Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Mancha del Júcar-Centro, in the province of Albacete, documented from the grant of lands made by Ferdinand IV in 1305 and detached from the marquisate of Villena in 1476 to come under royal jurisdiction, which allowed it to raise its great Renaissance church in the following century. Its old town, with armorial mansions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries along Calle Alta, Gothic arches and heraldic shields, was declared a historic-artistic ensemble in 1973; it is also one of the few places where the torta cenceña, the unleavened flatbread that is the base of gazpacho manchego, is still made.
Monument
The church of El Salvador, the main monument of La Roda (La Mancha del Júcar-Centro, Albacete) and the centrepiece of its historic quarter, is in the Spanish Renaissance style and was built on the remains of an earlier Gothic church. It stands next to calle Pedro Carrasco, in the town's old quarter, declared a historic-artistic site in 1973.
Monument
The Lienzo de Doña Ana is a Plateresque façade, in a style close to the High Renaissance, considered one of the monuments of greatest architectural pedigree in the old quarter of La Roda. It forms part of the historic-artistic site at the centre of the town, so declared in 1973, and is one of the most distinctive elements of the town's monumental heritage.
Monument
A 17th-century Renaissance building. Tradition holds that Saint Teresa of Ávila stayed here during her journeys to found convents.
Monument
Palace from the second half of the 16th century, famous for its balconies and its beautiful wrought ironwork.
Monument
The Palacio del Doctor La Enzina, also known as Casa del Doctor La Encina, is an emblematic 17th-century building in La Roda, Albacete, among the town's row of coat-of-arms-bearing mansions. It combines a Renaissance façade with Baroque elements: two storeys, ashlar stonework on the ground floor and corner ashlars with balconies on the upper floor, and a central doorway flanked by grilles and balconies. On the central coat of arms appear a holm oak and two greyhounds, the arms of the La Enzina family, together with four other coats of arms bearing the surnames Gabaldón, Martínez, de la Torre and Castañeda. It was the birthplace, in 1650, of Fernando de la Enzina, a jurist and canon of Cuenca. The building, privately owned, today belongs to the Lorenzo Romero brothers.
Monument
One of the armorial houses of the historic ensemble of La Roda, along with the house of General Latorre and the Casa de Alcañabate.
Monument
A 16th-century hermitage today used as an exhibition hall and a venue for cultural events.
Monument
The old town of La Roda was declared a historic-artistic ensemble on 17 May 1973 for its monumental value, with Gothic arches and heraldic coats of arms scattered through its streets.
Curiosity
Puff-pastry sweet filled with pastry cream and dusted with sugar, created in La Roda in the 1960s by pastry chef Manuel Blanco López, who named it after the nickname of a friend of his, Miguel Ramírez, Miguelito. The current recipe is made by Roque Andrés Navarro, of the Confitería La Moderna, who was honoured with a Business Excellence Award. In 2000 the Association of Miguelitos Producers was formed, and in 2015 the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism granted it official trademark registration. There are chocolate, white chocolate, coated, centennial, miniguelitos and miguelitos bombón variants, and large quantities are sold during the Albacete Fair, where they are usually eaten with coffee, orujo de miel or cider.
Curiosity
La Roda is one of the few places where torta cenceña is still made, an unleavened flatbread that forms the essential base of gazpachos manchegos. This is a brothy stew served hot with the torta broken up inside it; lacking yeast, the dough absorbs the broth better. Traditionally it was eaten using the torta itself as a spoon, which is the origin of the saying that in gazpachos even the spoon and the plate get eaten. The dish is mentioned in Don Quixote and is attributed a shepherd's origin.
Curiosity
Local tradition recalls Saint Teresa of Ávila passing through La Roda and staying at the Casa de Alcañabate during the 16th century.
Activity
The Fiestas de El Salvador are the main festivities of La Roda, in Albacete, held every year from 29 July to 6 August in honour of its patron, the Salvador. An opening parade kicks off nine days of celebrations that include bulls, young cows, concerts, theatrical performances, folklore festivals, a literary gala, a flower battle, verbenas, traca and sporting competitions, until a procession of floats bids the celebration farewell until the following year. During the Youth Week before the official start, the festival queen and maids of honour are presented.
Activity
The pilgrimage of the Virgen de los Remedios takes place in mid-May in La Roda. The image, a patroness shared with Fuensanta, is carried on shoulders from her sanctuary in that town to the church of El Salvador, where various religious acts are held and she remains for twenty-one days before being returned to the sanctuary in a new pilgrimage in early June.
Activity
The Festival of the Senses has been held in La Roda since 2008, on the second weekend of June, combining concerts with gastronomic offerings in venues around the historic centre. In its latest editions it has drawn more than 10,000 people, making it one of the leading cultural events on the local calendar.
Activity
Carnival declared of Regional Tourist Interest, with parades and competitions of masked troupes through the streets of the town.
Activity
Declared of Regional Tourist Interest, its processions make their way through the historic ensemble among armorial mansions and the church of El Salvador.
Historical milestone
The first document that places La Roda on the map is the donation of lands that Ferdinand IV made in 1305 to a noble he trusted; the place later grew as an obligatory stop on the road between Andalusia and the Levante.
Historical milestone
After the war that set the Catholic Monarchs against don Diego López Pacheco, La Roda broke away in 1476 from the marquisate of Villena and came under royal jurisdiction, a change that allowed it to raise in the following century its great Renaissance church.
Historical milestone
The old quarter of La Roda, with its armorial mansions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries lined up along the Calle Alta, was declared a national historic-artistic site in 1973, one of the first protections of this kind in the province.
Food and drink
A humble dessert of La Mancha: slices of sponge cake or oven bread soaked in hot milk with cinnamon and sugar, or in syrup, and served cold. It is prepared above all in Lent, when meat disappears from the tables.