Now great pleasure in updating revising this older post for you and me! One of my favorite cities of my beloved Spain, and very sentimental for me is visiting Cuenca, in the Province of Cuenca, Autonomous region of Castilla La Mancha, and the Kingdom of Spain! I need to remind all of the wonderful Casas Colgadas or hanging houses of Cuenca! Hope you enjoy the post and thanks again for reading me over these years.
I have my roots in Tenerife but had traveled extensively there over the years, and no where as a region is more into the traditional history of Spain than at Castilla La Mancha. My favorite town is the one I always used the mountains of the Serrania as base, the wonderful Cuenca. I have many memories here with my dear late wife Martine and the boys. We love it, and each year thinking of going someplace else for our summer vacation, we end up deciding to come here!. Until we meet again Cuenca, now sadder as Martine is not physically with us; memories forever. We will be back when possible.
Let me tell you a bit about the Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses), also known as Casas del Rey, (houses of the king) ; they are a group of civil construction in the cliffs of the Huécar river, and are name as such because they had huge balconies over size on the cliff given to the canyon of the Huécar river. The denomination of Colgadas or Hanging was a late title and only came to be known as such by 1920. The graphic story of these houses begain in 1565, the year that the Flemish painter Anton van den Wyngaerde included them together with the curve along the cliff of San Martin in a wonderful panorama of his work ” Cuenca desde el este” or Cuenca from the East. The oldest photos of the place are from the last third of the 19C showing a group of houses that remained intact for several centuries even if unfortunately there are only one remaining of the architecture of old Cuenca.
From that early period in the 15C along its history they have undergone several renovations and some as recent as 1920 and 1960. They were used as living quarters by individuals, city hall and now a museum Spanish abstract arts by the Foundation Juan March. The museum webpage: https://www.march.es/arte/cuenca/
In addition to Cuenca, there are still hanging houses in Spain at Albarracin, Cantavieja, Castellfullit de la Roca, Frias, Gerona, Ronda, Zafra de Zàncara, and Tarazona. Some of these houses only the balconies are left and some interiors next to the windows. The one in Cuenca is sublime romantic beautiful a must to see!
Some webpages to help you plan your trip to this wonderful city and hanging houses are:
The Cuenca tourist office on the Abstract Arts museum in the Casa Colgada: https://www.visitacuenca.es/es/content/descubre-arte-contemporaneo/museo-de-arte-abstracto-espanol
The Castilla La Mancha region on the hanging houses of Cuenca: http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/patrimonio/casas-colgadas-27664/descripcion/
There you have it , another jewel of my beloved Spain in historical beautiful Cuenca. Hope you have enjoyed this short introduction to the Casas Colgadas or hanging houses of Cuenca; a must to visit.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 