Far from the crowds, in the shade of the pine forests, on the immensity of the Spanish sierras carved with canyons, you will marvel at the sources of the Tagus and Pitarque. From the top of the hilltop villages, you will dream of the brave Cid Campeador.

It is east of the Iberian Peninsula, between Cuenca and the Azahar coast, passing through the Serrania, the Universal Mountains, the Maestrazgo and the Maestrat! The stops have raspy and Moorish sounds, the routes and the walks are tailor-made.

An authentic and unknown Spain, to discover far from the beaten track.

The eastern route of Cid Campeador

They left five hundred; but by prompt reinforcement, they “saw themselves three thousand on arriving at the port,” said Corneille.

A national hero, Cid Rodrigo DÍaz de Bivar crossed Spain around 1080 in the direction of Valencia to reconquer the kingdom delighted by the Moors. Corneille or Anthony Mann, Gérard Philippe or Charlton Heston, French Comedy or Hollywood? So many myths to dream of “well-born souls” on this itinerary to the landscapes of the Far West.

Crossing the path of the imaginary Don Quixote, the eastern course of the Cid, very real, crosses wild sierras. Today, the mule tracks are replaced by superb European roads.

The tormented rocks of red sandstone or gray limestone take on the strangest forms of saurians. It is mild in winter and black pine provides appreciable shade at the height of summer. This is his last advance in the south of Europe.

Springs, resurgences and dam lakes refresh the plateaus which vary around a thousand meters above sea level. The vulture watches you, the deer dashes, the foxes cross on the road. A setting appreciated since prehistoric times, as evidenced by the numerous cave paintings.

The omnipresent stone tells the story of Roman archeology, it is found in the round shelters of shepherds or chozos, fortified farms or masias and fortresses. From Cuenca to Morella, near the Costa del Azahar, this breathtaking itinerary becomes human, with a warm and often gourmet welcome.

The Serrania de Cuenca

Cuenca-Albarracin (116 km)

Go up, go up… The medieval city of Cuenca (strong> in Castile-La Mancha, classified as a UNESCO heritage site, nests high in a meander of the Huecar. Its last houses with wooden galleries The Casas Colgadas are suspended from the San Pablo Bridge or the neighboring parador.

Climb either by bus or by car, leaving it in the narrow seven-storey car park that digs the upper town. row of colorful squares makes you forget the truncated facade of the cathedral, more beautiful inside.

Go down the calle del Obispo Valero towards the Diocesan, Cuenca, Abstract Art and other artistic foundations. Fans will not miss the twisted grids of the windows, before finding, from watchtower to watchtower, the bridge marked with votive padlocks for lovers. It still works!

25 km north, go to the “Enchanted City”, Ciudad Encantada. Over 3 km, these spooky silhouettes of eroded limestone are reminiscent of those of Fontainebleau. Rocks that give free rein to the imagination, like the giant mushroom at the entrance, a real madness of nature.

It turns dry along the embalming turquoise waters of the Jucar to enter the Universal Mountains of Lower Aragon. And here is the nacimiento du Tage, the longest river on the peninsula. A very discreet source placed under the close surveillance of three oversized metal statues.

The A 1704 crosses the natural depression of Frias de Albarracin, ideal for hiking, to find the memory of the Cid in Albarracin.

Albarracin, rock and Moorish

The most beautiful village in Spain? Avoid the tourist periods and leave in the morning to survey Albarracin (photo), hung in a meander of the Guadalaviar and framed by ocher walls. You only go up on foot, discovering each knocker, each grid, each facade with rounded porches surmounted by a coat of arms, typical of Aragon.

The Berber dynasty of Banou Razin gave its name to Albarracin. Its glazed tile roofs evoke the Mudejar art of nearby Teruel. Le Cid almost lost his life there when, in 1093, he received a lance in the neck. But we are not heroes for nothing … Legend has it that we meet at dawn the spirit of a beautiful dead widow locked up, her husband having gone to war with the key.

Passing the forged dragons of the Casa de Los Monterde, the Plaza Mayor, and finally the cathedral, you arrive at the Diocesan Museum. It is worth a visit for its Brussels tapestries and an amazing crystal fish set (XVI c), worthy of a royal treasure. To the sound of the hurdy-gurdy, trompe-l’oeil and golden virgins reveal themselves in the darkness of the corridors.

The Rodeno pine forest cultural park, where the rock shelters are painted with examples of Levantine rock art (6000 to 1500 BC), follows a scenic route. The Universal Mountains, very wooded, culminate at 2000 m, dug by the waters of the Tagus, Guadalaviar, Jucar, Cabriel and Jiloca and crisscrossed with paths.

At the gates of the Maestrazgo

Albarracin – Teruel – Mora de Rubielos (90 km)

But when do the Spanish sleep? It remains a mystery. Neither in the evening, nor at night, nor even during the nap when they are watching TV or at the cafe, but there are still Spaniards who work at 9 am? Do the generations make the 3x6x9?

