Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Manchuela Conquense, in the province of Cuenca, where Saint Teresa of Ávila founded in 1580 a convent of Discalced Carmelites that preserves a Mudéjar coffered ceiling topped by a thirty-two-point star; its church of la Asunción, of basilican dimensions, was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico (Spain's heritage designation in force between 1931 and 1985) in 1982, and in the 1960s the professional growing of mushrooms in Spain began here.
Monument
The parish church of the Assumption, with the rank of basilica, is a Catholic temple in Villanueva de la Jara built of ashlar stone in the 15th century using stones from the town's old Arab castle. It has a polygonal apse and very tall buttresses, and its tower frames a chapel said to be the original chapel of the castle of the Marquises of Villena, on whose site the temple was built. The main altar preserves a three-tiered altarpiece in gilded wood, and in the first chapel of the Epistle side stands out the altarpiece of San Martín, an example of Hispano-Flemish painting attributed to Alejo Fernández. It was declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico (a former Spanish heritage-protection designation) in 1982.
Monument
Founded by Santa Teresa de Jesús in 1580, it preserves a Mudéjar coffered ceiling crowned by a thirty-two-pointed star. It is one of the best preserved Teresian convents in Cuenca.
Monument
A space presided over by Renaissance buildings, including the 16th-century town hall, it forms the monumental centre of the town of Villanueva de la Jara. Nearby stands the old 15th- and 16th-century pósito (public granary), today converted into a medical centre, as well as a three-storey clock tower. Also standing there is the Posada Massó, considered one of the finest examples of the typical Castilian inn, and Villa Enriqueta, a palatial residence built in 1899.
Monument
The justice column of Villanueva de la Jara (Cuenca) is a stone column with a cylindrical shaft about three and a half metres high, set on a three-step base and topped with four openings. It symbolised the town's prerogative to administer justice and its status as a lordship. It commemorates the privilege of town status (villazgo) granted on 8 July 1476, which freed the town from Alarcón's jurisdiction and gave it the prerogatives of municipal self-government.
Curiosity
Saint Teresa of Jesus travelled in person to Villanueva de la Jara in 1580 to found her convent of Discalced Carmelites there, an episode recorded in her Libro de las Fundaciones. She left the venerable Ana de San Agustín as the soul of the community; she would later become prioress and oversaw the construction of the convent, built from the original hermitage, and of the church preserved today, the Santa Ana complex. Since 21 February 2015, next to the monastery, the Saint Teresa of Jesus Interpretation Centre has operated, dedicated to the Moradas del Castillo Interior, the work the saint wrote in 1577. The route, designed by the painter Ana Queral and the architects Manuel Cuadrado and Luciano Moreno, offers a walk through seven rooms representing the dwelling places of the soul.
Curiosity
During the Civil War the town was linked to the International Brigades. Figures such as George Orwell, Willy Brandt and Josip Broz Tito passed through it.
Curiosity
On 8 July 1476 the town gained the title of villa (town) as a reward for its support of Isabella the Catholic during the Castilian war of succession. Until then it had been a hamlet dependent on Alarcón, whose lord, Diego López Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, had backed the rival claimant, Joan la Beltraneja; by siding with Isabella, Villanueva de la Jara managed to become independent of Alarcón. After gaining town status, its boundaries bordered Alarcón, Iniesta and Jorquera, and over time it absorbed towns such as Quintanar del Rey and Casasimarro, which later split off as municipalities of their own.
Curiosity
Professional mushroom growing in Spain began in Villanueva de la Jara in the 1960s. Today button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and seasonal wild varieties are produced here.
Activity
The festival of Our Lady of the Snows is celebrated in Villanueva de la Jara around 5 August, with festivities that usually run from the 4th to the 8th or 9th of that month depending on the year. The programme includes cultural events, sports competitions, open-air dances, inflatable castles for children and gastronomic contests. The image of the Virgin, the town's Catholic patroness, is a Gothic carving seated on an armless chair with a pommel in her right hand, venerated in the church of El Carmen.
Activity
A celebration dedicated to Saint Teresa of Jesus, founder in 1580 of the local Carmelite convent, with religious events around the monastery. It is held on 15 October, though the festivities begin the evening before: on the night of the 14th, residents light bonfires and, from midnight, set off ground rockets (carretillas) and firecrackers. Villanueva de la Jara is part of the Huellas de Santa Teresa, the route linking the seventeen cities where the saint left her mark.
Historical milestone
A historicist small palace raised in 1899, a sample of the eclectic taste that the agrarian bourgeoisie brought to the Manchuela at the end of the nineteenth century. Today it is given over to housing and preserves its original façade and volume.