Another visit to the molinos near Botija, one of our favourite walks, Spectacular after the spring rains

One of the most wonderful walks from Finca al-manzil. Totally emblemic of the Extremadura dehesa and the meandering Tamuja river with an original molino as an historical architectural attraction. Bird watching is amazing in this totally untouched environment. If you walk beyond the molino there is a celtic-iberic site Villaviejas, super interesting, see the blog post here:

 https://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com/2017/05/botija-and-walk-to-villaviejas-celtic.html 

Zamarrillas

A haunting place lost in the Llanos de Caceres, a collection of buildings which represent the story of Extremadura since the reconquista in the middle of the 13th century. Now completely uninhabited except for the thriving stork colony with nests on the towers and crumbling walls of the ruins. We had a fascinating walk around the whole area which is set in an emblematic Extremadura landscape.

Known as Heredamiento y Prado de Zamarrillas, the earliest building is a casa fuerte, a fortified house, built on a small eminence, la casa fuerte de los Duranes.

These casa fuertes were built in the first years after the reconquista. The Christians from the north had finally re conquered this part of Spain after six centuries of Moorish settlement but  the Moors were still very much in evidence further south, the conquest of Granada took a further 250 years so the casas fuertes were a symbols of power with caution, scattered across Extremadura, safe refuges on journeys between the larger towns and guarding against possible Moorish attack or cattle raids.

Towns such as Caceres, Trujillo and Merida did not start to develop beyond their walls until the beginning of the 16th century when there was a surge of development fuelled by the riches brought back by the conquistadors of Extremadura from the new world, mainly Peru and Mexico. The newly ennobled conquistadors built palaces and endowed churches, convents and monasteries.

 In Zamarrillas the Casa Grande palace was built in the 16th century by the Ovando family with their coat of arms still in place. 

All through the centuries the rich pasture land and abundant water supply from the Salor river would have been used for raising sheep and cattle, particularly sheep, the wool trade of Extremadura made many fortunes. The barns and outbuildings of the herdade were used for storage, wool shearing and housing the farm workers, there are documents recording up to 200 people living and working on the estate at its peak. 

It seems that by the 18th century the farm was declining, perhaps split into too many parts by inheritance, lack of workers or it was even suggested it was stricken by a plague of termites.

The ruin brought by neglect and time was completed at the beginning of the 19th century in the war of independence or the peninsular wars when the herdade was invaded by French troops who destroyed much of what was left leaving the buildings open to the elements. 

Some renovation has taken place in recent years, re-roofing some buildings and maintenance of the dam which has created an idyllic lake behind the casa fuerte. 

We spoke to a shepherd who was grazing his flock near the lake, he said that the land and property was owned by many different owners, some unknown and unrecorded making it difficult to carry out any cohesive renovation project. 

Unfortunately the most ruined building is the church. It was once known as Nuestra Senora de la Esclarecida, a Romanesque structure from the 14th century with a hexagonal apse and remains of a pillared portico.

The image of the virgin and child once housed here was fortunately saved from destruction by Napoleonic troops and can now be seen in Caceres at the Church of Santiago de los Caballeros, although much damaged by time it is probably one of the oldest images of the virgin in Extremadura. Nowadays the church has long been used as a barn for animals and at one time a mechanical grain mill, part of the machinery still exists in a lean-to shed, difficult to imagine the devout congregation of Zamarrillas praying here under the calm gaze of the virgin and child.

OVER THE SIERRA FROM MONTANCHEZ TO ARROYOMOLINOS- SPECTACULAR WALK

How many times have I done this walk? Maybe 20 or 30 times over 12 years  but it's still very special, not least because of the solitude, usually never meet another person.
Today was extra special with the sound of running water crashing down the mountain and accompanied by nightingales along the way. Because the walk is so secluded with many different natural habitats the bird life and botany are really impressive.

The walk starts in Montanchez and winds its way through 7 kms of the sierra on an ancient path down to Arroyomolinos.
First passing by vineyards and olive groves, through the mossy bosky chestnut wood now in deep cool shade and then out onto the wilder mountainside still smothered in exquisite wild flowers.

The path gets steeper as it approaches the gorge of Arroyomolinos passing by many natural springs on the way and with far distant views of terraced mountainside and way down to the hills beyond the gorge.

At the start of the gorge the first mill building appears, it has been renovated and used as an idyllic retreat, just below there is a torrent of water gushing back down to the main stream.

The path is steep but secure and follows the stream all the way down the gorge. The vegetation is wild and rampant, the ruins of many water mills emerge from the green tangle. A marvelous and unique collection of  mills cascading down the hillside, fascinating and romantic.

