Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Villa de Ves

What to see and do in Villa de Ves (La Manchuela, Albacete): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

When to go to Villa de Ves: festival calendar

September: Festivities of el Cristo de la Vida (September 14)

How far each place is from the centre of Villa de Ves

Reservoir of el Molinar 1.7 km
Molinar hydroelectric plant 5.5 km

Towns near Villa de Ves

What to see in Casas de Ves 5.8 km · 6 places
What to see in Balsa de Ves 7.3 km · 5 places
What to see in Alborea 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Carcelén 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Villatoya 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Alcalá del Júcar 15 km · 14 places
What to see in Jalance 16 km · 13 places
What to see in Alatoz 17 km · 7 places

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Albacete › La Manchuela › Villa de Ves

What to see and do in Villa de Ves

Villa de Ves
Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Manchuela, in the province of Albacete, made a town by the fuero granted by Alfonso X in 1272; its church of la Asunción, of dressed stone in late Gothic of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, guards the Cristo de la Vida, which draws pilgrims from across the comarca and from the valley of Cofrentes. Over the Júcar stands the Molinar hydroelectric station, built between 1907 and 1909 and in service until 1952, from which the high-voltage line to Madrid set out.
Church of la Asunción de Villa de Ves
Monument
A handsome building of dressed stone in late Gothic style, built or rebuilt between the 14th and 15th centuries. It holds the image of the Cristo de la Vida, widely venerated in the comarca.
Molinar hydroelectric plant
Monument
The Molinar hydroelectric power station was built between 1907 and 1909 beside a natural drop of the Júcar river, between Villa de Ves (Albacete) and Cofrentes, where the river descends nearly 400 metres over 60 kilometres. The company Hidroeléctrica Española, founded in 1907 by Juan Urrutia y Zulueta and Lucas Urquijo, bought the concession for the drop from the industrialist Enrique Gosálvez Fuentes; the works, begun on 13 May 1907, required the building of three settlements for the thousands of workers who arrived in Villa de Ves. The electricity generated was carried to Madrid, for lighting and tramways, and to Valencia. The turbines began operating in 1909; the power station remained in service until 1952 and is today one of the province's most notable industrial heritage complexes.
Reservoir of el Molinar
Nature
A reservoir on the Júcar river whose dam lies within the municipality of Villa de Ves (Albacete), linked to the hydroelectric use of the Molinar drop. In 1907 the company Hidroeléctrica Española, founded by Lucas de Urquijo and Juan de Urrutia, obtained the rights to exploit the Júcar as it passes through Villa de Ves and developed a first drop to generate power for Madrid and Valencia. After the Civil War, rising energy demand led to the start, in 1948, of construction of a new dam at the Molinar, which flooded the original installation.
Festivities of el Cristo de la Vida
Activity
The festivities of the Cristo de la Vida are celebrated on 14 September in Villa de Ves, in the Albacete region of La Manchuela, in honour of the image of the Santísimo Cristo de la Vida venerated inside the parish church. The celebration turns the sanctuary into a place of pilgrimage for thousands of the faithful coming from all over the Albacete Manchuela and also from the neighbouring Valencian region of the Valle de Cofrentes, who make a pilgrimage to Villa de Ves to pay homage to the image.
The power line that reached Madrid
Curiosity
From El Molinar ran the Villa de Ves-Madrid high-tension line, 254 kilometres long, the longest and most expensive of its day: it was the first time in Europe that power had been transmitted at 66,000 volts over such a distance.
El fuero de Ves de Alfonso X
Historical milestone
Alfonso X the Wise granted in 1272 the privilege and fuero of Ves, which made this enclave of the upper Júcar a town and allowed its residents to settle villages within the municipality; from one of them, Casas de Ves, would in time come the most populated village of the old seigneury.