Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Calzada de Calatrava

What to see and do in Calzada de Calatrava (Campo de Calatrava, Ciudad Real): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments · 1 Nature · 3 Activities · 1 Curiosities

When to go to Calzada de Calatrava: festival calendar

August: Fair of Agosto de Calzada de Calatrava (August)

Towns near Calzada de Calatrava

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Ciudad Real › Campo de Calatrava › Calzada de Calatrava

What to see and do in Calzada de Calatrava

Calzada de Calatrava
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Campo de Calatrava, in the province of Ciudad Real, whose parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción preserves sixteenth-century paintings attributed to Juan Correa de Vivar and in whose district opens the Hoz del Fresneda, a protected spot where the river is hemmed in between quartzites on the edge of Sierra Morena. Its Holy Week is declared a Festival of National Tourist Interest and only on Good Friday is the Juego de las Caras played, a game of tossed coins tolerated by immemorial custom; it is also the birthplace of the filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Calzada
Monument
The Church of Our Lady of the Assumption of Calzada, in the Campo de Calatrava (Ciudad Real), has its origin in the early 17th century: at its foundation it was the hermitage of Our Lady of Remedies, converted into a parish after a fire destroyed the former parish church during the Carlist War. From that foundation the transept, camarín and sacristy are preserved; the rest of the building was enlarged in 1926 under master builder Fausto de la Calle. It preserves seven oil-on-panel paintings from a retable of the second half of the 16th century, attributed to Juan Correa de Vivar, depicting scenes from the life of Christ. The high altar is presided over by the patroness, Our Lady of Remedies.
Fresneda gorge
Nature
The Hoz del Fresneda is a protected natural site in the municipality of Calzada de Calatrava (Campo de Calatrava, Ciudad Real), part of the Network of Protected Areas of Castile-La Mancha, where the river runs through a gorge between quartzites on the edge of the Sierra Morena. It lies about 15 kilometres from the town, and there, on the last weekend of April, the pilgrimage of Our Lady of Valverde is held, which decades ago took place on the sacristy estate, next to the now-vanished Hermitage of Valverde.
The Game of Faces
Activity
The Juego de las Caras (Game of the Faces) is a game of chance and tradition celebrated on the morning of Good Friday in Calzada de Calatrava, a town whose population quintuples during the event, played with two copper coins from the time of Alfonso XII. It is the only secular festival celebrated in Castile-La Mancha during Lent, and it was declared Fiesta de Interés Turístico Regional (a regional tourist-interest festival designation) in 1995. In March 2025 the process began for its declaration as a bien de interés cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), in the intangible-heritage category. Thousands of people come from all over Spain, from regions such as Madrid, the Valencian Community, Catalonia, Navarre or Galicia, to witness it.
Holy Week of Calzada de Calatrava
Activity
The Holy Week of Calzada de Calatrava, in the Campo de Calatrava district, brings together processions from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, with the penitential procession of four brotherhoods and one association through the streets of the town, among them the plaza de España and the patio de San Francisco. It is part of the Ruta de la Pasión Calatrava, declared Fiesta de Interés Turístico Nacional (Spain's national tourist-interest festival designation) on 19 September 2016. Among its traditions stands out the pecado mortal, an alms-collection by women during Lent, and the Juego de las Caras, celebrated on Good Friday and the only secular game of its kind in Castile-La Mancha.
Pedro Almodóvar, son of Calzada
Curiosity
Filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar was born in Calzada de Calatrava, which has dedicated a park to him, inaugurated in 1990 by the director himself on the site of the former fairground and old train station. The town also preserves the Espacio Almodóvar, within the Centro Cultural Rafael Serrano, with original props from the films Volver and I'm So Excited!.
Fair of Agosto de Calzada de Calatrava
Activity
The Feria del Jubileo of Calzada de Calatrava, the main summer festive event in the town, has its origin in the Jubilee of the Porziuncola celebrated by the Capuchin friars of the local convent. After the disentailment, which led to the sale of the convent, residents and authorities kept up the tradition in memory of the friars, although it evolved into a popular festival of a secular character. It is now held on the first weekend of August, with a popular vermouth gathering, neighbourhood contests, food competitions, ploughing contests, clay-pigeon shooting and DJ dances.