Experience the best of Cuenca

Cuenca stands on a long limestone ridge above the meeting of the Júcar and Huécar rivers, in the hills of Castilla-La Mancha, and its medieval old town, a World Heritage site, climbs steeply between the gorges. The Casas Colgadas, the Hanging Houses, cantilever out over the Huécar gorge, and one of them holds a museum of abstract art. A narrow iron footbridge, the San Pablo bridge, crosses the gorge to a former convent.

The cathedral, begun in the twelfth century, is one of the earliest Gothic cathedrals in Spain. In the hills to the north-east, the Ciudad Encantada has limestone rocks eroded into odd shapes, and the Serranía de Cuenca has pine forests, river gorges and lakes.

Morteruelo, a rich spread of game, liver and spices, ajoarriero, a stew of salt cod, garlic and potatoes, and zarajos, lamb intestines wound around vine shoots and grilled, are traditional, and the sweet is alajú, a honey and almond confection. Winters are cold and sometimes snowy, and Holy Week brings processions through the old town.