Trip to Cuenca and Albarracin

This week we took a 4-day trip, our first holiday since arriving in Spain almost 3 years ago, to the historic towns of Cuenca in the Castilla-La Mancha province and Albarracin in nearby Aragon province.

Cuenca is high up (956m) in the mountainous area of Serrania and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s origins date back to the time of the Moors, when a settlement was first established on a rocky outcrop surrounded by steep ravines and the churches, cathedral and many of the houses in the old town date back to the 12th century. As the town grew, its inhabitants found ingenious ways to make use of the limited space available within the fortified town and so built many storeys up and in some cases out over the edge to maximise the use of the land.

Our hotel was in an old convent and there are still several convents in use in the town. One of our most memorable moments was creeping quietly into the back of one of the many old churches we came across in the town and finding dozens of white-robed nuns knelt in prayer at their evening mass.

After 2 nights in Cuenca, we travelled across the  most stunning scenery we’ve seen since arriving here, stopping at the Ciudad Encantada (“enchanted garden”) – an area of  limestone rocks, eroded over millions of years into strange shapes.

Albarracin is also located high up (1172m) on a rocky outcrop formed by the meander of a river and is also classified by UNESCO as an artistic monument of world interest. We found it to be the most perfectly preserved example of a medieval town you could ever wish to visit, with narrow little streets of overhanging houses, surrounded by superb fortifications. Our hotel this time was in the 16th century “house of the brigadier’s wife.” We wandered around the narrow old streets, many only wide enough for a donkey, amazed at the age of all the houses and how the original timbers have survived. The next morning we climbed  high above town onto the walls of the castle for the most stunning views of our trip.

Truly a trip to remember!

See more photographs in the gallery or watch a slideshow set to music on Youtube.