Page:A Handbook for Travellers in Spain - Vol 1.djvu/233

The Castiles. from its mountain-sources. 7 m. on is the Val de Cabras, famous for pines, which are floated down the Tagus to Aranjuez in order to supply Madrid with building timber. At Buenache the purple jaspers vie with those of yellow and purple, which are found at the Hoya de Machado, 9 m. S.E. of Cuenca, where visit the Cueva del Judio. The Pinus Halepensis, called Alvar by the woodmen, is very abundant. 5$1⁄2$ m. higher up is Una, 17 m. from Cuenca, with its laguna, or lake, which, being preserved, is well stocked with trout; on it is a movable island. Near here are some coal mines, one of which is of a fine jet or azabache.

A railway is in course of construction, which will unite Cuenca with Valencia. There is no diligence service at present, but a tartana may be hired or the road ridden. This excursion is full of interest to the artist, angler, and geologist. As horses and mules are not easily procured at Cuenca, secure them as soon as possible.

There is a short cut to Minglanilla; it runs over bad roads through pinewoods by Campillo (Pop. 3400), 39 m., where there are two tolerable posadas (those who find this too long a day’s ride, may sleep the first night at Almodovar del Pinar (Pop. 834), 26 m.); from Campillo de Altobuey to Minglanilla it is 10$1⁄2$ m.

The longer ride is, however, the more picturesque, and it passes through Alarcon, which no artist or archeologist ought to miss. By this route you ford the Rio Moscas before reaching Valera, a see under the Goths (Pop. 1094); it has a ruined castle and some degraded antiquities: at Buenache its cave may be visited. Here the diligence may be taken to Valencia. Thence to

Alarcon. Posada tolerable. Pop. about 832. This most picturesque and truly Moorish city is named, some say from Alaricon, the city of Alaric the Goth. The city is built like a miniature Toledo, on a craggy peninsula, hemmed around by the Jucar: it can only be entered from a narrow neck of land to the E., which has been likened to the handle of a frying-pan, a comparison more apposite than elegant. The land approach is still guarded by ruined Moorish towers and an Alcazar; the crumbling walls, gates, and bridges, the steep ascent into the town, with the gardens, water-mills, defiles, and river below, offer choice bits for the artist. This once important town contains five noble parish churches, whose richness contrasts with the present poverty. Santa Maria has a façade of the time of Charles V., with a Gothic interior. The San Juan has a Doric front, and has or had a splendid custodia, made by Christobel Becerril, 1575. The façade of the Trinidad is ornamented with arms and scroll-work of the best time of Ferdinand and Isabel, but the inside has been modernized: Santiago has an ancient portal with the mounted tutelar: in Santo Domingo de Silos is a good classical high altar. Alarcon was taken from the Moors in 1177 by Fernan Martinez Zevallos, whose descendants hence bore the title of Señores de Alarcon; and it was to Hernando, one of them, that François I. was delivered in charge after the defeat at Pavia. His Commentaries, ‘Los Hechos,’ &c., fol. Mad. 1665, with a fine portrait, are truly chivalrous and interesting. This city, in July 1195, was the scene of such a tremendous battle between the Moors and Alonso VIII. of Castile, that the year became a date among the former; Amu-l-Alark.

Villanueva de la Jara is placed, as