Belmonte, Spain

Belmonte, Spain

Belmonte Spain

Belmonte is a Spanish municipality of the province of Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. It is located at kilometer 342 of the N-420 road, which runs from Cuenca to Alcázar de San Juan, which is the same as that of Córdoba to Tarragona. The excavations carried out in the Collegiate Church in 1976 due to the sinking of part of the apse, exposed the ruins of an earlier Visigothic church, perhaps of the fifth century, which proves that the population is older than imagined. Erroneously in some documents it appears with the name of "The Huts", when it turns out that from always it was called Bellomonte. Erroneously in some documents it appears with the name of "The Huts", when it turns out that from always it was called Bellomonte. In the Bull of Pope Innocent III a Garcia bishop of Cuenca called Bellomonte, because of the mountain that surrounded the town. In 1294 it appears in the book of accounts of the king Sancho IV between the towns in which currency was collected to pay to the gentlemen who had to accompany Don Juan Manuel, the future Prince of Villena, to the land of Murcia. In 1323 begins to gain historical importance, because in the Chronicon domini Joannis Enmanuelis, says that in 1323 Don Juan Manuel (nephew of Alfonso X) began to build the walls of "Belmont" and at the same time built the Old Alcázar. The first member of the Pacheco family who was lord of this town was Juan Fernández Pacheco, who was granted by King Enrique III by privilege signed in Tordesillas on May 16, 1398, giving as reason "for being a person of great importance for war". The lordship was inherited by his daughter María, who married Alfonso Téllez Girón and Vázquez de Acuña. The couple had two children, Juan Pacheco and Pedro Girón (who were born in Belmonte). He inherited the manor Pedro Girón. The first-born was Juan Pacheco, first Marquis of Villena, who ordered the construction of the Belmonte Castle in 1456 and the Collegiate Church of San Bartolomé on the same dates as the castle. Between the XV and XVIII centuries, Belmonte had its golden age of which numerous buildings are conserved.
Recommended airport
Adolfo Suárez Madrid Barajas (MAD)
Nearby destinations
  • Alcázar de San Juan a 48.41 km
  • Campo de Criptana a 41.05 km
  • Socuéllamos a 32.02 km