CASTILLO DE BELMONTE
- Tel: 690 203 076.
-
Tue–Sun. -
2,300.
Castillo de Belmonte, Tel: 690 203 076 .
Mon.
San Bartolomé (24 Aug); Virgen de Gracia (second weekend of Sep).
Belmonte’s magnificent 15th-century castle is one of the best preserved in the region. It was built by Juan Pacheco, Marquis of Villena, after Enrique IV gave him the town in 1456. Inside it has decorative carved coffered ceilings, and Mudéjar plasterwork. The collegiate church is especially remarkable for its richly decorated chapels and Gothic choir stalls, which were brought here from Cuenca cathedral. There is also outstanding ironwork, a Renaissance reredos and the font at which the Golden Age poet Fray Luis de León (1527–91), was baptized.
Two villages near Belmonte also flourished under the Marquis of Villena. The church at Villaescusa de Haro , 6 km (4 miles) to the northeast, has an outstanding 16th-century reredos. San Clemente , some 40 km (25 miles) further southeast, clusters around two near-perfect Renaissance squares. There is a Gothic alabaster cross in the Iglesia de Santiago Apóstol.
Belmonte’s splendid 15th-century castle
Tue–Sun.