Cuenca, Spain
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- For other articles on subjects named Cuenca, see Cuenca.
| Historic Walled Town of Cuenca* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Spain |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, v |
| Reference | 781 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1996 (20th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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Cuenca is a city (2004 pop. 47,862) in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain. It is the capital of the province of Cuenca (see map), one of the largest provinces in Spain (17.061 sq. km.), almost as large as countries like Slovenia or Montenegro.
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[edit] A bit of history
When the iberian peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria. However, the place where Cuenca is located today had not inhabitants yet.
After muslim troops conquered this area, at 714, they soon realized this strategic location and they built Conca alcazaba (arabic fortress) between two gorges digged by Júcar and Huécar rivers, surrounded by a 1 km wall. Cuenca became soon an agricultural and textile manufacturing city, enjoying growing prosperity.
Around the twelth century the christians, living in northern Spain since muslim ocupation, started to recover slowly iberian peninsula. Castile was taking over west and center areas of Spain, while Aragon was enlarging along the Mediterranean area. Al-Andalus, started to break into small provinces (Reinos de taifas) under christians' pressure, and at 1100 these ones were near Conca. Conca was conquered by Alfonso VIII , King of Castile, from the Taifa's Kingdom of Toledo in 1177. Previously it had been handed to Castile, under princess Zaida marriage with Alfonso VI agreement, but it was recovered soon by the muslims in 1108, after Zalaca battle.
Alfonso VIII granted city title, and it was considered as "Muy noble y muy leal" (Very noble and very faithful). It was given a juridical text, the Fuero, written in latin, that ruled Cuenca's citizenship, and it was considered one of the most perfect one written at that period of time. During the next centuries Cuenca enjoyed prosperity, thanks to textile manufacturing and livestock exploitation.The cathedral started to be built at that time, under anglonormand style, with workers (not only) come from France, since Alfonso VIII's wife, Leonor de Plantagenet, was french.
During XVIII century the textile industry declined, specially when Carlos IV forbade this activity in Cuenca in order to not compete with Real Fabrica de Tápices, and Cuenca fell into economic downturn, thus losing population dramatically (5.000 inhabitants). During the independence war against Napoleon troops the city suffered great destruction, and it made the crisis worst. The city lost population, with only around 6.000 inahabitants, and only the rail track arrival in the XIX century, together with wood industry, were able to boost Cuenca moderately, and population increased as a result to reach 10.000 inhabitants. In 1874 Cuenca was taken over by "carlistas" troops, supportes of Carlos María Isidro as king instead of ruling Isabel II, and the city suffered great damage one more time.
The XX century started with the Giraldo cathedral's tower collapse at 1902, which affected also the facade. It has to be rebuilt by Vicente Lámperez, with two new twin towers at both ends of the facade which have remained unfinished without the upper part of them.
DThe first decades of XX century were turbulent as in other regions of Spain. There were poverty in rural areas, and the Catholic Church was ruthlessly attacked, with some monks, nuns, priests and even a bishop, Cruz Laplana, which were killed. During Civil War Cuenca fell into republican area (Zona roja). It was conquered in 1938 by General Franco's troops. During the post-war period this area fell into extreme poverty, and a lot of people had to migrate to more prosperous regions, mainly Pais Vasco and Cataluña, but also to other countries as Germany. The city started to recovered slowly during from 1960 to 1970, and the town limits went far beyond the gorge to the flat surroundings.
[edit] The hanging houses
A beautiful and ancient city, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for its casas colgadas (hanging houses) on the edge of the gorge of the river Huécar. While its collection of historical buildings is not as impressive as Toledo or Salamanca, it offers a unique mixture of nature and human constructions. Its landscapes are particularly wonderful in autumn, due to the mix of green, yellow and red colours in the gorges of the two rivers. Cuenca, and the hanging houses, were featured in C. J. Sansom's 2006 novel, Winter in Madrid.
[edit] A quotation about Cuenca
"Most Spanish towns faced with Cuenca's need to expand in the 18th century would have spread out along the surrounding countryside. But Cuenca, perched on the top of a hill, turned not to the earth but to the sky. Its improbable solution stands all along that part of the town that clings to the side of the hill and that faces the River Huécar: its hanging houses. The flat-fronted dwellings in the Barrio de San Martìn, so starkly simple a child could draw them, rise seven or eight teetering stories above a ravine and the River Huécar to the east. It is as if the town were trying to outgrow itself, reaching ever higher in an effort to compensate for the ravine below."
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- — Isabel Sota, from "Hanging Houses of Cuenca", in the October 21, 1990 edition of The New York Times
[edit] The name "Cuenca"
Its name may derive from Latin conca meaning "river basin", referring to the gorge of the rivers Júcar and Huécar. It may also be derived from the now-ruined Arab castle, Kunka. Other alternative original names are contemplated, including "Anitorgis", "Sucro" or "Concava". The city of Cuenca is also known as the "Eagle's Nest" because of its precarious position on the edge of a gorge.
[edit] Attractions
Cuenca is home to numerous museums, including the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art. Other attractions include Cuenca Cathedral.
[edit] Transports
The city is a popular day or weekend trip from Madrid. to which it is conveniently connected by rail (RENFE), by Bus (Auto Res 2h or 2:30h trip duration) and by highway (166 km), taking the A-3 (Madrid - Valencia) and leaving at Tarancón junction to take the A-42 to Cuenca. Within two ot three years a new high-speed rail link is foreseen to be set up between Cuenca and Madrid, making the trip last only 45 minutes. AVE
 Neo-Gothic façade of the Cuenca Cathedral |
 Looking through an arch in old Cuenca |
 Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses) |
 Júcar River flowing through Cuenca |
[edit] External links
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