The Hanging Houses of Cuenca

In the Castile–La Mancha portion of key Espana , the Júcar river has carved a deep gorge every bit it flows through the Iberian Peninsula. Along its length , at that spot are many pocket-sized towns too cities. Of item annotation is the medieval metropolis of Cuenca that’s located where around other river , the Huécar , merges amongst the Júcar.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site , Cuenca is an outstanding event of a medieval metropolis , built on the steep sides of a mount , amongst slopes descending into the deep gorges of the ii rivers. Many houses called casas colgadas ("hanging houses") are built correct upwards to the cliff border , making Cuenca ane of the virtually bang towns inward Spain.

casas-colgadas-cuenca-1

Photo credit: Gabriel/Flickr

In the by , houses of this sort were frequent along the eastern border of the ancient metropolis , located close the ravine of the river Huécar. Today , yet , at that spot are exclusively a few of them remaining. Of all of these structures , the virtually well-known is a grouping of 3 amongst wooden balconies.

It’s hard to decide the historic stream of the houses since they convey been refurbished several times throughout history , merely at that spot is proof of their existence inward the 15th century. Over the centuries the houses convey served many dissimilar purposes , beingness used every bit mortal homes too council houses. One of them is directly a eatery , too around other a fine art museum.

casas-colgadas-cuenca-10