Logbook · 6 places

What to see and do in Vellisca

What to see and do in Vellisca (La Alcarria Conquense, Cuenca): 6 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

When to go to Vellisca: festival calendar

August: Festivities of San Bartolomé de Vellisca (August 24)

How far each place is from the centre of Vellisca

Spring of Vellisca 50 m
Mountain range of Altomira en Vellisca 5.7 km

Towns near Vellisca

What to see in Saceda-Trasierra 4.3 km · 4 places
What to see in Alcázar del Rey 7.5 km · 1 place
What to see in Paredes 7.8 km · 1 place
What to see in Barajas de Melo 8.8 km · 8 places
What to see in Illana 10 km · 1 place
What to see in Huete 11 km · 18 places
What to see in Huelves 11 km · 1 place
What to see in El Valle de Altomira 12 km · 4 places

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Cuenca › La Alcarria Conquense › Vellisca

What to see and do in Vellisca

Vellisca
Village
Vellisca is a municipality in the district of La Alcarria Conquense, in the province of Cuenca, with 128 inhabitants (INE 2025), located on the eastern slope of the Sierra de Altomira, a transition zone between the Alcarria and La Mancha, where the Riánsares river rises. The mountain range is covered with pine, juniper, holm oak and aromatic plants such as rosemary and lavender, and is a special protection area for cliff-dwelling birds, with partridges, hares and wild boar; the local native olive is the verdeja variety. The municipality also once had a jasper quarry that historically supplied the works of the Palacio Real in Madrid. In the town centre stands a three-spout fountain built in 1874, next to the San José park, and its main festivities honour Saint Bartholomew.
Church of la Asunción de Vellisca
Monument
The church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Vellisca (La Alcarria Conquense, Cuenca) combines the Romanesque style with later elements: it was begun in the late 14th century, had a first extension in the 15th century, and did not complete its tower until the early 20th. It has a single nave divided into four bays, with pointed arches of roll mouldings and beaded collars in the first bays, and Gothic ribbed vaults except at the head and the sacristy, covered with a groin dome. It has two neo-Renaissance portals, the southern one with Ionic columns and medallions, and a pointed window with half-roll archivolts on the southern wall.
Spring of Vellisca
Monument
The Fuente de Vellisca (La Alcarria Conquense, Cuenca), a three-spout fountain built in 1874, next to the San José park and its rose garden, has supplied drinking water uninterruptedly since its construction; the water, although hard, is so abundant that in the past it supplied the whole neighbourhood. Behind the spouts there is a trough that collected the water and served as a watering place for livestock, and further back a pool still used for washing clothes; the surplus water irrigates the nearest market gardens.
Mountain range of Altomira en Vellisca
Nature
The sierra de Altomira, also called sierra de San Cristóbal, is one of the westernmost ranges of the Iberian System and extends about 47 kilometres from north to south, between the provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca, as far as the municipal area of Vellisca, where the Riánsares river rises. Its limestone-dolomite relief has served as a passageway for plant species between the Levante and the meseta, favouring the spread of Aleppo pine forests, black juniper scrubland and thermophilic rosemary scrub on low hills, the highest point of which is Altomira itself, at 1,183 metres. Vellisca sits on its eastern slope, in the transition zone between the Alcarria and La Mancha, within the comarca of the Alcarria Conquense.
The jasper quarry of Vellisca
Curiosity
In the sierra de Altomira, a short half-league from the village, there was a quarry of red, green and white jasper. According to Madoz's Diccionario, pieces extracted from this quarry were destined for the royal estate of San Ildefonso, in Segovia. No further data is known about the dates of its operation or its current condition.
Festivities of San Bartolomé de Vellisca
Activity
The festivities of San Bartolomé de Vellisca (La Alcarria Conquense, Cuenca) are celebrated on 24 August, in honour of the town's patron saint, and are the main festivities of the municipality, the most important celebration of the local calendar.