The design of the mills is ancient and features a tall stone tower with an acquaduct connecting the tower to a millpond, the mill is powered by the water of the mill pond being guided along the acquaduct and then crashing down the tall tower onto the paddles which turn the millstones, the water then flows back to the main stream and the next mill.

The base of the gorge  widens into meadows and olive groves on the outskirts of Arroyomolinos where there is a wooded path along the lower slope of the sierra all the way back to Finca al-manzil, about another 2kms on level ground

LOS BARRUECOS NATURAL MONUMENT & THE WOLF VOSTELL MUSEUM

The Los Barruecos Natural Monument is in the middle of the Cáceres plain on the road to Portugal going west.

A spectacular natural creation that man has helped to shape. The unique undulating landscape is dotted with lakes and enormous granite boulders.

Los Barruecos has been declared a Natural Monument because of the beauty of its landscape with strange and eerie  granite formations sculpted by water and wind. 

Water has played an essential part in creating this unique natural habitat for numerous animal species, White storks and the grey herons find this an ideal place for their prolific colonies.

This has also been an ideal place for human settlement, as demonstrated by the many archaeological remains dating from the Neolithic through the Roman period and into 19th century. 

The 18th century wool processing factory (now the Wolf Vostell museum) was a major focus for the trashumancia, the herding of sheep down to Extremadura every winter from Asturias and Galicia. Here they were shorn and the wool washed  using  the abundant water from a natural lake sustained by making a dam and channeling the water into a huge boiler where it was heated to wash the lanolin from the wool, it was then packed into bales and distributed all over Spain.
A number of routes have been created through this vast expanse with differing durations and itineraries.

The Peñas del Tesoro route starts at the Vostell-Malpartida Museum and ends at the Peñas del Tesoro, skirting the Barrueco de Abajo lake. This is the most popular route, lasting just 30 minutes.

It passes one of Wolf Vostell's installations, typically car+ concrete+ impact

The Barrueco de Arriba route is a little longer. This is a 1 hour route around the lake that gives it its name.

But if you are looking for something more demanding, other routes take between 2 and 3 hours.

If you visit Los Barruecos, don't miss out on the Vostell-Malpartida museum, which houses a unique collection, consisting mainly of the work of the German artist Wolf Vostell who made his home and studio at an 18th century wool washing complex, a fascinating group of buildings which now house the collection.

 Wolf Vostell is the father of this museum, as he was for the Dé-coll/age technique, the European Happening, the Fluxus Movement and video-art. His art has a special spark to it – an unmistakable touch of originality –  discover it for yourself, art students, historians and general public visit this unique collection from all over the world, we are lucky to have it so close by.

The museum is made up of two noteworthy collections. The first of them, called Wolf y Mercedes Vostell, contains several works of art entailing elements of fetishistic symbology from our times, such as the car, television or concrete, transformed to warn us of the shadows and conflicts enclosed in the society we live in. Examples of works of this type are "Concrete Bull", "The Thirsty Dead Man" or the garden sculpture, "Why Did The Trial Between Pilate And Jesus Take Only 2 Minutes?"

The Fluxus collection – which was donated to Extremadura by the Italian collector, Gino di Maggio – is made up of a group of 250 works by 31 North American, European and Asian artists. 

The whole collection by conceptual artists contains 60 works, including pictures, picture-objects, sculptures and installations belonging to 48 artists that have had a special connection to the Vostell Malpartida Museum activities since it started in 1976. 

I have visited many times but always find a new message, something I had not noticed before. It's a great day's excursion combined with a walk around the lake and then a visit to Caceres and its monumental city. 
Only 40 minutes from Finca al-manzil.

THE WATERMILL WALK, ARROYOMOLINOS, EXTREMADURA

What a glorious day! Blue skies and 21c in the middle of the day, not bad for January 11th.
 Instead of a longer journey we decided to do our favourite watermill walk again, this time coming down from Montanchez and back to the finca, still a good work-out but a little less strenuous than the reverse way which means climbing UP constantly from Arroyomolinos back to Montanchez.

After 10 years it is still our favourite route and right on the doorstep. It is very rare to encounter another walker which makes the walk even more attractive..........just nature and us ..........and dogs of course!

               BEAUTIFUL WINTER LANDSCAPE WITH MONTANCHEZ CASTLE -start of walk

                   A CHUBBY FRIEND MET ON THE WAY.......DESTINED FOR JAMON

                                          STEEP WALK DOWN WITH LOTS OF SPRINGS

AN OLD WATERMILL AT TOP OF GORGE

ALL THE MILLS WERE BUILT WITH A LONG CANAL TO TALL CHIMNEY WHICH GUIDED THE WATER ON TO THE PADDLES WHICH DROVE THE MILL STONES

 FINALLY THE OLIVE GROVES IN THE VALLEY OF ARROYOMOLINOS, ORANGE TREES LADEN WITH FRUIT