I like to bring you down to my dear Spain. So many memories in my life and can’t wait to be back ,eventually. The family and I went long stays here over the years , and many new places that joined our pantheon of memorable spots; one of these was San Clemente. There are several posts on the town in my blog. Let me tell you a bit more on the curiosities of San Clemente. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
When we made our runs of Castilla La Mancha, it was not easy to convince my dear late wife Martine as she wanted to go elsewhere in Spain. However, my adolecent and youthful days were spent around here, and it is like a pilgrimage each time around my dear Spain. Therefore, I won, and convince her and later she beg me to come back here, she love it too, San Clemente is in the Province of Cuenca, Castilla La Mancha autonomous community of the kingdom of Spain. It is about 110 km from Cuenca, 80 km from Albacete 197 km from Madrid ,and 200 km from Valencia on the banks of the Rus river and the roadcross of the A-43 and AP-36, and only 30 km from the A-3 that connects fast and free Madrid to Valencia.
The Parroquia de Santiago Apóstol ,or parish Church of St James the Apostle is on the renaissance style from the 16C with elements Gothic from early in the 15C and some Baroque from the 17C. It consists of three nerfs ,one central and two lateral ones divided into five sections. The first two of Renaissance style built in ashlar; the last three sections, the western façade with its tower and the south portal, belong to the Gothic structure and are built in ashlar in the corners. The space between the buttresses was used for the construction of chapels.
The Parish Church of Saint James the Apostle has two portals that overlook the Plaza Mayor and the Plaza de la Iglesia. The north doorway opens onto the Plaza Mayor through a very deep triumphal arch with its barrel vault and classicist decoration. Above, a triangular pediment with two columns in the center, where the figure of Saint Peter appears inside a medallion. The door leading to the Plaza de la Iglesia is decorated with ogee arches one convex and the other concave and which form an acute angle at their junction, in a flamboyant style from the last period of Spanish Gothic. Higher up it presents a semicircular arch with very small arches. Both the semicircular arches and the ogee arches are supported by very fine pillars with Ionic capitals. In the center appears the figure of the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven surrounded by six angels and in the lower part, over the entrance door, the image of Santiago the Apostle leaning on his cane.
The Convent of San José y Santa Ana was founded in 1617 due to the transfer of the nuns from the town of Valera de Abajo (province of Cuenca), where the Convent had been founded in the year 1600, originally from Villanueva de la Jara (see post). The construction is made up of a church and a convent, the first having a single nave with a transept and a flat apse. The façade topped with a triangular pediment deserves special attention. Its church has a cross plan with a single nave with a transept and its front wall is straight, with a lintelled doorway with a niche with a curved pediment and the façade topped with a triangular pediment. It is all built with ashlar stone.
The Monastery of Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, or Las Trinitarias. Founded in 1588, it came to possess a very prosperous community of nuns in the 17C. It is made up of a church, a cloister and a convent, being completely reformed due to the danger of its location in the different wars that have passed through the town. The only remains of the old hermitage of San Nicolás rest attached to its walls. The convent started a school initially for women and regulated later that was in operation until the second half of the 20C. Inside it has a cloister with a square floor plan and it conserves two doorways to the street from the 17C.
The San Clemente tourist office on its heritage: https://www.sanclemente.es/que-ver-en-san-clemente/
The Castilla la Mancha regional tourist office on San Clemente :http://en.www.turismocastillalamancha.es/patrimonio/san-clemente-24731/descripcion/
There you go folks, a new off the beaten path town that is worth the detour, We love it and have wonderful memories of it forever , This is another of the jewels you will find in nice Castilla La Mancha, the region of Don Quixote of Cervantes Saavedra. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the curiosities of San Clemente as I.
And remember, happy travels , good health ,and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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