fbpx
00:00 / 07:07

Historic Centre

At the heart of Cuzcurrita, is its Plaza Mayor, where we are going to start the tour of the historic centre. This tour will be full of stories, places and secrets on a route that dates back to the Middle Ages.

The village was walled because it was a stronghold with an external castle dated back to the 14th century. Within the centre of the village, we start the route admiring the Plaza in which sits the imposing Church of San Miguel, sinuous and Baroque, elevated above the river Tirón to the right.

The village was walled because it was a stronghold with an external castle dated back to the 14th century. Within the centre of the village, we start the route admiring the Plaza in which sits the imposing Church of San Miguel, sinuous and Baroque, elevated above the river Tirón to the right.

House number 16 of the Tercer Cantón was built in the 17th century, making it the oldest in the village. All of the other houses are Baroque, which places them between the 17th and 18th centuries. All are built in ashlar stone, thanks to the fact that there were up to 8 quarries in the village, which facilitated the construction with this noble material. The stone was always cut regularly, which gives the village a harmony and constructive coherence.

Normally the doorways or entrances that appear in this type of house are lintelled, there are not many arches. If and when they are used, you will see them in secondary or service doors. Decorations are rare, except for the appearance of the coats of arms on the doors or some decorative motif in the corners. In all cases, the Cuzcurrita coat of arms indicate they belonged to civilian families.

Many of the streets in Cuzcurrita maintain their original names, such as Primer Cantón, Segundo Cantón, Tercer Cantón, Cuarto Cantón, Calle Cierzo, Calle Rincón, Calle Carnicerías and Calle Nueva (the expansion after passing through the walls).

We continue the tour from the square, passing in front of the Casa Palacio de la Familia Salazar, named in the 17th century as “La Casa Grande”, sitting at number 15 of Calle Segundo Cantón, now converted into a hotel. A palace with facades in all four directions and a characteristic lantern that gives natural light to the interior of the building. Inhabited by illustrious and noble people in ancient times, in the 1920s it was a theatre, cinema, dance hall and also a grain warehouse.

We now take First Cantón street to the left and there we will see the facades for the house numbers 12 and 3. The round windows, carved in the same ashlar stone, are very common throughout the village. As if they were eyes, which contemplate the passage of history. In house number 3, the building has three floors plus a striking suntrap, which appears on the fourth floor, from which the wooden coffered ceiling can be seen from the street.

When we reach the end of the First Cantón, we will then turn right to go down Calle Mayor and stop at numbers 2 and 23. At the end of Calle Mayor, we can see a worn sign that reads “Cine Arzagon”. Because of the economic and social power of the owners of many of these palace-houses, Cuzcurrita was once known as a town of musicians and comedians. Many of these gentlemen competed with each other to have the best cinema or theatre in town.

Turning to the right, we will take Carnicerías Street to reach another building, at number 7, which also housed a cinema, today converted into the village’s bakery.

​At the junction with Cierzo street, we will turn right, to continue the tour along Nueva street where we can see an immense palace, at number 7. Belonging to the Marquis of Fuerte Híjar, descendants of the Marqués de la Ensenada, it was later used as a Civil Guard Barracks until the 70s.

Returning to Cierzo street, and located at the crossroads to the right, is Tercer Cantón street and a palace house located at number 16 with two floors and a large projecting eave with carved corbels.

We will end our tour of the historic centre of Cuzcurrita along Calle Cierzo, thus returning to the Plaza Mayor of the village.

Navigate through the Historic Centre of Cuzcurrita ...

Move the mouse over the image and you can move 360º to appreciate different points of view.