Casas Colgadas (Hanging Houses)

Phone: 969 232 119

Email: info@turismocuenca.com

Website: www.turismocuenca.com

Location

At one end of the Cathedral neighbourhood, over the Huécar river gorge.

Type of monument

Civil Architecture

History

The exact origin of the Casas Colgadas is unknown, for some it is Muslim, for others Medieval, around the 14th-15th centuries.

The coat of arms of the canon Gonzalo González de Cañamares found inside indicates that it may have been an old noble house.

The myth, the magic and the legend raised it to the category of Historic and Artistic Monument.

They are currently three houses restored in the 20th century. Two of them house the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art (Casas del Rey) and the other a typical tavern (Casa de la Sirena).

Period

13th-14th century

How to get there

Road transport

The Hanging Houses of Cuenca, renovated during the twentieth century to be put to new use, now sport restored wooden balconies, open stonework and stone cantilevers; designs in which some see evidence of Muslim and other Medieval influences.

Only three of the houses are visible:

The Casa de la Sirena (House of the Mermaid) is a three story building, in a popular style, with bare wooden beams and rendered masonry.

Attached we find the Casas de Rey (Kings Houses), a 14th and 15th century medieval construction, also renovated in the 20th century to be put to new use.
It is a Gothic lay building, with balconies giving onto the hoz del Huécar, with some surviving traces of the original murals. A very beautiful renaissance doorway has been added, that came from the Villarejo de la Peñuela palace.
It currently houses the painter Fernando Zóbel’s valuable collection of abstract art.