Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Alcarria Conquense, in the province of Cuenca, on which John II conferred the title of city on 26 July 1428, when it was the head of an extensive Alcarrian territory with convents, hospitals and a fair that made it the great market of this part of Cuenca; its Jewish aljama figured in the assessment of 1290 among the most populous in the area and disappeared with the expulsion of 1492. Its greatest building is the monastery of la Merced, founded at the end of the thirteenth century and with a Baroque cloister laid out by Cosme de Peñalacia between 1645 and 1647, today the seat of the town hall and of three museums, accompanied by the Clock Tower, raised around 1805 to designs by Fernando López.
Monument
Founded, according to the oldest chronicles, in 1272 -in the late 13th century- on the hermitage of Santa Quiteria, although the oldest surviving documents date from the 14th century, it was one of the most important convents the Order of Mercy had in Castile, with a chapter house of great prestige. Its grandeur is attributed to friar Marcos de Salmerón, born in Buendía in 1588 and resident in Huete since childhood, who became Master General of the order in 1642. The church, in Baroque style, was built between 1648 and 1684 to a design by José de Arroyo, and the cloister was laid out by Cosme de Peñalacia between 1645 and 1647. During the Civil War it was a hospital of the International Brigades and, after the conflict, a concentration camp for Republican prisoners; today it houses the town hall and three museums.
Monument
A collection of painting, printmaking and sculpture by artists of the last century, installed in the convent of La Merced. Part of the holdings is displayed in the so-called Salón de Columnas, or De Profundis.
Monument
Renaissance building in Huete (Cuenca) built between 1554 and 1576, notable for its triangular-plan bell tower, one of the few of this type existing in the world. It was founded by Marcos de Parada, archdeacon of Alarcón, as a retreat house for virtuous maidens and a pantheon for his family, on the site of the former hermitage of Santa Lucía, whose bell was reused in the new tower; once the works were finished it was occupied by nuns of the order of San Lorenzo Justiniano from Cuenca. It is one of the finest 16th-century buildings in the Cuenca area, arranged around a cloister of semicircular arches on paneled square pillars, a novelty in the diocese, and displays a Mannerist doorway attributed to the architect Andrés de Vandelvira, executed by Esteban Jamete. After the 1835 disentailment the church went on to house the parish of Santa María de Castejón, and the complex was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico Nacional (the heritage protection category used before the Bien de Interés Cultural status) in 1983.
Monument
The church of Santo Domingo in Huete belongs to a convent founded in the late 14th century by Catalina de Lancáster; the present church was designed in 1620 by the Carmelite friar Alberto de la Madre de Dios, austere in character, Tuscan order and golden proportions, with a Latin-cross floor plan, a dome over the crossing and five side chapels. Its façade, of giant order, is topped by a broad frontispiece and two side towers crowned with bell-gables. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2004, today it is maintained by the brotherhoods of San Antonio Abad, Nuestra Señora de Loreto and San Juan Evangelista, which hold an important festival on the second weekend of May.
Monument
Gothic church from the 13th century with a polygonal apse and slender stained-glass windows, one of the historic temples of Huete's monumental old town, today in ruins, of which the remains of the apse survive. It was declared a national historic-artistic monument on 12 November 1982, by royal decree published on the 29th of that same month in the Boletín Oficial del Estado, signed by King Juan Carlos I and the Minister of Culture Soledad Becerril Bustamante. It is currently listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), in the monument category.
Monument
The castle of Huete, also called Castillo de Luna or Alcazaba de Wabda, stands to the northwest of the city, on a hill that dominates the territory between the Sierra de Altomira and the Serranía de Cuenca. Romans had earlier settled on the site, placing Julia Opta there in the 6th century BC, linked to the local exploitation of specular gypsum; on those remains, the Taifa king of Seville Al-Mutamid founded the Alcazaba de Wabda in the 9th century. The fortress fell into Christian hands in 1150 with the troops of Alfonso VII, and in 1174 withstood the Almohad siege of Huete. Today it survives in ruins, with some walls still standing, remains of the wall that surrounded the town and a reconstructed tower at the southeastern end; it is municipally owned with free access.
