Cuenca, Spain
How could I travel for my first time to Espana, and not visit the city from which my home in Ecuador received its name?
Cuenca, Spain is located via the Euro express train between Madrid and Valencia, so I gave the city a shot for one evening. It only took about thirty-five minutes to arrive from Madrid, and it would only take an hour to get to Valencia the next day from Cuenca. The slower metro train also runs through town with many stops, and that ride takes three hours.
The population of Cuenca today is less than 55,000 compared to the city population of Cuenca in Ecuador which is over 300,000. In Ecuador the historic district also happens to be the El Centro or main business district. In Spain the historic district is completely separated from the newer part of town. In fact, the new part of town could have passed for a small town in the United States. It looked decent, clean, and basically non-descript. It does sport, I am told, about six parks.
Cuenca existed in the Middle Ages going back to the 700's when the area was taken control by the Arabs. (I know, I promised not to write any long history lessons, but hey, it's Cuenca.) The area went back and forth between various Muslim and Christian groups until in 1177, the Muslim forces were repelled for a final time from Cuenca, and from their castle of which little remains today.
It appears that Cuenca had a pretty tragic history. Cuenca's location when not involving conflicts between the Arabs and the various Spanish kingdoms of the day, found itself with a very flourishing textile industry for about a century, which was then destroyed by Spanish monarchs who did not want Cuenca textiles competing with their own self-interested industries.
Napoleon's army devastated Cuenca and left only 6,000 impoverished inhabitants in the early nineteenth century.
In 1874 there was a war of monarchs over who rightly was the ruler of Spain, and Cuenca found itself devastated again.
In the early twentieth century there was a peasants' uprising against the clergy. The bishop, and a number of the nuns and monks were slaughtered. Today, when congregants and parishioners don't like what the churches are doing, they just leave.
Finally, came the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930's. Cuenca was on the wrong side of history again, by being identified with the Republic, or the reds. Things did not go well for the Cuencanos, when Franco's forces captured the city.
It truly seems that Cuenca, Spain could use some good karma. It's good karma today seems to be a growing tourist trade.
Like Cuenca, Ecuador, Cuenca in Spain is a basin sitting in a valley in the mountains. While Ecuador's Cuenca has four rivers flowing through it, Spain's Cuenca has two. As I arrived to this Medieval city overlooking the gulches, I felt transformed into another time in history. The streets are narrow, and make some of the narrow El Centro streets in Ecuador's Cuenca feel like boulevards in comparison. They often meander in different directions and angles from the main road that led from my very attractive Air bnb in the historic district down the main drag in the photo below to the El Mayor Plaza where the cathedral is located. The walk from the periphery of the historic district to the Cathedral is about one-half mile. I hate to say it, but the sidewalks are in much better condition in Spanish Cuenca.
On the other hand, both groups of Cuencanos whether in Spain or Ecuador drive like maniacs. Below is the main and widest street in the historic district.
There are a number of side plazas one just happens to stumbled across, which offer great views from different perspectives of the historic district.
Below in Plaza Mayor is the facade of the town's cathedral. It is already early evening, and the cathedral was not open
The lower part of the facade has similarities with its namesake in Ecuador, but lacks the majesty of the towers and the triple domes of the New Cathedral in El Centro.
The Immaculate Conception in Cuenca, Ecuador has absolutely beautiful doors of great artistry and quality, which is not the case with the church doors here in Cuenca, Spain.
This gargoyle on the cathedral is down right spooky. I don't recall if the New Cathedral in Ecuador has gargoyles. If it does, it's probably a cuy after its been grilled and before its head is cut off.
The charm of Cuenca, Spain's historic main street.
For those of you who live in Cuenca or have visited and wandered along the Rio Tomebamba, especially east of Avenida Solano, El Centro is up on a high ridge, with the green belt, walking paths, and whatever road exists on Third de Noviembre all below and generally well defined. The ridge along Cuenca, Spain is three to four times higher to the top than in Ecuador. As you can see in the following photos, the limestone and bluffs are much larger, rugged, and wild in Cuenca, Spain.
There are about three churches in the historic area. There was a seminary, monastery, and convent. Some of these have been converted to secular uses.
Below are what is referred to as the Hanging Houses for the ridge.
If you like abstract art, you should be able to read a great deal in the photo below: (I could not find a plague attributing this to Dali, or Picasso, or anyone else for that matter.)
Above and below is the most famous and photographed building in historic Cuenca, Spain. This is the remaining structure of what once was a common structure along the ridge of Hanging Houses.
Below is either the Rio Jucar or the Rio Huecar. From high up I had trouble spotting the river. It doesn't appear to be any wider than the rivers in Ecuador's Cuenca. For those who have not visited Cuenca in Ecuador, I wish I could show contrasts of the rivers and ridges with Spain's; but sorry folks, I just don't have time to search for appropriate photos from Ecuador.
Now, one of my main reasons for coming to Cuenca, Spain was to see for myself some splendid photos of the historic buildings along the gulch flooded in lights of various colors, just like I saw on the Internet. I wanted it to be my own personal experience. It doesn't get dark until 9:30 p.m. It was also getting cold and windy, and few hearty souls were any longer remaining. I crossed the long bridge to the other side, so I could get a good view of the facades when the lights came on. When the lights did come on, I had to wait about ten minutes for it to get darker.
...AND DARKER
Once I took some photos, I return to the other side and shot some photos of the church building on the other side of the bridge.
I endured two disappointments in Cuenca. One, all the color lights were amber! What happened to the flood of varying colored lights I saw on the Internet? The next day, as the taxi driver returned me to the train station, he informed me, "Oh we have colored lights, but only on the weekend. You came a day late. We even flood the city hall with colored lights, but only on the weekend." (For the record, I never even saw the city hall, which isn't even in the historic district.)
The driver had no idea why the lights were limited to the weekends, It just is, what it is.
The second disappointment was the fact that the historic area has some top-notched restaurants. It literally had a list of Top Ten Restaurants in the Historic District. I genuinely was looking forward to some wild boar that evening, which I had seen offered on one menu with other exotic dishes. Oh, it's Monday, all but one restaurant was closed, and it was basically a bar. It was too cold and windy to sit outside on the plaza. I appreciated that the locals made room for me at the bar, as I settled for a cheeseburger with Spanish ham on those wide wedges of Spanish bread, and a favorite with Cuecanos no matter what Cuenca you are from--a side of pappas fritas.
