Cuenca was recently declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO, because of its collection of historic and artistic buildings (its streets are full) of palaces, convents and large houses, which are all very representative of the style of a medieval town and make Cuenca particularly attractive.
There are two very different areas in the town: the upper town, which coincides with the old town, where we can find most of the historic buildings and the famous Casas Colgadas, and the lower town, where all the economic activity takes place.
After admiring the town from any of its rnany viewpoints, we venture inside and come to the Plaza Mayor or Main Square. Our first stopping-place is the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de Gracia (Our Lady of Grace), about which, so tradition has it, we are told that when Alfonso VIII entered Cuenca in 1177 he was carrying a statue of the Virgen which he ordered lo be placed in the newly consecrated Mosque. In 1183, at the suggestion of the Plantaganet Queen Elinor, the cathedral, which was consecrated by Bishop Ximénex de Rada in 1208, was built on the grounds of the Mosque and in the first half of the l3th century, the naves were erected. It is a very cornplex building, where we can see remains of the transition from the Romanesque lo the Gothic style at the end of the l2th century, other Norman influences from the l3th century, and decisions taken in the l5th century which would change significantly the physiognomy of the cathedral.
We do not know the name of the architect who designed the cathedral, but he must have been very familiar with the French architecture of the Normandy and Burgundy schools and it is the traces of these styles which make the building so special. This cathedral is also the earliest example of Spanish Gothic architecture: the central part is in the form of a Latin cross with three naves and only one in the transept. In 1902, the Giraldillo Tower collapsed, which affected the façade: the present-day façade is neo-Gothic.
Inside, we can see the triforium, from the primitive l2th- century building, a beautiful gallery half-way up the aisle walls; it has a rail with tracery and constitutes an original solution to resisting the downward pressure of the vaults. The Tower to the Angel, an exceptional work from the first phase of construction, is also very interesting; as is the side-chapel, a Baroque work by Ventura Rodríguez, containing the altar and the tomb of Saint Julian, carved in marble, jasper and gilt bronze. The sacristy and the chapter house, from the l5th and l6th centuries, have important doorways, doors, coffered ceilings and decoration.
In the sacristy we can find a large set of drawers from the l8th century, a Madonna sculpted by Pedro de Mena in 1660, the altarpiece showing the Virgen de la Leche painted by a Master from Cuenca an altarpiece showing Martin Gomez’s Asunción (Assurnption) and an Ecce Horno by the l7th- century local artist Cristóbal García.
Entry to the chapter house is through a beautiful doorway with a magnificent door said to be the work of Berruguete; it was built in the I6th century and has a Renaissance coffered roof with squares, octagons, triangles and trapezia and a painting in the centre which lends it great personality; there is a good collection of paintings hangíng on the walls.
The choir, situated initially along the back was moved to the centre of the transept by Egas of Brusels in 1576 and later, in 1573, was moved to where it remains nowadays. This new choir is neoclassical in style and was designed by Fray Vicente of Seville. The most interesting aspect of the choir is the splendid grille with exquisite cresting in the centre.
Access to the cloister is through the Jamete Arch, a magnificent carved work formed by two columns which frame a huge arch adorned with figures of apostles and above it a frieze with the date ¡t was finished: 1546. The cloister was built between 1577 and 1583 by Andrea Rodi from a design by Vandelvira. It has undergone numerous reforms, the last of which was in the l8th century. It is square-shaped, built of stone and on two levels.
The large number of chapels built over the centuries contains many interesting works of art. The chancel is presided by an altar designed by Ventura Rodriguez.
The latest addition to the cathedral was the stained glass windows designed and made by important contemporary artists: G. Torner, A. Bonifacio, H. Dechanet and G. Rueda.
The Palacio Episcopal (Episcopal Palace) is a large building next to the cathedral. Construction was started in the l8th century and continued into the l6th century. The doorway is from the 13th century. Inside there is a magnificent courtyard and cloisters and on the left-hand side of this courtyard there is staircase up to the Bishop’s apartments. Another staircase on the right leads to the Diocese Archives. The Diocesan Museum occupies one wing of the cloister.
The Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) is in the Plaza Mayor (Main Square). It was built in the l8th century and consists of two floors on triple arches crested with coats of arms with an inscription. From the square we can take various directions to walk round the old historic part of the town. if we go down towards the river Huécar and cross the metal bridge, we come to the Convent of San Pablo (St Peter) which today is a Parador (paradors are historic buildings used as luxury hotels and run by the state). The church was built in the l6th century and has a magnificent l8th-century doorway and an interesting cloister.
