Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in San Carlos del Valle

What to see and do in San Carlos del Valle (Campo de Montiel, Ciudad Real): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

When to go to San Carlos del Valle: festival calendar

April: Pilgrimage of San Marcos de San Carlos del Valle (April 25)
September: Fair of el Cristo del Valle (September 14)
December: Bonfires of the Immaculate Conception (December 7)

How far each place is from the centre of San Carlos del Valle

Main Square of San Carlos del Valle 50 m
Fair of el Cristo del Valle 2.8 km

Towns near San Carlos del Valle

What to see in La Solana 11 km · 9 places
What to see in Alcubillas 14 km · 7 places
What to see in Valdepeñas 16 km · 12 places
What to see in Membrilla 17 km · 8 places
What to see in Alhambra 17 km · 7 places
What to see in Manzanares 20 km · 9 places
What to see in Carrizosa 22 km · 7 places
What to see in Villanueva de los Infantes 23 km · 18 places

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Ciudad Real › Campo de Montiel › San Carlos del Valle

What to see and do in San Carlos del Valle

San Carlos del Valle
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Campo de Montiel, in the province of Ciudad Real, born around a chapel of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and grown beside the shrine of the Santo Cristo del Valle, with a regular layout reformed in the time of Charles III under the direction of Pablo de Olavide; Charles IV signed in 1800 the charter that separated it from Membrilla and made it a municipality of its own. Its Baroque church of the Santísimo Cristo del Valle was built between 1713 and 1729 with four towers and a spire of 47 metres, and together with the Plaza Mayor, rectangular, of stone columns and wooden balconies, it forms an ensemble declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1993.
Church of el Santísimo Cristo del Valle
Monument
Baroque temple built between 1713 and 1729, with four towers topped by Madrid-style spires and a central dome over 28 metres high on the inside, crowned by a sharp Central European-style spire that reaches 47 metres from the ground. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 17 April 1993, the same date on which the main square on which it stands was also protected.
Main Square of San Carlos del Valle
Monument
A rectangular square measuring 53 by 21 metres with stone columns and wooden balconies, declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1993. It is one of the most harmonious square-and-shrine ensembles in La Mancha.
San Carlos del Valle, a village of the Enlightenment
Curiosity
The town grew up around a hermitage of the 12th and 13th centuries and expanded with the shrine raised under Felipe V; its street layout was reshaped in the time of Carlos III under the direction of Pablo de Olavide. Carlos IV granted it municipal independence in 1800.
Fair of el Cristo del Valle
Activity
Main fair of San Carlos del Valle, in the Campo de Montiel area (Ciudad Real), in honour of the Santísimo Cristo del Valle, an image venerated since the 16th century. It is the village's main festival and usually lasts four days around 14 September, with a procession in which residents visit the Christ in the church. Its origin goes back to the vanished hermitage of Santa Elena, probably built in the 12th or 13th century, on one of whose walls the miraculous image appeared painted, giving rise to the devotion and, in time, to the town itself.
Pilgrimage of San Marcos de San Carlos del Valle
Activity
Country festival that the residents of San Carlos del Valle celebrate every 25 April in honour of Saint Mark, although the village itself does not officially classify it as a pilgrimage. On that day it is traditional for local bakeries to sell the hornazo, a sweet cake with boiled eggs inside, sometimes accompanied by small aniseed sweets or candies, which families share during the day spent together in the countryside.
Bonfires of the Immaculate Conception
Activity
In San Carlos del Valle (Campo de Montiel, Ciudad Real), on the night of 7 December, the eve of the Immaculate Conception, residents light bonfires throughout the village. The tradition marks the start of the 8 December patronal festivities and brings the town together around the fire in the streets.
La carta real de privilegio de Carlos IV
Historical milestone
Charles IV signed in 1800 the charter that separated from Membrilla the settlement born beside the sanctuary of the Santo Cristo del Valle and turned it into its own municipality; its regular layout is due to the enlightened plans of the time of Charles III.