Beautiful Villages in Spain

From the green valleys at northern, to the deserted areas in the south, Spain is a land of hug contrast.. While Asturias, Galicia or The Basque Country receive the visit of the rain almost everyday, in Andalucia farmers pray for it. The dry Central Tableland of Castilla join to the sea through rivers wich then flow into The Mediterranean, in the coast of Levante. Many differents cultures leaved here thousands of habits and customs,still reflected in the appearance of each place. I write in this article about ten of that places, but I could have do it about ten thousand.

The pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela raise the head after many kilometers going up, and find a modest settlement which transport him to medieval age. The legend tells us about a miracle happened on1300,in a temple placed at O'Cebreiro's mountain, in which the Lord rewarded the faith of a believer who fought against a snow storm, risking his life to hear mass,converting the host and the wine into meat and blood. O'Cebreiro is a small village made up by " Pallozas ", houses of celtic origin typical of Galicia.

The preromanesque temple, of uneven floor,is made it by three naves, separate by pillars, tower and arcade, and highlight because of a crude, but also beautiful, mountain style.

The Ethnologist Museun, an interest point in O'Cebreiro, is located in a Palloza of course.

By its passing across the Cabuerniga Valley, the river Saja, the " flumen Saunium" of Tolomeo, open its course to give life to its tributary Argoza, which waters runs beetween mountains as far as met one of the most lovely sign of the highland architecture at Cantabria: Barcena Mayor.

The tipycal house in Barcena date back to the sixth century. Simple two floors constuctions, and rectangular form, perfectly suited to the rural life, and climate of the zone; the facade has to both sides salient walls called firebreak. This houses are the main artistic value in Barcena; however this small town has a religiuos building that is worth a visit :The Church of Santa Maria ( Saint Mary ). Buided in the seventh century in a highland style, is covered by vaults and curveds.

In its magnificent foretss of beechs, oaks and birchs,in Cabuerniga's Valley life a large fauna composed of deers, roe bucks, wild boars, birds of prey, and some specimens of bears.

One of the most attractive village in the Basque Country. Hondarribia is beach and, at the same time history. A history that flow through the Bidasoa river's waters, which shares as a border with its neighbour french town, Hendaya, and a history also living at the Jaizkibel mountain's height, showed in the prehistoric sites Bordegain, El Faro de Higuer, Guadalupe as well as the dolmens at Jaizkibe I, Jaizkibe II, Santa Barbara, or Iskulin. History which talks also about wars against frnech troops, or sailors of this coasts fishing at Terranova on the fifteenth century.

However, the zone famous for its monuments is placed inside the wall, like the door of Santa Maria, main entrance of the wall, wich shows an ogival arch with the town coat of arms. At the Plaza de Armas, the Carlos V castle, emperor's accommodation in 1539, still being there in spite of the the frenchs. Renaissance style on the facade, or gotic on churchs leave prove the huge cultural weight of this village.

Outside the wall the Castle of San Telmo which could has belonged to pirates and templars.

In the Valley of Aran, where the rivers Valartíes and Garona meet, and close to Bonaúa's Park, one of the most important ski resort in Pirenees, is placed Artíes. This nice village is supprted on a winter landscape, surronded by pyrenean lakes. Its origin is uncertain, but some vestiges prove that during the roman era, the marble quarries were already worked. In the thrirteenth century the Templar knights settled in this town, where builded a castle-strength, destroyed later on by the French troops in the year 1283, and wich only survive the romanesque churhc.

The Artíes architecture is tipycal higlands construction, thoght to face the winter, looking for the most sunny position. Slate on the roofs to help drainnig. There are two church in Artíes: Santa María S.XIII, and San Juan of gotic style,S. XIV. 

Cadaqués, seafaring village at the heart of the Cabo de Creus' peninsula, were isolated for a long time, because of the difficulty to arrive there by land. Its strategic location exposed it to pirate's attachs, and a wind, la tramuntana, that pulled along ships towards the cliff. Nowadays Cadaqués is a tourist town, well served, that still preserve the charm of a fisher village, in wich lived Salvador Dalí, the painter, at the begining of the last century. At that time Cadaqués became mecca to every kind of artists, philosophers, travellers and writers. Picasso, Paul Eluard or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, were some of them. The old population centre, with its paving side streets, was protected by a wall, from wich is sill preserved an access, the door Es Rastell- an arch which leads to Gran's beach, and ES Baluart's tower that was used as a wacth tower against enemies' incursions.

The white houses crowd together, around the baroque church of Santa María, faced to the bay.and whitewash Dweling of fishermen with two or three floors builded of stone and brick,

The beaches of Cadaques are little coves surounded by rock's sides, and have its shore covered by slate's pebble maked round by waves.

The Albarracín's location between the gorge of the river Guadalaviar, in the middle of Montes Universales, offers to  visitor a balance between nature and archiecture. The lands of Albarracín's region were already inhabited by huamnkind during paleolithic period. Later on, at Iron Age, settled down celtic tribes of Lobetanos, and romans as well wihch prove the aqueduct of this period, at the nearby town of Cella. After the muslim invasion this village became an important miliary enclave.

From the arab period, Albarracín preserve the citadel and some towers : El Andador and El Agua. Inside the enclosure walled there are numerous monuments builded between the XII and XVI centuries. The town itself is the main monument, located in the terrain's difficult topography, with staircases and passages, and its houses of uneven walls, Complete this artistic walk small palaces. Albarracin also preserves many religious constuctions of great architectural interesting. The most important is the Cathedral.

The traveler mustn't leave Albarracín without visiting the odd museums of The Toy and The forge.

 Peñiscola settled down, arrogant, over a rocky projection that go out onto  the Mediterranean.  Pope Luna  last redoubt, this town of Castellon blends a long and suggesting history, with its important  legacy showed on its monuments, and a modern and attractive ifrst class turistic center, with nice beaches of fine sand.

  Its location as mediterranean town, has made that over  this place passed numerous civilizations, above all those who their daring sailors sliced through  the Mare Nostrum.  The phoenician colonized it with the name of Tyriche, the Greeks called it Chorsonosus, and the carthaginian Amilcar Barca founded hear Cartago Vetus.

Colouristic streets crowded with flowers, sentriy boxes, bullwarks, coats of arms, surrounded with a walled enclosure builded on sixteenth century.