Cuenca (Spain)

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Cuenca
Panorama of the old town
Panorama of the old town
coat of arms Map of Spain
Coat of arms of Cuenca
Cuenca (Spain) (Spain)
Finland road sign 311 (1994-2020) .svg
Basic data
Autonomous Community : Castile-La Mancha
Province : Cuenca
Coordinates 40 ° 4 ′  N , 2 ° 8 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 4 ′  N , 2 ° 8 ′  W
Height : 946  msnm
Area : 911.06 km²
Residents : 54,690 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density : 60.03 inhabitants / km²
Postal code : 16000
Municipality number  ( INE ): 16078
administration
Mayor : Juan Manuel Avila Francés ( PSOE )
Website : www.cuenca.es

Cuenca ( ˈkweŋka ) is a city in the Spanish autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha and capital of the province of Cuenca of the same name . The place is a location of the University of Castilla-La Mancha , a university town .

View of Cuenca

geography

The city lies between Madrid (distance: approx. 180 km) and Valencia (distance: approx. 206 km) in the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha. Cuenca is the capital of the province of the same name. Along with Albacete, Ciudad Real, Guadalajara and Toledo, it is one of the five parts of the autonomous region of Castile-La Mancha.

"Hanging Houses" (casas colgadas)

Geographically, Cuenca lies on the transition between the Cuenca mountain region and the La Mancha plain. The historic center of the city has an extraordinarily picturesque location on a rocky plateau between the gorges of the two rivers Júcar and Huécar .

The climate is due to its central location on the Iberian peninsula dominated continental.

Cultural event

Since 1962, the music festival “Semana de Música Religiosa de Cuenca” (Week of Sacred Music) has been held in Cuenca every year during Holy Week. For the festival, composition commissions were given to renowned composers such as Héctor Parra , José María Sánchez Verdú or Klaus Lang ; this tradition is currently dormant due to a lack of financing options. At the same time, attempts are being made to expand the church music repertoire and perform unknown or lost works. The program design should represent as many different genres and musical formations as possible within sacred music.

Attractions

The Cuenca region was barely populated during Roman times. It was only when the Moors conquered the region at the beginning of the 8th century that they recognized the strategically favorable location and built the fortress there under the name "Kunka". The Arab influence is still visible in the city today. The famous "hanging houses" (las casas colgadas) are the city's most fascinating attractions. Overall, the image of the old town has been shaped over the centuries by the shortage of living space caused by the two gorges. Accordingly, there are mainly narrow, steep and winding alleys in the old town.

The place is divided into old town and new town. The latter consists mainly of modern residential buildings. It is further down in the Júcar valley. With its picturesque location on the rocky plateau, the old town is probably one of the most interesting cities in Spain with many spectacular viewpoints. In 1996, downtown Cuenca was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO .

Cathedral in Cuenca

King Alfonso VIII. Took during the reconquest ( reconquista ) the city in 1177 from the Moors who had ruled Spain since the 711th Shortly afterwards, construction began on the city's Gothic cathedral. Other important buildings are the city administration from the 18th century, the bishop's palace and the castle, which was built as an extension of an Arab fortress from the 10th century.

Museums

  • Since 1966, Cuenca has housed the Museum of Abstract Spanish Art (Museo de Arte Abstracto Español), a spectacular collection of abstract art, in one of the "hanging houses". The museum has a permanent exhibition with hundreds of paintings and sculptures by important representatives of abstract Spanish art from the 50s and 60s.
    Cuenca, bell tower
  • The Museo de Cuenca is located in the so-called Casa del Curato street and shows archaeological finds and the history of the entire province of Cuenca, from the Paleolithic to modern times. His coin collection is particularly remarkable.
  • The Fundación Antonio Pérez is located in the old Carmelite monastery (17th century) and is a well-known venue for contemporary art. It houses works by Millares, Gordillo, Torner, Antonio Saura, Zóbel, Canogar, Brossa and Warhol, among others.
  • The La Mancha Science Museum (Museo de las Ciencias de Castilla-La Mancha) is housed in a former homeless shelter (Antiguo Asilo de Ancianos Desamparados). It is divided into four halls and a planetarium, which deal with a variety of scientific topics in a didactic and dynamic way.
  • The Ars Natura Museum focuses on the uniqueness and biodiversity of the Castilla-La Mancha region. Located on the Molina hill, it consists of two parts. The first is the museum building itself, which thematizes the nine natural units of Castilla-La Mancha. The second part consists of a botanical garden around the building.

Other museums in Cuenca are:

  • Tesoro Catedralicio
  • Museo Diocesano de Arte Religioso
  • Fundación Antonio Saura-Casa Zavala
  • Museo Internacional de Electrografía
  • Espacio Torner
  • Museo de la Semana Santa

traffic

Cuenca has an inner-city train station that is connected to the regional train network. In 2010 a new high-speed line was built connecting Madrid-Atocha and Valencia . Some of the connections stop at the new Cuenca-Fernando Zobel train station, which is located outside the city, and thus offers visitors to Cuenca daily connections to Madrid (166 km, 50 minutes) and Valencia (200 km, 1 hour). There is also bus service to Madrid operated by Auto Res (2–2.5 hours). The A-40 motorway connects the city with the A-3 in Tarancon.

sons and daughters of the town

Individual evidence

  1. Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
  2. see homepage http://www.smrcuenca.es/encargos
  3. Museo de Arte Abstracto Español de Cuenca . Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  4. Museo de Cuenca. Patrimonio Histórico CLM ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved September 12, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.patrimoniohistoricoclm.es
  5. Museo de las Ciencias de Castilla - La Mancha . Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  6. Ars Natura. Home. - biography . Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  7. Turismo en Cuenca - Biography . Retrieved September 12, 2014.
  8. ^ NYTimes.com: Cuenca, Spain, and Its Thriving Art Scene . Retrieved September 1, 2014.

See also

Web links

Commons : Cuenca  - collection of images
Wikivoyage: Cuenca  - travel guide