Hanging houses of Cuenca, Castille La-Mancha, Spain

The view towards Cuenca across the gorge

This weekend we played tourist! 

With a lot of tramping across the city of Madrid checking out key sights and devouring the walking tours! However on Sunday Kara and visiting friend Alix took a road trip to the old city of Cuenca (when John was in Barcelona playing rugby). 

Having heard about Spain's very popular ride share program (blablacar) we thought we would give it a try and on Saturday evening arranged a ride with a local air hostess (heading home after her shift). The drive, which saved us both time and money was safe and convenient and when we weren't intermittently dozing off we 'tried' to make small talk with the other native Spanish speakers also sharing the ride. 

The road towards Plaza Mayor

We drove through the countryside towards the province of Castille La-Mancha, which is the south east border from the province of Madrid arriving to the city's Plaza Mayor around 11.30am. By this time we were pretty hungry so found a table on the terrace and Alix masterfully ordered us coffee and orange juice! This came with a traditional tapa from the area- super, super garlicky potato puree on crusted bread... not your usual breakfast treat, but quite likeable.... but we also got a plate of olives to nibble it down with (after some confusion where the waiter just brought an empty plate)....?? 

The old city is built above and alongside a steep river gorge. The Rio Huécar below, just visible from the cliff face moves slowly lingering along the banks. 


Although not as old as many other cities within Spain, its still pretty old by our standard and it was colonized in 714BC by the ruling Muslim Arabs. Since that time it became a strategic location which rose and fell with those that conquered it, but generally those that lived there, lived in prosperity due to its advanced and well maintained textile and farming industries. 

Cuenca- Plaza Mayor

Cuenca is particularly known for its hanging houses (casa colgadas). Which are, as the name suggests houses which 'hang' over the steep cliff face. So after our breakfast we waltzed up past the stunning Cuenca Cathedral and then down several twisty and turny lanes to find the 'Puente de San Pablo' bridge' and viewing area. Truthfully the houses themselves weren't as impressive as we thought they would be (beautiful none the less) however we were more enchanted with some of the amazing buildings surrounding the main plaza as well as the traditional Spanish cobbled paths and all the colourful houses.  One of the best things about visiting Cuenca is that it is off the beaten track and wasn't very touristy. This gave us ample time to quietly explore the city before heading to lunch. 

Cuenca Hanging Houses

Cuenca Cathedral 

Lunch was quite a treat! Perhaps traditional of the area, perhaps not, but you receive an entire bottle of (dear we say- delicious) red wine with the lunch special. After missing several of the buses we had ended to catch back to Madrid we left the restaurant quite giggly and then slept the ENTIRE way back. To our defence it was a warm day! It was a short trip into the beautiful Castille La-Mancha Province and a wonderful visit to a stunning medieval Spanish village.

View towards the old monastery 

Tot Siens, 

John and Kara