From San Pablo we have a beautiful view of the Casas Colgadas, an emblematic building of Cuenca. The original medieval style of the building was altered in the twentieth century and its wooden balconies have been restored. The Casa de la Sirena is a three-storey building of a popular style and forms part of the building of the Casas Colgadas. Next to these, we can find the Casa del Rey (Home of the King, which was built from the l4th to the l6th century. It was restored in the 20th century. It is popular Gothic in style and still preserves some murals; a Renaissance door has been added to it and nowadays it holds the valuable collection of the Museum of Abstract Art.
The Casa del Curato (The Parish House) is another example of medieval architecture; it was restored only a few years ago and 5 home to the Provincial Museum, which has some interesting Gothic remains. The Church of San Pedro (St Peter) 5 also of Gothic origin and is one of the oldest churches together with the Church of San Martin (St Martin); it was built onto a Mosque and has undergone many reforms. It is circular on the inside and polygonal on the outside and has a Baroque façade.
In Cuenca, there are many examples of Castilian Baroque: the Church of San Felipe Neri, of which only the exterior remains, as the interior was destroyed in 1936; the shrine of Nuestra Señora de las Angustias, located in a magnificent setting over the River Júcar; the Church of El Salvador, the main parish during the nineteenth century, which has some interesting altarpieces inside.
Also worth a visit is the Convent of las Petras in the Plaza Mayor, opposite the cathedral, a building which dates back to the beginning of the l6th century and has an l8th-century church with important frescos; the Church and Monastery of La Merced and the Council Seminary and Convent of La Concepción Francisca, outside the walls of the old town, with an interesting doorway.
In the lower part of the town, we can find the Hospital and Church of Santiago (St James) built on a hill: two interesting Renaissance buiidings with a cloister and a beautiful fountain.
The former Church of San Antón, dedicated to Nuestra Seflora de la Luz (Our Lady of Light) has two doorways, one of them plateresque, and a rich interior decorated with high quality stucco and paintings and an Italian-style elliptic dome
over the canopy exhibiting the patron saint of the town.
Above ah in Cuenca, you have to wander round the streets and you will come across something surprising every step of the way, a doorway, a view, a fountain and other examples of art like: the Casa del Canónigo (the Canon’s House), he doorway to the shrine of the Epiphany, the Convent of Las Angélicas, the Convent of the Carmelitas Descalzas (which today is home to the Menéndez Pelayo International University), the doorway of the Jesuit College, the Palace of Don Luis Carrillo, the Casa de las Rejas, the Church of San Miguel (St Michael), the Franciscanos Descalzos, the Pósito, the Mangana Tower and the monument in honour of he Constitution, the Jardín de los Poetas (Poets’ Garden), the city walls, the Provincial Archives, the former Prison and the Skyscrapers. The latter are two sets of buildings, one at the Hoz del Huécar (with thirty buildings the rear façades of which are eight or ten stories high and are accessed on the calle Alfonso VIII) and the other at the Hoz del Júcar going all the way down the San Miguel path. They are dwellings of medieval origin which were built on long, narrow sites and have a wide variety of picturesque architectural features.
And now the Museums. First of all, the Diocesan Museum situated on the ground floor of the Episcopal Palace. This was created with collections from the Cathedral of Cuenca and various other churches in the diocese and was designed by Gustavo Torner. The most famous works of art in this museum include two paintings by El Greco: the Oración en el Huerto (Prayer on the Mount of Olives) and Cristo con la Cruz; the diptych of the Déspotas de Epiro, a reliquary from the Crete school of Meteora (l4th century), the staff of St Julian, a crucifix which belonged to Alfonso VIII, a “Pietá”, which was attributed to Comontes, a Nativity Scene by Juan de Borgoña, an exceptional collection of rugs and tapestries and gold and silverware from different eras.
Opposite this Museum, we can find the Museum of Cuenca, the provincial archaeological museum with collections from the Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages, from finds at the sites of the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Iberian era (Las Hoyas, Barranco de la Pata, Cerro Arenoso and Loranca del Campo) and also many remains of the Roman civilisation from the three very important Hispano-Roman towns in the province: Segóbriga, Valeria and Ercávica, together with other important sites. Visigothic, Moorish and Spanish-Moslem remains and an important coin collection complete the collections this museum has to offer.
And now we have to take a giant leap through history to our third museum, the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art, which was opened to the public in 1966 by Fernando Zóbel, Gerardo Rueda and Gustavo Torner, with an important collection of 1950s abstract painting in Spain: Canogar, Feito, Guerrero, Lucio Muñoz, Millares, Monegro, Palazuelo, Rivera, Rueda, Saura, Sempose, Tapies, Torner, Zóbel and the sculptors Chillida, Chirino, Oteiza and Serrano. The collection has been completed with works in the latest abstract trends by younger artists. The Museum has been managed by the Juan March Foundation since 1980.
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