A Mudejar tower of brick and stone, an elaborately decorated portal and a medieval bridge over the Matachel mark different ways to explore Valencia De Las Torres and its immediate surroundings. The Ruta del Agua is another option for a walk: it is 4.5 kilometres long, very easy and takes about an hour and a half. The choices therefore range from architectural history to a walk with a clearly defined distance.
Architectural History and Architecture
The Casa de la Encomienda Santiaguista is located on Calle Fuentes and dates from the 17th century. The two-storey building has a Baroque façade. Above its elaborately decorated portal are a coat of arms and a distinctive roof feature. Several aspects are worth noting: the age of the building, the Baroque façade design and the details above the portal. This allows the façade to be viewed both as a whole and through its individual design elements.
The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción originally dates from the 15th century and has since been extensively altered. Its Mudejar tower of brick and stone creates a different architectural accent from the Baroque Casa: here, the focus is on the tower, while there it is on the façade and decorated portal. Both the church’s origins and its extensive alterations are part of its architectural history and should be considered together.
Bridge and Landscape
The Puente medieval is in the immediate surroundings of Valencia De Las Torres, about ten kilometres north of the town, spanning the Matachel River. It was part of the former routes from Córdoba and Seville to Mérida. The bridge thus has two distinct connections: its location by the river and its place on a historic route.
Eight unevenly proportioned arches made of slate and quartzite slabs define the structure. The bridge sits in a quiet, secluded landscape of exceptional natural beauty. The structure and its setting come together here: alongside the architectural detail of the arches is an environment that offers a different focus from the façades and towers of the historic buildings.
Water Infrastructure and Walk
On the edge of Valencia De Las Torres lies the rustic Las Gallineras dam, which has brick conduits. These give the structure a distinctive architectural detail. Unlike the arches of the Puente medieval or the portal of the Casa, the focus here is on a dam and its brick conduits.
The Ruta del Agua in Valencia De Las Torres is a 4.5-kilometre, very easy circular walk that takes about 1.5 hours. Its length, difficulty and approximate duration give the walk a clear framework for planning your day. If you would like to plan a manageable walk, these details will help you estimate how much time to allow.
To choose what to focus on, you can compare the different architectural features of the Casa and Iglesia, the Puente medieval’s connection to the river and historic routes, and the Ruta del Agua, a walk with a specified distance and duration. You can arrange the destinations according to whether architectural history, landscape or a walk with a clearly defined distance is the priority during your stay.
Discover more destinations: Medellín, Puebla De Sancho Pérez, Casas de Don Pedro, Villanueva del Fresno, Alburquerque, Santa Amalia, La Bazana, El Raposo
For the wider travel overview: Badajoz.
