Logbook · 4 places

What to see and do in Saelices

What to see and do in Saelices (La Mancha Conquense, Cuenca): 4 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Saelices

Roman city of Segóbriga 3.8 km

Towns near Saelices

What to see in Almendros 7 km · 1 place
What to see in Rozalén del Monte 7.9 km · 1 place
What to see in Villarrubio 8.3 km · 1 place
What to see in Uclés 8.6 km · 4 places
What to see in Tribaldos 10 km · 1 place
What to see in El Hito 11 km · 1 place
What to see in Almonacid del Marquesado 11 km · 1 place
What to see in Montalbo 12 km · 1 place

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

What to see and do in Saelices

Saelices
Village
Saelices is a municipality in the comarca of La Mancha Conquense, in the province of Cuenca, with a population of 475 inhabitants, situated beside the Cigüela river. Within its territory stands the Roman city of Segóbriga, with a forum, theatre, amphitheatre, baths and walls on the cerro de Cabeza de Griego, enriched in the 1st century by the trade in lapis specularis extracted from the surrounding mines; the settlement may have been founded near the spring of the Fuente de la Mar, which supplied water to the ancient city after it was abandoned. The castillo de El Castillejo overlooks the Cigüela. On 3 February San Blas is celebrated, patron of throat ailments: residents bring the traditional rollos to be blessed, a bread dough with aniseed shaped like a knot, in a two-day festival with an eve and a procession.
Roman city of Segóbriga
Historical milestone
Roman city of the interior of Celtiberia with a forum, theatre, amphitheatre, baths and wall, raised on the hill of Cabeza de Griego. It attained municipal rank in the first century and is today one of the best preserved archaeological complexes of the meseta.
The lapis specularis trade
Historical milestone
The selenite gypsum extracted in the mines of this comarca, the lapis specularis that Pliny cited as the best in the empire, served as glass for Roman windows. Its trade explains the monumental wealth that Segóbriga attained in the first century.
Saint Blaise rolls
Food and drink
Rings of bread with anise that are kneaded for the feast of San Blas, on 3 February, and are taken to be blessed at the church before being distributed. In Saelices they are given the shape of a bow and kept as an amulet against ailments of the throat.