Page:A Handbook for Travellers in Spain - Vol 1.djvu/227

The Castiles now, it is so poverty stricken, that scarcely 300 souls to the square league are to be numbered. The mountains, Montes Orospedani, were the fastnesses of the brave Celtiberians, who waged a desperate guerilla contest against the Romans. The town was once celebrated for its splendid silver work, and the family of the Becerriles were here what the Arfes were to Leon. Alonso and Francisco Becerril both lived at Cuenca early in 1500, and by them was exquisitely wrought the once glorious custodia, in 1528–46, and described at length by Ponz, iii. 73; which, with other splendid crosses, chalices, &c., were plundered by Caulaincourt.

Cuenca is romantically situated on a peak called San Cristobal, about halfway between Madrid and Valencia, on the confluence of the Jucar and Huecar, and between the heights Majestad and el Socorro.

Cuenca is purely Moorish, and like Ronda, Alhama, and Alarcon, is built on a river-isolated rock. It was given in 1106 by Ben Abet, king of Seville, as part of the portion of Zaida his daughter, when she became the wife of Alonso VI. The inhabitants, however, rebelled at the transfer, and the city was retaken by Alonso VIII., Sept. 26, 1177. The campaign is detailed by Mariana (xi. 14), who records how Alonso VIII. was in want of everything at the critical moment; the site of his camp of starvation is still shown at Fuentes del Rey. See also the ballad ‘En esa Ciudad de Burgos’ (Duran, iv. 207). ‘The town was captured at last by a stratagem, devised by a Christian slave inside, one Martin Alhaja, who led out his Moorish master’s merinos as if to pasture, but then gave them to his hungry countrymen. These wolves having eaten the animals, put on their fleeces, and were taken back on all fours, being let into Cuenca by a small still-existing postern in the walls: from this strange flock sprang most of the hidalgo families of Cuenca, e.g. the Albornoz, Alarcon, Cabrera, Carrillo, Salazar, &c.

Cuenca, once celebrated alike for arts, literature, and manufactories, now only retains its picturesque position; the beautiful Huecar and Jucar (sucro, the sweet waters, aguas dulces) still come down through defiles spanned with bridges, and planted with charming walks, mills, and poplars, placed there for the artist; above topples the pyramidical eagle’s-nest town, with its old walls and towers, and houses hanging over the precipices and barren rocks, which enhance the charm of the fertile valleys, the Hoces, below. From the suburb the town rises in terraces, as it were, tier above tier, roof above roof, up to the Plaza and the cathedral, which occupy almost the only level space, for the streets are steep, tortuous, and narrow.

Fully to appreciate the beauty of Cuenca the following tour may be taken. Proceed to the bridge of San Anton, which crosses the pretty Jucar at the western end of the town. Descend to the path which passes under one of the arches, and then keep along up the rt. bank of the river; just below the bridge is a ruined weir, by which the waters were once dammed up, in order to fill the stream as it passed under the cliff on which the town stands. The colour of the water is beautifully clear, with a slight greenish tint. Passing the copse of poplars and white-leaved aspens, above on the rt. rises rock-built Cuenca. Continue the walk on to the bridge Las Escalas, which crosses the Jucar at the other end of the town, and sketch it if you will, for it consists only of timberbeams, laid upon stone piers; but, before going over it, ascend further up the rt. bank, look back on the town and into the valley. Next cross the