Monument
Walled enclosure of Andalusi origin that underwent various reforms after Huete passed to the Kingdom of Castile in the 12th century. A combination of techniques and materials was used -rammed earth, rubble masonry and ashlar- of which stretches survive at various points of the old town. The Almazán Gate, with royal heraldry, is the most important part of the surviving walled enclosure. Where a stretch of wall once stood, the present Clock Tower was built between 1795 and 1805.
Monument
The Episcopal Palace of Huete was built in three successive phases. The first, where the coat of arms of Bishop Solano can be seen, was designed by the architect Antonio María Carabella in the late 18th century; the second was built in the time of Bishop Palafox, already in the early 19th century, to a design by Mateo López. The central body of the building was left unfinished. It is one of the main monuments of Huete, linked to the episcopal presence in the city.
Nature
The Cuevas del Sanabrio are an important Roman mining complex for lapis specularis located near Saceda del Río, a hamlet of the municipality of Huete, and one of the heritage landmarks of the historic mining of this mineral in the province of Cuenca. Here the crystallized gypsum that the Romans used as window glass was extracted. Two of its galleries, the Cuchillos mine and the Máximo Parrilla mine, can be visited; notable in them are the transparency and the magnificent crystals that the Romans left unexploited. The visit is guided and must be booked in advance at the tourist office.
Historical milestone
In July 1172 the city withstood a ten-day Almohad siege. Tradition credited the salvation of the defenders to the intercession of Saints Justa and Rufina.
Activity
Traditional fair of Huete held in the month of September, formerly centred on livestock trading and today become the city's main festive event. It takes its name from the Virgen de la Merced, whose image is kept in the town and in whose honour the festivities are held, linked to the former Mercedarian monastery of Huete, one of the most important that this order had in Castile.
Activity
Fiestas de San Juan Evangelista de Huete (Cuenca, La Alcarria Conquense), celebrated around 6 May by the Brotherhood of San Juan Evangelista, which in 1795 built a chapel in academicist style attributed to the architect Mateo López. The procession features the Cross of Santa María de Atienza, wrought in 1618 by the silversmith Miguel Martínez de Arta and considered one of the finest 17th-century Castilian crosses.
Historical milestone
In the summer of 1164, amid the minority of King Alfonso VIII, the fields of Huete were the setting for the clash between the houses of Castro and Lara, which were disputing guardianship of the child king after the death of his father, Sancho III of Castile. Fernando Rodríguez de Castro, lord of the House of Castro, had gathered troops at the castle of Huete, mostly from Toledo and Zorita de los Canes, when he was pursued there by Count Manrique Pérez de Lara. Manrique demanded the surrender of the castle, which Fernando refused, invoking an order of the late Sancho III, and he ordered his brother Nuño to take the child king to safety in Zorita de los Canes in view of the danger. The Castros prevailed on that decisive day of the noble struggle.
Historical milestone
The apportionment of 1290, which fixed what each Jewish aljama of Castile was to pay, places that of Huete among the most populous of the area. The quarter extended along the slope of the castle and disappeared with the expulsion of 1492.
Historical milestone
Juan II granted Huete the title of city on 26 July 1428. It was then the head of an extensive Alcarria territory and had convents, hospitals and a fair that made it the great market of this part of Cuenca.
Monument
Free-standing tower raised around 1805 to designs by Fernando López, in the heart of the old town. It replaced the old council bell tower and for two centuries marked the timetables of markets, trades and farm work of the city.
Food and drink
Sweet of Andalusi root made with honey, almond, walnut and breadcrumbs, pressed between two thin wafers. It is eaten above all at Christmas and is one of the most characteristic desserts of the province of Cuenca and of its Alcarria comarcas.