#zaorejas

I think this post was long overdue, I wanted to make a post about Cris’ town, hope you like it :)

So, first of all:

This is the town of Zaorejas. It is located in the Province of Guadalajara, autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha (if you want more info about the different autonomous communities of Spain here’s a post I made about it), at about 128 km (79 miles) from Madrid:

It’s at 1225 meters high, has 189 km2 and 116 inhabitants. It is known as “the capital of the High Tagus”, as it sits in the middle of the Alto Tajo Nature Reserve (Tajo is what we call in Spanish the river Tagus), which apparently was a filming location of Game of Thrones’ season 6 so that’s that. Here’s it’s location, as you can see, it takes a big chunk of the Guadalajara province:

And here are some pics of the reserve!!!

So yeah, it’s basically an outdoorsy area with lots of nature and cool sights, my uncle told me he went rafting here some years ago!

Some stuff you can find in Zaorejas proper:

Gancheros Museum: A museum about the gancheros, an abandoned job that consisted of the transportation of logs through the Tagus river

Interpretation Center for the High Tagus: Exactly what it says, Zaorejas wouldn’t be the capital of the High Tagus if it didn’t have a museum about it

Roman Aqueduct: 1 km away from the town, you can find this aqueduct that crossed the Fuentelengua Canyon. It was at one point 12 meters high and under it passed a Roman road. It is unclear why it was here, as there’s no sights of  Roman settlements in the Zaorejas area.

Celtiberian Ruins: There are Celtiberian ruins in La Cabezuela, part of Zaorejas, that indicate Celtiberians, one of the “original” inhabitants of the Iberian Peninsula, populated the area. We know the name of the last tribe that inhabited that town, the titti. 

Roman Road: Zaorejas appears to be located in the mansio (kinda like an inn, they were placed by the side of roads) of Carae. Through the Aqueduct there are remnants of the Laminio - Caesaraugusta road. Laminio is the modern Alhambra (Ciudad Real) and was an Iberian oppidum, and Caesaraugusta is the modern Zaragoza, a very important city in Roman Hispania. 

Also of notice is, apart from the town festivities, one in honour of the male saint, Saint Anthony of Padua (June 13th) and another, more important, in honour of the female saint, the Nativity of Our Lady (September 8th), they celebrate the High Tagus Ganchera Festivity, a festivity in honour of the gancheros. I just want a clip with the girls attempting ganchero’s work please.

Finally, some history. Apparently, during the Civil War, Zaorejas was divided within Nationals and Republicans, and there’s a tale of two inhabitants that were assasinated and buried beside the Roman Aqueduct. Yikes.

Okay, I’ve never been there but I have family from the same region (Castilla La Mancha) and my dad’s from a town, so I could give you some info about how life is over there:

•As Google Maps shows me, Zaorejas is in the mountains, just as my dad’s town, so you have to know it’s a cold place even during summer, probably with a lot of wind too, and I’m pretty sure it snows during winter. For reference, Google Maps is telling me that right now, 4 pm, one of the hottest times of the day, in June, they are at 19°C. In Madrid we are at 24°C.

•I don’t know if you’re planning on making family, but if you do, keep in mind that manchego women, especially grandmas, are obsessed with feeding everyone and stuffing them with all sorts of stews and soups.

•Expect a group of old women in the middle of the town sitting on portable chairs gossiping about everyone who passes by, kinda like this one:

•Taking a walk with your family or even by yourself takes a really long time because everyone knows you and stops to talk to you. A 10 minute walk could end up being a 50 minute one. Sadly, taking walks is kinda the only thing you can do out of the house.

•If its summer, going to the municipal pool is the best thing to do, because even if it’s chillier up there, it’s still part of Spain, and here temperatures can quickly get up to 40°C. Also in summer, ice cream.

•Inside of the house, board games and TV are the typical entertainment.

•People in small towns tend to be more religious, so expect going to church being like the social hub of town, and specially during Easter going to mass every day.