Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Arroba de los Montes

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

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

When to go to Arroba de los Montes: festival calendar

April: Festivities of San Marcos de Arroba (April 25)
August: Patron saint festivities of the Assumption and San Roque (15 y 16 de agosto)

Towns near Arroba de los Montes

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Ciudad Real › Montes de Ciudad Real › Arroba de los Montes

What to see and do in Arroba de los Montes

Arroba de los Montes
Village
Municipality of the comarca of Montes de Ciudad Real, in the province of Ciudad Real, whose church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a sixteenth-century Renaissance temple with Mudéjar influences where, on chipping away the plasterwork, wall paintings of the Marian cycle came to light. In the district half-hidden rock paintings have been located in a quartzite recess along with megalithic structures, and through it runs the river San Marcos on its way to the Guadiana, between ranges peopled with deer, wild boar and birds of prey; it is also the birthplace of the painter and engraver José García Ortega.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Arroba
Monument
A 16th-century Renaissance church with Mudéjar influences. When the plasterwork was chipped away, wall paintings with scenes from the Marian cycle came to light, and it preserves polychrome carvings from hermitages in the municipal district that no longer exist.
Cave paintings of Arroba
Curiosity
Half-hidden rock paintings have been found in the municipal district of Arroba de los Montes, in a small shelter formed by large quartzite rocks, as well as megalithic constructions that attest to prehistoric settlement.
The San Marcos River
Nature
The San Marcos river rises in the natural district of the Montes de Toledo, in Ciudad Real, and is a tributary of the Guadiana. It runs through and drains the municipalities of Fontanarejo and Arroba de los Montes; just a few metres before it flows into the Guadiana it joins the Valdehornos river, downstream of the Hoces gorge and the Tabla de la Murciana. It is a seasonal watercourse, with a rainfall-driven regime showing torrential traits, winding and cut into quartzite and slate materials; in the past it powered several flour mills, one of which is preserved in Fontanarejo. Along its channel, narrow and deep, restoration works with gabions have been carried out to slow the supply of stony material. Its banks and the surrounding sierras are home to deer, wild boar and a notable community of birds of prey.
Festivities of San Marcos de Arroba
Activity
Traditional celebration of Arroba de los Montes, in the Montes de Ciudad Real, in honour of Saint Mark, whose feast day is set on the local calendar for 25 April. The day brings residents together for a romería (pilgrimage outing) with a countryside meal, one of the fixed dates on the municipality's festive calendar.
Patron saint festivities of the Assumption and San Roque
Activity
Main festivities of Arroba de los Montes in honour of Our Lady of the Assumption and Saint Roch. They are held on 15 and 16 August, with processions and popular events that bring the village together at the height of summer.
José García Ortega, painter of Arroba
Curiosity
The painter and engraver José García Ortega (Arroba de los Montes, 1921 - Paris, 1990), also known as Pepe Ortega, was one of the figures of 20th-century Spanish art, notable in the social realism of the post-war period in Spain, and founder of the Estampa Popular group. His membership of the then-illegal Communist Party of Spain led him to prison and exile in France, where he combined political activism and painting and struck up a friendship with Picasso and Santiago Carrillo. Part of his work, among which the series of engravings Los segadores stands out, is kept at the Exhibition Centre of the Ciudad Real Provincial Council. In his native Arroba de los Montes, a museum bearing his name opened in 1998, although a serious damp problem forced the works to be removed and the space to be closed.