On the way to the sierras, nothing prevents you from planning to visit Teruel, a Mudejar city where the towers and the municipal museum bear witness to its valiant past. Attention, Le Cid and Chimène have nothing to do with the lovers of Teruel, Marcilla and Isabelle, who ended badly “finally, reunited in the shadows”, as Edith Piaf sang.

Head south on the A 23 then east on the A 232 and Mora de Rubielos, door of the Maestrazgo (photo): a huge diagonal of arid and wild sierras that the Cid traveled on his white horse Babieca, during his long exile. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it was the Templar Masters who left their names to them: Maestrazgo in Aragonese and Maestrat in Valencian.

At more than a thousand meters above sea level, the imposing mass of the castle of Mora (13th-15th centuries) dominates the upper town, facing the ruins of a fortress. Grids, balconies and coats of arms adorn the alleys around the Gothic collegiate church, refuge of all battles.

The Alto Maestrazgo

Mora de Rubielos – Allepuz-Villaroya de los Pinares – Fortanete – Villafranca – Villarluengo (120 km)

Go up north by the A 228 and the Sierra de Gúdar which aims to be… skiing. From Allepuz, take the A 226 due east. The wind is blowing on wind turbines on successive passes, in a resolutely modern economic battle.

Villarroya de los Pinares, a Templar village, falls asleep near a hermitage with carved woodwork. On these desolate heights, the shepherds are rare and often come from Romania. A hundred stone columns hide on the hill. They used to indicate to the postman his journey through the snow. Fortanete

frescoes illustrate its Templar past. Arriving at Cuarto Pelado (1,657 m), you will understand its meaning. It is the heart of the Maestrazgo and the road is winding along magnificent gorges in the evening sun. It is the country of the ibex and the wild goat. That of the masias, these fortified farms with a square tower.

Times of violence and fighting where the Templars did justice near the pillories now restored. The time also of the Carlist wars impoverishing and causing the rural exodus in the 19th century. The landscape surprises at every turn, like the perched and desolate village of Cañada de Benatanduz (1,422 m, photo), crisscrossed by abandoned agricultural terraces, at the confluence of the Pitarque and the Guadalope.

Surprise at the last turn: the village of Villarluengogroups its tiled roofs around a baroque church. End of the world on its rocky spur, it rises to 1,130 m, with hermitage, pillory and a curious water trough notched at the entrance.

Villarluengo – Pitarque – Aliaga Montoro V illarluengo (90 km)

A little rest seems necessary at the Masia Torre Montesanto, overlooking Villarluengo. The last kilometer is rough, and the enchantment of the place as well as the family welcome of Laura and José-Luis are welcome.

The next day, departure for Pitarque. The descent by car on the A 1702 takes you to the fish farm to the north, from where a fork leads to the Pitarque gorges. From this village, we reach the resurgence by a path. In a strange circus, a rock carved out of stairs symbolizes an ancient veneration of water, a sign of life.

A brand-new panoramic route rises at the entrance to Pitarque, towards magnificent plateaus of conifers and centennial junipers. A breath of fresh air and wild landscapes to descend on Aliaga, on the Guadalope.

At the time of the Cid, this village depended on the Taifa of Albarracín. The eight towers of its castle, built by the Knights Hospitallers, dominate the tormented landscape of the Aliaga geological park (Interpretation center) whose coal mines closed in 1980. You can return by Aldehuela and Ejulve, renowned for its ham. The landscape was unfortunately blackened by a fire in 2009.

Returning to Villarluengo, you will be rewarded with one of the most extraordinary geological phenomena in the region, the Organos de Montoro (photo). From the belvedere, you can admire these Dantesque slabs, deformed vertically for millennia and stacked like limestone organs. Light sculpts the grays of these giant teeth, under the interested gaze of griffon vultures.

The Masias Route

Villarluengo – Tronchon – Bordon – Mirambel – Cantavieja (80 km) Leaving

Villarluengo, the Masias road leads to these fortified dwellings which hide behind the bends, faithful to their warlike role. Known for its sheep and goat cheese cited in Quijote, the pastoral village of Tronchon was once renowned for its production of rabbit skin hats, which are now over.

Via Olocau del Rey, go up towards Bordon. This harmless village hides the most beautiful church in the Maestrazgo. Ask for the key at the bar. Paquita holds it in her pocket and opens the door to the Virgin of the Carrasca without any problem. The 18th century paintings that cover walls and ceilings tell the naive vision of a young shepherd.

The Madonna appeared to him on a carrasca, a crown of holm oak. A sun evokes the light of the equinoxes which illuminate the golden altarpieces and the cherubs of the capitals. A marvel of popular decor … Towards Castellote, a conglomerate of rocks stacked for western dominates the ghostly white-gray lake of Santolea.

We return from the south so as not to miss Mirambel (photo). This fortified village has hardly lost its charm despite its restoration. Cats bask on the decorative pebbles on the floor. The Portal of MonjasMudejar opens under the ornate windows of a convent. True moucharabiehs, they overlook the main street, lined with noble houses. A fine example of heritage enhancement inaugurated by Queen Sofia herself!

