Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Belmonte

What to see and do in Belmonte (La Mancha Conquense, Cuenca): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 2 Activities · 1 Curiosities

When to go to Belmonte: festival calendar

August: Festivities of San Bartolomé de Belmonte (semana del 24 de agosto)
September: Festivities of la Virgen de Gracia de Belmonte (second weekend of September)

How far each place is from the centre of Belmonte

Collegiate Church of San Bartolomé of Belmonte 150 m
Castle of Belmonte 600 m

Towns near Belmonte

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Cuenca › La Mancha Conquense › Belmonte

What to see and do in Belmonte

Belmonte
Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Mancha Conquense, in the province of Cuenca, dominated by a fifteenth-century Gothic-Mudéjar castle begun in 1456 by Juan Pacheco, first marquess of Villena, and restored between 1857 and 1870 at the behest of the empress Eugénie de Montijo, beside the remains of the walls that Don Juan Manuel began to raise from 1323. Its Gothic collegiate church of San Bartolomé preserves choir stalls carved by Enrique Egas, held to be the first on the Peninsula with biblical imagery, and the font in which Fray Luis de León was baptised, born in the town between 1527 and 1528.
Castle of Belmonte
Monument
A 15th-century Gothic-Mudéjar fortress begun in 1456 by Juan Pacheco, first Marquis of Villena, with defensive towers and inner courtyards; it was restored between 1857 and 1870 at the behest of the Empress Eugénie de Montijo.
Collegiate Church of San Bartolomé of Belmonte
Monument
The collegiate church of Saint Bartholomew, in Belmonte (Cuenca), was built over the former 5th-century Visigothic parish church, remains of which were found during restoration work in 1976. The Marquis of Villena and Master of the Order of Santiago, don Juan Pacheco (1419-1474), had it almost entirely rebuilt from its foundations, and at his request Pope Pius II raised the parish to collegiate status in 1459, endowing it with a chapter of up to thirty-two canons. The 15th-century Gothic church, with three naves and ribbed vaults, preserves the choir stalls carved by Enrique Egas, the first in the Peninsula with biblical imagery, and the baptismal font where Friar Luis de León was baptised.
Medieval Walls of Belmonte
Monument
The medieval walls of Belmonte are the fortifications that don Juan Manuel, nephew of Alfonso X of Castilla y León, began to raise in the town from 1323, when he also built the former alcázar. The wall runs from the castle and encloses the old town of Belmonte, which can still be seen from the fortress's north tower.
Fray Luis de León, born in Belmonte
Curiosity
The Augustinian theologian, humanist and poet Friar Luis de León was born in Belmonte between 1527 and 1528, into a family of converted Jews, the son of the lawyer Lope de León and Inés Varela; the font where he was baptised is preserved in the collegiate church. He entered the Order of Augustinians at fourteen and was a professor at the University of Salamanca, where he held the chairs of Saint Thomas in 1561 and of Holy Scripture in 1579. He wrote odes on the longing for solitude and retreat in nature, and the prose work De los nombres de Cristo (1585). Denounced before the Inquisition between 1572 and 1576, chiefly for translating the Song of Songs without a licence, he spent more than four years imprisoned in Valladolid before being acquitted. He died in 1591 in Madrigal de las Altas Torres.
Festivities of San Bartolomé de Belmonte
Activity
Patronal festivities of Belmonte (Cuenca) in honour of Saint Bartholomew, held during the week of 24 August and reputed to be the town's liveliest festival, popular and pagan in character. The saint gives his name to the town's Gothic collegiate church, built in the 15th century over an earlier Visigothic church, which preserves a 15th-century choir also carved by Enrique Egas with biblical scenes: considered the first of its kind on the Iberian Peninsula. The piece was originally carved for Cuenca Cathedral and moved to Belmonte in the 18th century.
Festivities of la Virgen de Gracia de Belmonte
Activity
The festivities of Our Lady of Grace of Belmonte, patroness crowned in 1983, are held on the second weekend of September and extended with a nine-day novena, among the most crowded dates in the local festive calendar. The image of the Virgin, 42 centimetres tall, wears garments and jewels donated by residents over time.