Cuenca is a city (2004 pop. 47,862) in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain. It is the capital of the province of Cuenca (see map).
The hanging houses
A beautiful and ancient city, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is famous for its casas colgadas (hanging houses) on the edge of the gorge of the river Huécar. While its collection of historical buildings is not as impressive as Toledo or Salamanca, it offers a unique mixture of nature and human constructions. Its landscapes are particularly wonderful in autumn, due to the mix of green, yellow and red colours in the gorges of the two rivers. Cuenca, and the hanging houses, were featured in C. J. Sansom's 2006 novel, Winter in Madrid.
A quotation about Cuenca
"Most Spanish towns faced with Cuenca's need to expand in the 18th century would have spread out along the surrounding countryside. But Cuenca, perched on the top of a hill, turned not to the earth but to the sky. Its improbable solution stands all along that part of the town that clings to the side of the hill and that faces the River Huécar: its hanging houses. The flat-fronted dwellings in the Barrio de San Martìn, so starkly simple a child could draw them, rise seven or eight teetering stories above a ravine and the River Huécar to the east. It is as if the town were trying to outgrow itself, reaching ever higher in an effort to compensate for the ravine below."
Isabel Sota, from "Hanging Houses of Cuenca", in the October 21, 1990 edition of The New York Times
The name, Cuenca
Its name may derive from Latin conca meaning "river basin", referring to the gorge of the rivers Júcar and Huécar. It may also be derived from the now-ruined Arab castle, Kunka. Other alternative original names are contemplated, including "Anitorgis", "Sucro" or "Concava". The city of Cuenca is also known as the "Eagle's Nest" because of its precarious position on the edge of a gorge.
Attractions
The city is a popular day or weekend trip from Madrid, to which it is connected by rail (RENFE) and by highway (160 km), and is home to numerous museums, including the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art. Other attractions include Cuenca Cathedral.
Copyright manuele Ferlito 2009-2010