“Hanging Houses” by Cuenca and “The Enchanted City” (the location of the scenes of “Conan-Barbarian”)

Cuenca City and the Famous Hanging Houses

In the Donquixoto province of Castilla La Mancha is the cozy charming city of Cuenca, attracting tourists around the world with its amazing “Hanging Houses” (Casas Colgadas) of the XIV century, also known as the Flying Houses, or Houses of the King. Stone houses with wooden balconies were built according to inaccurate data in the XIV century on the edge of the sheer rock of the gorge of the Huekar River, three have survived to this day, they are the symbol of the city. The last restoration work was carried out in 1920. In one of the buildings there is a museum of Spanish abstract art, where you can see the works of Antoni Tapies, Eduardo Cilida, Antonio Saura, Guillermo Delgado, Fernando Sobel and others.

In the city we will visit the beautiful Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Julian in the Gothic style (Catedral de Santa Maria y San Julian de Cuenca), the foundation of which was laid in 1182, immediately after the expulsion of the Moors by King Alfonso VIII.

We will see other sights of Cuenca, such as the Mangana tower of the XVI century, which served as a bell tower and city clock, the churches of St. Michael and St. Nicholas, we will wander through the narrow colorful streets of this medieval Spanish city.

Located in the area of Valdecabras (Cuenca), in the heart of the reserve "Serrania de Cuenca" and surrounded by huge pines, the park of karst limestone cliffs "La Ciudad Encantada" is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular places in Spain. It was declared a Natural Place of National Interest in 1929.

Its origins date back to when this zone formed part of the seabed of the Tethys Ocean, about 90 million years ago. The waters were calm, which favored the deposition of salts, especially calcium carbonate. At the end of the Cretaceous period and as a result of alpine orogenesis (mountain formation), the ocean receded, and the seabed consisting of limestone appeared on the surface. Thousands of years of exposure to water, wind and ice provide an opportunity today to see this impressive geological phenomenon, where children and adults get into a magical atmosphere in which to unleash their imagination. Some scenes of the 1982 film Conan-Barbarian with Arnold Schwarzenegger were filmed here because of the simply fantastic landscapes.

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