Village
Municipality of the comarca of Campo de Montiel, in the province of Ciudad Real, taken by the Order of Santiago in 1213 after Las Navas de Tolosa and rewarded by Alfonso X in 1273 with new privileges for the help of its inhabitants in the conquest of Baeza. The Crown recognised Francisco de Quevedo in 1621 as lord of the town, where he spent more than seven years between 1610 and 1645 and wrote part of his work; its church of Nuestra Señora de los Olmos preserves a Mannerist altarpiece of 1581 and an organ built in 1763 by Gaspar de la Redonda, and the district takes in protected areas with great bustards and the Spanish imperial eagle.
Monument
The Casa-Museo de Quevedo, in Torre de Juan Abad (Campo de Montiel, Ciudad Real), was the former residence of the writer Francisco de Quevedo, lord of the town from 1620, where he received some of the most influential figures in the politics and society of his day. The 17th-century building preserves about one hundred square metres of the original house, supplemented with modern facilities. On the upper floor, the museum displays documents, books and personal items, including a ceramic inkwell and the armchair he used in the house; on the ground floor there are two rooms for temporary exhibitions of painting, sculpture and photography. The courtyard, which preserves the original well, is used for open-air performances and has hosted the Festival de Poesía Visual every October since 2014.
Monument
The church of Nuestra Señora de los Olmos, in Torre de Juan Abad (Ciudad Real), has its origin in a small chapel from 1243 founded by the Order of Santiago; the present building, with a single nave in a Latin cross plan, dates mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries, with Renaissance elements. It preserves a Mannerist main altarpiece from 1581, the work of the sculptor Francisco Cano, declared a bien de interés cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2005 and one of the best preserved in the region, and an organ from 1763 built by Gaspar de la Redonda, which retains almost all its original components and which, after its restoration in 2001, ranks among the best-sounding organs in Europe. Saint Teresa of Jesus took communion in this church on 16 February 1575, on her way to Beas del Segura.
Monument
The Templar hermitage of the Virgen de la Vega stands in the La Vega area, four kilometres from Torre de Juan Abad, which can be reached by car or on foot. It was built by the Order of the Temple as a religious centre that combined agricultural, tax-collecting and recruitment functions. In 1310 it suffered destruction, and a Latin inscription on its dome records that it was rebuilt and enlarged in 1644, "floreciendo la verdadera piedad" (true piety flourishing). After the dissolution of the Templars it passed to the Order of Santiago, whose sword-cross appears in relief above the main door. Inside is preserved an alabaster slab with an old Arabic inscription, of uncertain origin, which could point to an earlier settlement on the site.
Activity
The Ciclos Internacionales de Órgano Histórico (International Historic Organ Cycles) have been held since 2001 in the church of Nuestra Señora de los Olmos in Torre de Juan Abad, centred on the organ built in 1763 by Gaspar de la Redonda and restored that same year by the organ builder Alan Faye. The instrument, considered among the best-sounding in Europe according to the Viennese publication Nuovi Fiori Musicali, attracts international performers who have shared programmes with cities such as London, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Seville, Madrid, Barcelona, Segovia, Bordeaux, Antwerp, Brussels and New York.
Activity
The Festival de Poesía Visual (Visual Poetry Festival) of Torre de Juan Abad, a multidisciplinary gathering of poetry and the arts held in the town since 2014, arose from a conversation in Düsseldorf between the Korean choreographer Soo Jin Yim-Heil, the German writer and art theorist Heinrich Heil and the sculptor and philosopher José María Guijarro, a resident of the town. Visual poetry is understood as an artistic expression that goes beyond written text and connects with dance, sculpture, music and video. It is held every October at the Casa Museo de Quevedo, the house of the writer who was recognised by the Royal Council in 1621 as lord of the town.
Curiosity
Francisco de Quevedo spent more than seven years in this town between 1610 and 1645 and wrote part of his work here, including the sonnet that begins Retirado en la paz de estos desiertos. The Crown recognised him as lord of the town in 1621.
Activity
Holy Week in Torre de Juan Abad, notable for the Procession of Silence and the Way of the Cross, as well as for a solemn Holy Hour on Maundy Thursday. The processions are accompanied by a bugle and drum band whose musicians dress as Roman legionaries.
Nature
The municipal district takes in protected areas between the Campo de Montiel and Sierra Morena, with steppe birds such as the great bustard and birds of prey such as the Spanish imperial eagle, as well as Mediterranean woodland and rocky outcrops.
Historical milestone
The Order of Santiago took this stronghold of the Campo de Montiel in 1213, in the advance that followed Las Navas de Tolosa. Alfonso X later rewarded, in 1273, the help of its residents in the conquest of Baeza with new privileges.
Historical milestone
The Crown recognized Francisco de Quevedo in 1621 as lord of Torre de Juan Abad, after long lawsuits with the council. Between 1610 and 1645 he spent more than seven years here and wrote a substantial part of his political and poetic work.
Food and drink
The flocks of Manchegan sheep make use here of scrubland, stubble and holm-oak woods, which gives a very fatty milk; the resulting cheese, covered by a protected designation of origin, is cured in a chamber or submerged in oil from the comarca.