Page 404 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

402  CENTR AL SP AIN

h Villanueva de festival in September. In the mansion commissioned in 1564
los Infantes network of older streets around by the Marquis of Santa Cruz,
the café-lined Plaza de España the admiral of the fleet that
Ciudad Real. * 5,800. @ n Calle are the Iglesia de la Asunción defeated the Turks at Lepanto in
Cervantes 16, 926 36 13 21. ( Fri. _ and the municipal museum. 1571 (see p63). One of the main
Cruz de Mayo (2–3 May), Ferias (late Valdepeñas has over 30 features of the house is a Classical
Aug), Fiesta del Pimiento (1st week of bodegas, 10 of which can be patio. Inside, the main rooms are
Sep). ∑ villanuevadelosinfantes.es
visited. One of them has been decorated with Italian frescoes.
Villanueva’s Old Town, which converted into the Museo del
centres on the graceful Neo- Vino, illustrating the various Environs
Classical Plaza Mayor, is one stages of wine production. About 25 km (16 miles)
of the most attractive in La northeast is Spain’s oldest
Mancha. Many buildings on the E Museo del Vino bullring at Las Virtudes. It was
square have wooden balconies Calle Princesa 39. Tel 926 32 11 11. built in 1641 next to a 14th-
and arcades. Also on the square Open Tue–Sat & Sun am. & century church, which has
is the Iglesia de San Andrés, a Churrigueresque altarpiece.
which has a Renaissance façade.
Inside are a Baroque altarpiece P Palacio del Viso
and organ, as well as the (now Plaza del Pradillo 12. Tel 926 33 75 18.
empty) tomb of the Golden Age Open Tue–Sun am. Closed some
author Francisco de Quevedo. public hols. & 8
He lived and died in the
Convento de los Domínicos.
l Calatrava la
Environs Nueva
The village of San Carlos del Ciudad Real. Aldea del Rey. Tel 926 69
Valle, 25 km (15 miles) to the 31 19. Open Tue–Sun. & ∑ castillo
northwest, has an 18th-century decalatrava.com
square and galleried houses
of rust-red stone. Magnificent in its isolated
hilltop setting, the ruined
Courtyard of the Palacio del Viso in castle-monastery of Calatrava
j Valdepeñas Viso del Marqués la Nueva is reached by a stretch
of original medieval road.
Ciudad Real. * 31,200. £ @ k Viso del Marqués
n Plaza de España, 926 31 25 52. It was founded in 1217 by
( Thu. _ Grape Harvest (1–8 Sep). Ciudad Real. * 2,750. @ n Calle the Knights of Calatrava, Spain’s
∑ valdepenas.es Real 39, 926 33 68 15 (closed Sun pm first military-religious order (see
& Mon). ( Tue. _ San Andrés p58), to be their headquarters.
Valdepeñas is the capital of (second Sun of May), Feria (24–28 Jul). The complex is of huge
La Mancha’s vast wine region, ∑ visodelmarques.es proportions, with a double patio
the world’s largest expanse and a church with a triple nave.
of vineyards, producing vast The small village of Viso del The church has been restored
quantities of red wine (see Marqués in La Mancha is the and is illu minated by a beau-
pp344–5). This largely modern unlikely setting of the Palacio tiful rose window above the
town comes alive for its wine del Viso, a grand Renaissance entrance. After the Reconquest,

Expanse of vineyards near Valdepeñas
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp570–71 and pp595–7

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