Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in San Martín de la Vega del Alberche

What to see and do in San Martín de la Vega del Alberche (El Barco de Ávila - Piedrahíta, Ávila): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of San Martín de la Vega del Alberche

The source of the Alberche 6.2 km

Towns near San Martín de la Vega del Alberche

Spain › Castile and León › Ávila › El Barco de Ávila - Piedrahíta › San Martín de la Vega del Alberche

What to see and do in San Martín de la Vega del Alberche

San Martín de la Vega del Alberche
Village
San Martín de la Vega del Alberche is a village of about 163 inhabitants in the comarca of El Barco de Ávila-Piedrahíta, in the province of Ávila, situated at 1517 metres of altitude between the south slope of the Sierra de Villafranca and the north slope of the Sierra de Piedra Aguda; the río Alberche rises at the edge of its territory, next to that of San Juan de Gredos. In the mid-19th century the place had 524 inhabitants recorded, more than triple today's figure, and until the 1916 reform of municipal nomenclature the municipality was called simply San Martín de la Vega. It belongs to the judicial district of Piedrahíta.
The source of the Alberche
Nature
The river rises at the Fuente Alberche, on the Cuarenta Pinos ridge, at about 1,700 metres, between this municipal district and the neighbouring one of La Herguijuela. From there it runs 177 kilometres before giving itself up to the Tajo.
Between the Villafranca and Piedra Aguda ranges
Nature
The municipality covers 50.48 square kilometres at 1,510 metres of altitude, wedged between the Sierra de Villafranca to the south and the Sierra de Piedra Aguda to the north, in the meadowland where the water that forms the Alberche comes together.
The Sierra de Villafranca
Nature
The sierra de Villafranca lies in the province of Ávila and forms, together with La Serrota and the sierra de la Paramera, an alignment of the Sistema Central running from southwest to northeast, parallel to Gredos along its northern face, over some thirty kilometres and an area of about 250 square kilometres of granites and schists. Its highest point is the Cerro Moros, at 2,059 metres. Its southern slope drains into the Alberche and the Tormes; the Alberche itself rises nearby, at Fuente Alberche, between San Martín de la Vega del Alberche and La Herguijuela. The range includes some of the highest villages in Spain, such as Navasequilla, La Herguijuela and Ortigosa de Tormes. Its name comes from the former Señorío de Villafranca and gives its name to the municipality of Villafranca de la Sierra.
The mill and the trout of the Alberche
Curiosity
In the mid-nineteenth century the village had a flour mill and its residents fished for trout in the newly born river, the only two activities Madoz noted apart from rye, potatoes and flax.
The walk to the Fuente Alberche
Activity
From the village you can climb to the Cuarenta Pinos ridge, at about 1,700 metres, to see the spring where a river begins that will later cross three provinces before dying in the Tajo.
The one hundred seventeen houses of 1848
Historical milestone
In 1848 Madoz described in San Martín de la Vega del Alberche a village of one hundred and seventeen houses of poor construction and an elementary school attended by between thirty-five and forty children; the village then had 524 households, today there are 163.
The potato of the Alberche vega
Food and drink
The sandy, cool soils of the meadowland, at more than 1,500 metres, yield a firm-fleshed potato that for generations was, along with rye, the village's sustenance, and it is still grown in family vegetable plots.