So a slightly earlier breakfast than yesterday which enabled us to take full advantage of the buffet breakfast and we left the Hotel shortly after 11.00 en-route to Alarcon. The Sat Nav gave us three options and we plumped for the shortest route which actually takes longer as small mountain roads are involved but boy was it worth it. We left Zaragoza on the motorway which was surprisingly empty, actually most of the roads we have been on are very quiet compared to UK standards and we could use the cruise control quite a bit which makes for easier driving. About two hours after leaving and driving about 90 miles on the motorway we say an airport over to our right with about 50 planes just parked up. We did not have time to explore further but later in the day when we had arrived in the Hotel I was able to discover that Tueral Airport has been used for storage, its not a aircraft graveyard where they air=craft to be destroyed but a place where they can store aircraft until next required.If I do this route again I will plan in a stop and take a look.
Shortly afterwards we left the motorway and to much small and very windy roads for about two hours passing villages attached by glue to the hillsides, this is the real Spain and not the Benidorm stuff. But up in these hill are you are no exactly in the centre of the action and it must be a quiet life farming vineyards, tomatoes and oranges and many other products. The back on the motorway for about another hour and then we arrived at the Parador De Alarcon which is an old castle standing on the side of a large crater which has now been converted to a reservoir.
“Castle of Alarcón
LocationAlarcón, Spain
The Castle of Alarcón forms part of the fortifications built around the town of Alarcón in Cuenca, Spain. The fortress is composed of a walled enclosure, which houses the heart of the population and the castle proper, and of five exterior towers, separate and strategically placed.
- History
Of Arab origin, the fortress was first under the jurisdiction of the Emirate of Córdoba. Following the collapse of the emirate’s successor state, the Caliphate of Córdoba, and the formation of the taifa kingdoms, the town submitted to the Taifa of Toledo. During its time under Muslim power, the castle served as a defensive stronghold in the midst of internal conflicts. In 1184, Fernán Martínez de Ceballos, military captain under Alfonso VIII of Castile, besieged the fortress for nine months before finally capturing it in the name of his king. He was rewarded with the privilege of taking the name of the town as his surname, which he did, calling himself Martínez de Alarcón and thus establishing a new lineage.
From then on, the Castle of Alarcón received much attention from the successive kings of Castile, who expanded and reinforced it while providing it with its own charter (fuero) and granting it lordship over extensive neighboring territories. Spanish historian Andrés Marcos Burriel writes that its domain comprised 63 villages, including Albacete, La Roda, Villarrobledo, Castillo de Garcimuñoz, Belmonte and many others. All of this was placed under the protection of the Military Order of Santiago by Alfonso VIII. In 1212, the town council of Alarcón sent troops to support the king’s army in the decisive Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa.
At the start of the 14th century, Ferdinand IV of Castile gave lordship of Alarcón and its castle to Juan Manuel, Prince of Villena. Only a provisional measure in 1297, the appointment was confirmed on March 23, 1305. It was at Alarcón that the prince wrote some of his literary works. After his death, the lordship passed to his son Fernando Manuel de Villena [es] and then to his granddaughter Blanca. It was later recovered by King Peter of Castile and returned to the royal heritage. Henry II of Castile then gave it to Alfonso I of Aragon, whom he named Marquis of Villena in 1372, but Henry III took it back for the Crown in 1395. Finally, in the 15th century, Alarcón was given to Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, on May 23, 1446. Juan and his son Diego López Pacheco [es] sided with Joanna of Castile, a claimant to the throne, against Queen Isabella and her husband King Ferdinand. During this dispute, the marquises managed to hold the castles of Belmonte, Garcimuñoz, and Alarcón as well as the marquisate of Villena.
Following the Middle Ages, the Castle of Alarcón was abandoned and suffered deterioration. In 1712 it belonged to the Marquis of Aguilar, who received a report from master builders insisting on urgent repairs to prevent collapse.
In 1720, the castle was governed by Alejandro de Alarcón and Duchess Julia de Alarcón, who harbored many refugees during times of conflict in the country, turning them into heroes of the region.[citation needed]
José María Fernández de Velasco, 15th Duke of Frías, sold the castle and “four or five little towers more” to Rafael Lázaro Álvarez de Torrijos for 20,000 reales on June 5, 1863.
In 1963, the Minister for Information and Tourism, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, expropriated it from the family of Álvarez Torrijos Torres, native of La Almarcha but with paternal ancestors from Gascas. The castle was then revitalized as a parador hotel and opened to the public on March 25, 1966.”
There, could not have put it better myself.
We spent the afternoon resting and then went for a drink in the courtyard and chatted to another English couple and then went for dinner which was excellent. The servioce and food was really very good and you, perhaps we might visit again.
And so to bed