A stage city, Cantavieja dominates a gorge, with a castle, a wall, a Baroque church, a Renaissance palace as it should be, and boasts of having the most beautiful arcaded square in Aragon.

The Maestrat

Cantavieja – La Iglesuela del Cid – Villafranca – Ares – Morella (60 km)

The limestone of the high plateaus is made here of dry-stone walls and chozos. The chozos (photo), bories or dry-stone huts, are these primitive Mediterranean dwellings whose mortarless architecture dates back to the Neolithic. Agricultural or pastoral shelters, they emboss the innumerable stone walls and fields, under the eyes and stunted holm oaks. The boar is not far away.

La Iglesuela del Cid (1,227 m) has undoubtedly seen the knight pass with his lancers and standards, in front of his coats of arms. Miles of stone walls now bristle the countryside.

The arches of a time-worn bridge separate Aragon from the Valencian Community. The Maestrazgo becomes Maestrat and we speak Valencian with Catalan consonances.

If Villafranca del Cid is a textile center, the Dry-Stone Museum is appropriate for the mineral environment. CV 15 goes up towards the north-east and Ares del Maestrat. A surprising village of beauty thanks to the whiteness of its houses. The ruins of its Arab castle stand out against a rocky wall (1,194 m) which dominates the plain.

CV 12 heads for Morella, offering the most beautiful view possible when arriving on the medieval city. Porches and ramparts are wrapped around the fortress mistreated by fighting, from the time of the Romans to the Carlist wars. They set the mood for this town emblazoned at will, where the museum and the basilica are home to art treasures.

On these last foothills of the sierras, 60 km from the sea, the Cid won, brandishing its sword Tizona towards Valence.

Local delicacies

We should not expect culinary exploits from this journey, apart from the local and fresh products of an agricultural and pastoral civilization. The cuisine is spicy, aioli on the table. Cordero

lamb is excellent. You will only find here these small fine chops grilled in costillada, any melted fat, accompanied by sausages or kidneys. The garlic rabbit is roasted in the oven. Instead of Guardia Civil beef-sole, prefer stewed kid or mountain trout. Unfortunately, the ham, despite the countless farms around Teruel and Ejulve, is not what it used to be. The Maestrazgo boasts of having excellent potatoes, it’s true. The patita fritas

or grilled zucchini goes well with dishes. The many walnut trees have given rise to the idea of a new potato and nut mixture, nogada, which sticks to the body.

If you are not afraid, get into game in season, or even beans with pigs’ ears, muy tipicos. Mushrooms, including black truffles, are kings: normal, with all these forests.

Sheep cheese is delicious, especially in Tronchon. Gourmets will appreciate pastries with an oriental flair with Sunday pumpkin and cinnamon empanadon. The almohabanas of ben Razin d’Albarracin, the torta fullera of Canada-de-Benatanduz with almonds, the flaons Morella cheese and white almond ice cream (photo) are “very rich”, a compliment in Spanish.

The vino tinto de la casa flows freely, as the local reception wishes. The extra glass is rarely counted and the local juniper distills in brandy.

Hikes for all levels

The linear GR trails are marked in white red. For short hikes, contact the Tourist Offices. Please note, the Spanish count around 5 km an hour without stops. Here are some ideas for walks:

Serrania de Cuenca

Universal Mountains

– Circuit of the Tagus basin, two days, from Nacimiento del Tajo to Frias de Albarracin and Calomarde (PR 2 yellow), Mocardon, Terriente and Masegoso (PR 3 blue), El Vacelillo, Nacimiento del Tajo (GR 10-1 white red).
– GR 10: circuit of rock shelters in the Rodeno pine forest (10 km). Marked white red, from the car park on the road from Albarracin to Bezas.

Maestrazgo

– PR-TE 78: Camino de Los Pilones (5 km), from Villaroya de los Pinares to Allepuz (change in altitude 200 m).
– GR 8: one day around Los Cuchillos, marked white red by Fortanete, Cuarto Pelado, Cantavieja, Mirador de Tarayuela, Fortanete.
– GR 8, the barranco du Guadalope, two days, marked white red by Cuevas de Cañart, Ladrunan, La Algecira, Las Hoces, Ejulve, Molinos, Cuevas de Cañart.
– GR 8 Villarluengo-Pitarque (8 km) marked white red by the Masia Torre Montesanto, then PR-TE 67 trail (5 km) towards the resurgence.
– PR-TE 66, Medieval bridges and glacier, 7 km from Villarluengo (difference in altitude 300 m).
– PR-TE 70, dry stone path, 6.5 km from Iglesuela del Cid.

Maestrat

– Ares del Maestrat: the mills of Ares. 3 hours from the village square. Elevation: 300 m by the Los Molinos barranco.

Spain Visa Singapore for citizens and foreign nationals living here.