{"id":1995,"date":"2014-10-27T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T09:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/?p=1995"},"modified":"2026-10-09T13:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T13:35:22","slug":"the-remarkable-walled-city-of-cuenca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spainexchange.com\/articles\/the-remarkable-walled-city-of-cuenca\/","title":{"rendered":"The Remarkable Walled City of Cuenca"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cuenca is the capital of the province of the same name in Castilla-La Mancha. Its old town stands on a ridge of rock between the gorges of the J\u00facar and Hu\u00e9car rivers, and some of its houses are built right on the edge of the drop. This post describes the main sights of the old town, the museums and their opening hours, and how to reach the city from Madrid.<\/p>\n

A World Heritage city between two gorges<\/h2>\n

UNESCO added Cuenca to the World Heritage List on 6 December 1996. The city’s tourist office gives the reasons: the original townscape and the medieval fortress are well preserved, and the old town holds civil and religious buildings from the 12th to the 18th centuries.<\/p>\n

The usual route on foot goes up to the Plaza Mayor, with the arcaded Town Hall and the cathedral, and continues to the Castillo district at the top, where there are viewing points over the gorge.<\/p>\n

The Hanging Houses and the Puente de San Pablo<\/h2>\n

The Casas Colgadas<\/strong> (Hanging Houses) are the best-known buildings in the city. Their balconies project over the Hu\u00e9car gorge. Their origin is not known exactly: some date them to the Muslim period and others to the 14th or 15th century. The group consists of three former mansions, which for a time served as the town hall and were fully restored in the 1960s. One of the houses, the Casa de la Sirena, holds a restaurant, and two hold the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art.<\/p>\n

The classic view of the houses is from the Puente de San Pablo<\/strong>, the iron footbridge across the gorge. A stone bridge was built here in the 16th century to link the town with the Convent of San Pablo, and it was demolished at the end of the 19th century. The present bridge opened on 19 April 1903. It is 40 metres high and 110 metres long. The convent at the far end is now a Parador hotel.<\/p>\n

Museum of Spanish Abstract Art<\/h2>\n

The Museo de Arte Abstracto Espa\u00f1ol<\/a> was founded by the artist Fernando Z\u00f3bel in 1966. In 1980 he donated his collection to the Fundaci\u00f3n Juan March, which has run the museum since. It shows paintings and sculptures by Spanish abstract artists such as Antoni T\u00e0pies, Antonio Saura, Eduardo Chillida and Pablo Serrano.<\/p>\n

Entry is free. In 2026 the museum opens Tuesday to Friday and on public holidays from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 18:00, on Saturdays from 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, and on Sundays from 10:00 to 14:30. It is closed on Mondays. The last admission is 20 minutes before closing.<\/p>\n

The cathedral<\/h2>\n

The cathedral stands on the Plaza Mayor. The tourist office calls it the Catedral de Santa Mar\u00eda y San Juli\u00e1n. Building began at the end of the 12th century, after the Christian conquest of the city, and the core dates from the 13th century. The style is Gothic with clear French influence. The plan is a Latin cross with a seven-sided polygonal apse, and the triforium survives from the original structure.<\/p>\n

The fa\u00e7ade is not medieval. An 18th-century front had to be pulled down at the start of the 20th century, and the present neo-Gothic fa\u00e7ade is by the architect Vicente Lamp\u00e9rez. Inside, look for the neoclassical main altar designed by Ventura Rodr\u00edguez, the iron grilles that close the chapels and the Arco de Jamete that leads to the cloister.<\/p>\n

Other museums<\/h2>\n