Page 401 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

C ASTILLA-LA M ANCHA  399

decorated chapels and Gothic
choirstalls, which were brought
here from Cuenca Cathedral (see
p389). There is also outstanding
ironwork, a Renaissance reredos
and the font at which the
Golden Age poet Fray Luis de
León (1527–91) was baptized.
Environs
Two villages near Belmonte
also flourished under the
Marquis of Villena. The church
at Villaescusa de Haro, 6 km
(4 miles) to the northeast, has
an outstanding 16th-century
reredos. San Clemente, some
40 km (25 miles) further south- The chalk cliffs of Alcalá del Júcar, honeycombed with tunnels
east, clusters around two
near-perfect Renaissance siege. It was later acquired by de Júcar, along which you can
squares. There is a Gothic the Marquis of Villena. Alarcón drive for a stretch of 40 km
alabaster cross in the Iglesia has drama tic walls and three (25 miles). Alcalá del Júcar is
de Santiago Apóstol. defensive precincts. The small, dramatically sited on the side
triangular castle, high above of a spur of rock jut ting out into
P Castillo de Belmonte the river, has been turned into the gorge. The town is a warren
Tel 967 81 00 40. Open Tue–Sun. & a parador, preserving much of of steep al leys and flights of
its medieval atmosphere. steps. At the top of the town,
The Iglesia de Santa María below the castle, houses have
is a Renaissance church with a been extended by digging
fine portico and an altarpiece caves into the soft rock. Some
attributed to the Berruguete of these have been transformed
school. The nearby Iglesia de into tunnels cut from one side
Santísima Trinidad is in Gothic- of the spur to the other.
Plateresque style (see p29).
Environs
To the west, the gorge runs past
a Alcalá del Júcar fertile orchards to the Baroque
Albacete. * 1,350. n Avenida de Ermita de San Lorenzo. Further
los Robles 1, 967 47 30 90 (Sat & Sun on is the pic turesque village
only). ( Sun. _ San Lorenzo of Jorquera, which wa s an
(7–15 Aug). ∑ alcaladeljucar.net independent state for a brief
The castle of Alarcón, which has been period during the Middle Ages,
converted into a state-run parador Where the Rio Júcar runs refusing to be ruled by the
through the chalk hills to the Crown. It re tains its Arab walls. A
p Alarcón northeast of Albacete, it cuts a collec tion of shields is on display
deep, winding gorge, the Hoz in the Casa del Corregidor.
Cuenca. * 200. n Calle Posadas 6,
969 33 03 01. _ San Sebastián (20
Jan), Fiesta del Emigrante (Aug), Cristo Don Quixote’s La Mancha
de la Fe (14 Sep). ∑ descubre
alarcon.es Cervantes (see p337) doesn’t
specify where his hero was born,
Perfectly preserved, the fortified but several places are mentioned
village of Alarcón guards a in the novel. Don Quixote is
narrow loop of the Río Júcar from knighted in an inn in Puerto
on top of a rock. As you drive Lápice, believing it to be a
through its defences, you may castle. His sweetheart, Dulcinea,
have the impression of entering lives in El Toboso. The windmills
a film set for a medieval epic. he tilts at, im agining them to
be giants, are thought to be
The village dates back to the those at Campo de Criptana.
8th century. It became a key Another adven ture takes place
military base for the Recon quest in the Cueva de Montesinos
(see pp58–9) and was recaptured (see p401). Illustration from a 19th-century
from the Moors by Alfonso VIII edition of Don Quixote
in 1184 following a nine-month

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