Page 388 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

386  CENTR AL SP AIN

1 Atienza
Guadalajara. * 500. n Héctor
Vázquez 2, 949 39 92 93 (closed
Mon–Fri). ( Fri. _ La Caballada
(Pentecost Sun). ∑ turismo
castillalamancha.es
Rising high above the valley it
once protected, Atienza contains
vestiges of its medi eval past.
Crowning the hill is a ruined
12th-century castle. The arcaded
Plaza Mayor and the Plaza del
Trigo are joined by an original
gateway. The Museo de San
Gil, a religious art museum, is
in the church of the same name.
The Iglesia de Santa María del Semi-recumbent figure of El Doncel on his tomb in Sigüenza Cathedral
Rey, at the foot of the hill,
displays a Baroque altarpiece. Doncel, built for Martín Vázquez Environs
de Arce, Isabel of Castile’s page West of Molina is the Virgen
Environs (see p60). He was killed in battle de la Hoz chapel, set in a rust-
Campisábalos, to the west, has against the Moors in 1486. The red ravine. Further southwest
a 12th-century Romanesque sacristy has a ceiling carved is a nature reserve, the Parque
church. The Hayedo de Tejera with flowers and cherubs. Natural del Alto Tajo.
Negra, further west, is a nature
reserve of beech woods.
3 Molina de Aragón
E Museo de San Gil
Calle San Gil. Tel 949 39 90 41. Open Guadalajara. * 4,000 @
n Calle de las Tiendas 62, 949 83
Sat & Sun; by appt weekdays. &
20 98. ( Thu. _ Día del Carmen
(16 Jul), Ferias (30 Aug–5 Sep).
∑ turismomolinaaltotajo.com
2 Sigüenza
Molina’s attractive medieval
Guadalajara. * 5,000. £ @
n Calle Serrano Sanz 9, 949 34 70 07. quarter is at the foot of a hill next
( Sat. _ San Vicente (22 Jan), to the Río Gallo. The town was
San Juan (24 Jun), Fiestas Patronales disputed during the Reconquest
(mid-Aug). ∑ siguenza.es and captured from the Moors by
Alfonso I of Aragón in 1129. Many
Dominating the hillside town monu ments were destroyed Arab ramparts above Molina de Aragón’s
of Sigüenza is its impressive during the War of Independence Old Town
castle-parador. The cathedral (see p67), but the 11th-century
is Romanesque, with later hill top castle preserves seven
additions such as the Gothic- original towers. It is possible to 4 La Alcarria
Plateresque cloisters. In one of visit the Romanesque-Gothic Guadalajara. @ Guadalajara.
the chapels is the Tomb of El Iglesia de Santa Clara. n Palacio Ducal, Plaza de la Hora,
Pastrana, 949 37 06 72. ∑ turismo
castillalamancha.es
This vast stretch of undulating
olive groves and fields east of
Guadalajara is still evocative of
Camilo José Cela’s (see p39) book
Journey to the Alcarria. Driving
through the rolling hills, it seems
that little has changed since this
account of Spanish rural life was
written in the 1940s.
Towards the centre of the
Alcarria are three immense,
adjoining reservoirs called the
Mar de Castilla (Sea of Castile).
Olive groves in La Alcarria in the province of Guadalajara The first reservoir was built in
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp570–71 and pp595–7

386-387_EW_Spain.indd 386 26/09/17 11:02 am