The route we picked for the day involved about 150 kilometers of mountain driving in the Sierra de Menara and the Sierra de Albarracin mountains. I was a little hesitant at first because I was worried about the quality of the roads. So before setting off I did some quick research and found out that the route we were preparing to do from Cuenca to Albarracin was supposed to be one of the most scenic drives in Spain.
We had planned on stopping at Cuenca for a walk around the city as its old quarter was supposed to be interesting. But after spending about 20 minutes trying to find a place to park François we gave up and decided to pass on Cuenca.
Our first stop was the Ciudad Enchanta. The Enchanted City in English is a series of Limestone rocks in a small area that have been shaped by water and wind erosion into interesting shapes.
It is part of the Cuenca Mountains National Park. It reminded us of a US national park with nicely marked trails guiding you through the different rock formations. To keep up with the Enchanted City motif the rocks have been given creative names like the “Elephant and Alligator fight”, and the “Two Lovers of Tereul” which if you were Spanish you would know the story (think of Romeo and Juliet).
The walk was an easy 3 kilometers and there were a lot of very interesting rock formations, though we were not sold on all the names. We enjoyed ourselves and there was a pretty good crowd on hand as it turns out today is a national holiday.
We finished with the Enchanted Forest and left on our 2 hour scenic drive through the mountains. On the map it is listed as two separate mountain ranges, but to me it seems like one large mountain range. Our concern about the quality of the road was wasted as the roads were well paved and comfortably wide. The roads were windy as mountain roads are, but the views were superb. Ton and I don’t think we have driven a prettier mountain road in Europe.
Our destination today is a mountain town called Albarracin which has been lately touted as the most beautiful town in Spain. We were impressed driving in as you follow a beautiful river gorge to the entrance to town. After a short rest to recover from the drive we headed into town.
The rocks in the area are red sandstone so the town has a red hue to it that makes it stand out from typical Spanish towns. It is dramatically perched on rocks and cliffs overlooking the valley. The streets are quite steep and narrow.
We enjoyed the meander through town. It is not a large town so you can cover all the must see sites in less than an hour. Things were quite quiet today as all the bars and restaurants were closed. We had planned on getting a glass of wine and enjoying the views but were unable to.
The town has been in place at its current location since about 1050. There were Roman and Visigothic settlements in the area before, but the current town was founded by Berbers who had migrated to Spain with the Moslem Invasion. After about 200 years it was conquered by Christian forces and lost its strategic significance though it retained much of its city walls.
It changed hands several times in the Spanish Civil War though there does not seem to have been extensive damage to the town. The town retains many of its medieval buildings.
The town is interesting and beautiful, but to me it felt more like a museum than a living breathing town. It appears that most of the residents of town live in modern apartments in the fields at the base of the town. The town itself was kind of dead outside the tourists walking the street. Most of the buildings were closed up and appeared to be either hotels or bed and breakfasts. There wasn’t that spark of daily activity caused by residents that makes a town feel complete.
Having said that the region we were introduced today was one of the most visually spectacular places we have been to in Europe. We really enjoyed the day.