Albarracín is beautiful, very beautiful; and its surroundings are up to par
Is there anything better than visiting a place that you have been told is beautiful and that all expectations are met? Yes, that site has more things that you did not know and that are also impressive. Something similar happens to the beautiful Albarracin , which, apart from its well-cared-for wall and its postcard viewpoints, has a wonderful setting to show you.
PAINTINGS
The bright green of the trees hand in hand with the intense red of the sandstone, crumbled in some stripes in absolute fiery sand. Almost bordering the also coppery Albarracín, we find the Rodeno Pinares Protected Landscape , a quiet and extensive pine forest, as its name suggests, in which, apart from being able to follow hiking trails, you will be surprised by the number of cave paintings that tattoo their coats.
The wonder of seeing nature at your feet
One of the positive aspects of this environment is its enabled accesses , with ample parking for cars and, above all, a paved path suitable for people with reduced mobility, which notably overcomes many of the uneven terrain.
As we said, the pine forest is famous for hosting a large number of cave paintings that belong to the Levantine current, characterized by representing human figures in a schematic way and the use of red, although in some shelters they have been found. paintings made in white tones , which is not so common in Levantine art.
These paintings of the protected landscape, together with many others that have appeared in the Valencian Community, Murcia, Andalusia, Catalonia and Castilla-La Mancha, form a group called cave art of the Mediterranean arch, which UNESCO included in its list of World Heritage in 1998.
We tell it not to throw the typical tourist office data, but to put the paintings at the height of their deserved value despite the fact that, in some shelters, it is difficult to discern them: the passage of centuries, the weather conditions and the use on occasions of reddish pigments very much in the line of the sandstone that serves as its support have caused some drawings are barely perceptible to the human eye so ethereal, even with the help of some panels that indicate the figures you can see in the rock.
The Protected Landscape of the Pinares de Rodeno
Even with everything, the famous archer that serves as a tourist logo, the horses and the bulls that we can see on the rock are undoubtedly worth a visit, to get an idea of the life of the ancient inhabitants of this area, to immerse ourselves more in our exploration of the surroundings of Albarracín and, as always happens when contemplating cave paintings, to realize how immensely old humanity is.
ROMAN AQUEDUCT
If you are curious, if you are fond of history, engineering or, in short, you are a person who knows what is good for you, you will like our following proposal: the Roman aqueduct that goes from Albarracín to the town of Cella.
But, before going on to sing about its virtues, we ask you to close your eyes and get rid of any preconceived image of aqueducts that comes to mind . Forget that you are going to find something similar to the aqueducts of Les Ferreres or Los Milagros and, of course, do not expect the one in Segovia.
The environment of the Pinares de Rodeno is impressive
Do you already have them closed? Good, because what you are going to visit is not an aqueduct built on a regular basis, but carved into the stone , which forces us to use the vaunted formula "brilliant Roman engineering" again. But it is that, before this intelligent feat, there is no other remedy.
The Romans dug a kind of tunnel about 25 kilometers long through which they made the water flow from the nearby Guadalaviar river to Cella. It is estimated that it could have been built in the 1st century and some sections have survived to this day, one of the most spectacular being the one known as Burros Ravine.
In the latter you can take a short walk through a spectacular canyon until you reach the area where the aqueduct appears, which of course you can access. The silence and the views in this steep ravine are overwhelming , and we recommend that you give yourself a good time of introspection there.
And if you have not satisfied your curiosity and you are left wanting more, you can complete the visit with the other sections of the aqueduct, which appear along the entire road that leads from Albarracín to Cella. A very instructive visit that surprises everyone, because not all aqueducts are like the Pont del Gard.
RAVINE OF THE HOZ
To finish our varied offer, we are going to do something different, we are going to dive into the water. Well, not literally, but not much is missing. About 20 kilometers from Albarracín is the small town of Calomarde, where the increasingly well-known Barranco de la Hoz route begins, a beautiful route parallel to the one made by the Fuente del Berro river.
The walk will take you from being accompanied by the pines to being forced to crouch when the ravine narrows, all with the continuous lullaby of the water in the background and the playful changes of light. Well conditioned and with the possibility of being accompanied by dogs (although be careful in some sections), this refreshing path that makes its way through the rock leaves you with your mouth open. Pay attention not to block the way when you go to take photos, we know each other.
To round off the experience, it is best to start -or end, as you like- with a visit to the Calomarde Waterfall or Batida Waterfall, a wild waterfall, not excessively large, but of untamed beauty. As in the rest of the sites that we have suggested, access is also excellent at the waterfall, with a car park a few meters away and a marked descending path.
The wild Cascade of Calomarde