's window which offered an unobstructed panorama, past the town walls down the Huecar canyon. Spectacular views such as this only makes Cuenca's obscurity even more baffling, especially now that it's less than an hour from Madrid via AVE trains and has become perfectly doable as a day-trip. But on second thought, why not stay for a romantic night and enjoy the serenity ... or perhaps the raucous party if you happen to come across a fiesta?
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