Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in El Picazo

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

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 2 Curiosities · 1 Food and drink

Towns near El Picazo

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What to see in Sisante 11 km · 9 places
What to see in Alarcón 12 km · 15 places
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Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Cuenca › La Manchuela Conquense › El Picazo

What to see and do in El Picazo

El Picazo
Village
El Picazo is a municipality in La Manchuela Conquense, in Cuenca, with 693 inhabitants, about 25 km from Motilla del Palancar and 698 metres above sea level, crossed by the Júcar river, which has carved out a V-shaped valley here between Sisante and Rubielos Bajos; on its terraces of rounded pebbles grow bobal grape vineyards next to the Castillejos reservoir. The origin of its name is disputed: some theories link it to Iberian words for a summit or slope, others to a cut made with a pick. The municipality, home to the RF Universidad, preserves the palace-houses built by the Villanueva and Ruiz de Monsalve families in the 17th century and a parish church from the early 16th century.
Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario de El Picazo
Monument
A parish church from the early 16th century that presides over the town square, specifically the Plaza del Ayuntamiento of El Picazo. Pascual Madoz's Diccionario geográfico, in the mid-19th century, already described it as a parish church dedicated to Nuestra Señora del Rosario, then an annexe of the parish of Tébar, and rated its building as average.
Palace houses of the Villanueva family
Monument
A group of 17th-century seigneurial residences built by the Villanueva and Ruiz de Monsalve families. One of them now houses the municipal social centre.
The Júcar as it passes through El Picazo
Nature
The River Júcar crosses the municipal district hemmed into a V-shaped valley carved by erosion, with the Los Castillejos reservoir as its main body of water.
The Crag of the Encantada
Curiosity
El Peñasco de la Encantada is a promontory located north of the municipality of El Picazo (the Manchuela Conquense, Cuenca), on the banks of the river Júcar. The legend that gives it its name dates back to the period of Arab rule, when the village settled permanently on the banks of the Júcar: it tells that an enchanted Moorish woman lives in the rock and comes down every Saint John's Eve to comb her hair by the river.
The weirs and waterwheels of the Júcar
Curiosity
The municipality of El Picazo retains the memory of irrigation systems of Islamic origin based on weirs and waterwheels that harnessed the force of the Júcar. By means of scoops they raised the water, which was then distributed through pools and channels to the whole market garden area. This system was essential to the life of the village for centuries and worked with barely any changes until the last third of the 20th century, when it was replaced by motors and sprinkler irrigation.
The bobal of the Júcar riverside
Food and drink
Bobal is the historic grape of these riverbanks, with a large bunch and high acidity, giving reds of intense colour and very light claretes. The vineyards of El Picazo sit on terraces of rounded pebbles beside the river.