Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in Lezuza

What to see and do in Lezuza (Sierra de Alcaraz y Campo de Montiel, Albacete): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Nature · 2 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 2 Historical milestones

When to go to Lezuza: festival calendar

March: Pilgrimage of la Virgen de la Cruz de Lezuza (Sábado más próximo al 25 de marzo)
May: The Dancers of Lezuza (Del 1 al 4 de mayo)

How far each place is from the centre of Lezuza

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Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Albacete › Sierra de Alcaraz y Campo de Montiel › Lezuza

What to see and do in Lezuza

Lezuza
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Sierra de Alcaraz y Campo de Montiel, in the province of Albacete, raised beside the hill where Libisosa Foroaugustana stood, a Roman colony founded over an Oretan Iberian settlement on the road linking Cartagena with Complutum, and from which comes a pedestal dedicated to Marcus Aurelius. A plague epidemic forced the population to move to the valley in 1411, at which point it received its settlement charter, and in 1553 it bought town status to cease being a hamlet of Alcaraz; on 2 May twelve dancers accompany the bringing down of the Virgen de la Cruz.
Archaeological site of Libisosa
Nature
The Libisosa archaeological site occupies the Cerro del Castillo de Lezuza (Albacete): thirty hectares with remains from the Final Bronze Age to the Late Middle Ages, this last period dominated by the watchtower that gives the hill its name. In Roman times it was an important colony built over an Oretanian Iberian settlement of the 5th century BC mentioned by Ptolemy; notable features include its late Republican wall and the forum mentioned by Pliny the Elder, and, as Libisosa Foroaugustana, it was a stop on the Via Augusta. Its excellent Ibero-Roman preservation is due to the “burial effect” of a sudden destruction that left a frozen image of the site, today a reference point for the Final Iberian period and Republican Hispania. Excavated without interruption since 1996 by the University of Alicante, in 2021 the process began to declare it an archaeological park.
Pedestal of Marcus Aurelius of Lezuza
Monument
Roman-era epigraphic pedestal dedicated to Emperor Marcus Aurelius, kept in the municipality as evidence of Libisosa's importance. It dates from between 166 and 167 AD and was offered by the colonists of the Roman city; catalogued as CIL II, 3234, it now stands outside the Casa de la Tercia, next to the church, in a poor state of preservation. As early as the 16th and 17th centuries, the scholars Ambrosio de Morales and Bachiller Alonso de Requena documented that the inscription had appeared attached to a marble statue.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Lezuza
Monument
Parish church of the town of Lezuza, from which the pilgrimage to the Virgen de la Cruz hermitage, within the municipal area, sets out every year on the Saturday closest to 25 March.
Tercia House of Lezuza
Monument
A former building used to store the ecclesiastical tithe, one of the historic properties preserved in the centre of Lezuza.
The Dancers of Lezuza
Activity
On 2 May, during the patron saint festival, twelve dancers perform a choreography of medieval origin accompanying the bringing down of the Virgen de la Cruz.
Pilgrimage of la Virgen de la Cruz de Lezuza
Activity
Pilgrimage from the church of la Asunción to the hermitage of the patroness, celebrated around the feast of the Annunciation. It takes place specifically on the Saturday closest to 25 March, the date on which local tradition fixes this pilgrimage of the Virgen de la Cruz de Lezuza.
From plague to valley: the 1411 founding charter
Curiosity
An outbreak of plague forced the population to move down to the river valley in 1411, at which point the settlement charter was granted. Carlos I granted the title of villa in 1553.
The Roman colony of Libisosa
Historical milestone
Over the old Iberian oppidum razed in the Sertorian wars, Rome founded the colony of Libisosa Foroaugustana in the time of Augustus, on the road linking Cartagena with Complutum; from it comes the pedestal dedicated to Marcus Aurelius.
The town charter of Lezuza
Historical milestone
Lezuza bought in 1553 its privilege of township and ceased to be a village of Alcaraz. It was one of the many emancipations that the Habsburgs sold to fill the royal coffers and that gradually dismembered the enormous territory of Alcaraz.