Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Cañizares

What to see and do in Cañizares (Serranía Alta, Cuenca): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 1 Nature · 2 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Food and drink

When to go to Cañizares: festival calendar

July: Festivities of Santiago Apóstol de Cañizares (July 25)
September: Festivities of la Virgen de los Casares (September 8)

How far each place is from the centre of Cañizares

Bridge of Vadillos 3.8 km

Towns near Cañizares

What to see in Fuertescusa 5 km · 6 places
What to see in Cañamares 8.7 km · 1 place
What to see in Carrascosa 8.7 km · 4 places
What to see in Beteta 12 km · 22 places
What to see in Alcantud 12 km · 4 places
What to see in Santa María del Val 13 km · 5 places
What to see in Priego 13 km · 14 places
What to see in La Frontera 13 km · 1 place

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Cuenca › Serranía Alta › Cañizares

What to see and do in Cañizares

Cañizares
Village
Cañizares is a municipality in the comarca of Serranía Alta, in the province of Cuenca, made up of the settlements of Cañizares, Puente de Vadillos and Huerta de los Marojales, with 320, 152 and 8 inhabitants respectively, and crossed by the Guadiela river before it enters the Hoz de Beteta gorge. Its residents are called cuchareros, after the old trade of carving spoons from boxwood and pine. It preserves the church of the Apostle Santiago, whose feast is celebrated on 25 July, and its main festivities, on 8 September, honour the Virgen de los Casares, whose hermitage stands within the municipal territory. It has 441 inhabitants, compared with the 560 recorded in the mid-19th century.
Church of Santiago Apóstol de Cañizares
Monument
The parish church of Cañizares, dedicated to Saint James the Apostle, patron saint of the town.
Hermitage of la Virgen de los Casares
Monument
Hermitage dedicated to the Virgin of los Casares, greatly venerated in Cañizares and the centre of the September celebrations and of the mayos sung to her in spring. Her feast is celebrated on 8 September, and as early as 1846 Madoz's dictionary placed the hermitage, then called de Nuestra Señora de los Casares, outside the village, to the south.
The spoon-makers of Cañizares
Curiosity
The people of Cañizares are called cuchareros, spoon makers, because their forebears carved spoons out of boxwood and pine which they then sold in Cádiz, Valencia and Madrid, a trade that shaped the town's identity.
Bridge of Vadillos
Monument
One of the three population centres of the municipality of Cañizares, together with Huerta de Marojales and Cañizares itself, located at the confluence of the río Guadiela and the río Cuervo, in a deep valley inhabited since ancient times as a passage zone. In the mid-20th century it underwent its greatest transformation, becoming an industrial hub with the silicon carbide factory and the Real Balneario de Solán de Cabras; the beauty of its surroundings, with the nearby mouth of the Cuervo into the Guadiela, later boosted tourism. It is the starting point of routes such as the PR-CU 92 to the Embalse del Molino de Chincha or the path to the Cueva de la Sierpe, and it houses the Museo Regional de los Gancheros y la Madera. Its patronal festivities, in honour of Saint Martin de Porres, are celebrated on the first Saturday of August.
The Guadiela River as it flows through Cañizares
Nature
The Guadiela rises in the Serranía de Cuenca, a few kilometres east of Cueva del Hierro, and runs about 115 kilometres westward until joining the Tajo. As it passes through the municipality of Cañizares, before cutting into the Hoz de Beteta, it forms banks of poplar groves and riverside woods among pine forests and holm oak groves. Along its course it receives tributaries such as the Escabas and the Cuervo, and its waters feed the Buendía and Bolarque reservoirs, where it merges with the Tajo, giving rise to what is known as the Mar de Castilla.
Festivities of Santiago Apóstol de Cañizares
Activity
Cañizares's festivities in honor of Santiago Apóstol; the village's sister entry, however, states that its festivities honor the Virgen de los Casares, whose hermitage stands within the municipal area, so the sources disagree on the patronage.
Festivities of la Virgen de los Casares
Activity
Celebration in honour of the Virgin of los Casares, with a procession and festive events at the sanctuary and in the village, taking place on 8 September in Cañizares. The hermitage of the Virgin of los Casares, which gives the festival its name, was already described by Pascual Madoz in 1846 as a sanctuary situated half an hour east of the village, and today it ranks among the monuments of the municipality of Cuenca.
Chorizo and morcilla from the mountain pig slaughter
Food and drink
The winter pig slaughter stocked the year's larder: chorizos marinated with paprika and garlic, blood sausages of onion or rice and loins preserved in earthenware jars. The dry cold of the sierra allowed them to be cured hanging in the upper rooms of the houses.