A trip to Olivenza and the Convento de la Luz

It's not far to Olivenza from Finca al-manzil but it's a journey into a very different Extremadura. From the dramatic crags and dense woods of our sierra surrounded by small fincas filled with vines, fig and olive trees to vast sweeping areas devoted to vines producing the rich wines of the Tierra de Barra near the Guardiana river and endless dehesa with herds of Iberic pigs and cattle roaming freely in thousands of hectares, remote landscapes, seemingly untouched by time. Our destination was a mysterious and long abandoned Franciscan convent with origins in the XV century. 

But first we stopped for breakfast at Olivenza. Formerly, Olivença, it was under Portuguese sovereignty almost continuously between 1297 - 1801, when it was occupied by Spain during the War of the Oranges and ceded that year under the Treaty of Badajoz. Fortunately, when coming under Spanish rule there was no destruction of the superb collection of building spanning 16th to 19th centuries built by the Portuguese.

What a charming town, wide streets lined with trees and gleaming white town houses, all harmonious and pleasing to the eye. Its appearance reflects the early neo-classical period originating in Portugal after the massive reconstruction work carried out in Lisbon because of the earthquake and fire of 1775. Under the guidance of the Prime Minister of D. José I, the Marquis of Pombal, the rhythmic repetition of windows, set in sober and unadorned marble frames, and the absence of additions or decorations in any other part of the facade define this
Pombaline style of architecture.

The ancient 13th century town within the walls of the castle is a beautiful example of the military architecture of the time. It has a trapezoidal shape with a central courtyard with three cubic towers at the corners, in addition to the Torre del Homenaje from the time of the Portuguese king, D. Afonso IV 1291 – 1357, son of D. Dinis.

The Torre del Homenaje at 37 m high is the highest of the fortress towers on the Spanish-Portuguese border. Built in masonry reinforced by stone ashlars at the corners, it has 24 arrow slits that illuminate its interior. At the top of its four faces, you can still see the remains of the primitive machicolations that defended its flank, these are projecting structures supported by a row of corbels with openings in the floor through which stones and boiling liquids could be dropped on attackers. At the foot of the barbican, a moat was dug, ordered by D. João II in 1488, completely surrounding the fortress as there was little trust that the Spanish would not try to recapture the town. Also notable within the inner walls are the church of Santa Maria del Castillo, built on the site of the first Olivenza church, dating from the 13th century, this church was built between 1584 and 1627. The barracks are from the 18th century with their own bakery, the tall chimneys a relic of when it was providing bread for thousands of soldiers.

On an attractive street with outdoor terraces of cafés and restaurants, just through one of the gates to the ancient town is the jewel of Olivenza, the church of Maria Magdalena . It was started in 1510 under the reign of Portuguese king Don Manuel I. in the Manueline style, which stems from late Gothic and is notable for its decorative and naturalistic character with marine elements referring to Portuguese dominance of the seas and discovery of sea routes to formerly unknown regions in Africa and Asia in the 15th and 16th century.

On the outside, there are false battlements, pinnacles, gargoyles, side doors

and the main door, with added decoration, attributed to Nicolas de Chanterenne a French sculptor who produced other important works in Portugal, such as the door of the Hieronymites Monastery in Lisbon or a marble altarpiece in the Pena Palace in Sintra, as well as other works in the Alentejo and Extremadura. 

During D. Manuel's reign the town's charter was renewed and orders were given for the building of new fortifications and the Olivenza Bridge over the Guadiana River, later known as Ponte de Nossa Senhora da Ajuda or, simply as Ajuda bridge, on the road to Elvas.

After this fascinating and enjoyable vistit to Olivenza we were on our way to the convent with only a very vague description of how to find it despite researching its history.

A shepherd discovered a statue of the virgin hidden in a cave, the much repeated format for the discovery of many effigies of the virgin mary throughout Spain. The legend says he took it home to Alconchel only to find it missing the next day, it was back in the cave in the middle of a remote, wild region. The word soon spread, and the cave became a place of pilgrimage and apparent miracles. The lord who owned the land paid for a small ermita to be built at the cave. In the XVI it was adopted by the newly formed order of Franciscan brothers who had split from the main order under the influence of San Pedro de Alcantara who wanted the Franciscans to return to their original austerity, a life of poverty and the bare minimum to sustain life  together with  draconian rules of prayer and penance as opposed to the luxury and decadence of the Roman Catholic church in Spain during that time, enriched beyond imagining by the constant flow of conquistador gold and silver plundered from the new world.  These brothers were known as the decalzados, barefooted. It is said that San Pedro visited the convent in its early days to preach and advise on the patterns of life lived in scrupulous abstinence in remote places lost in nature such as San Pedro's own convent between Caceres and Coria, the so-called smallest monastery in the world The Convento de la Concepción de El Palancar is in Pedroso de Acim. https://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com/search?q=convento+palancar

The brothers tried to stay faithful to a life of frugality recommended by San Pedro but there were many frictions and factions within the Fransiscan order during the following centuries. Life in such a remote region with few resources became untenable for the new generations of friars. The monastery fell into dilapidation and ruin. The image of the virgin had long since been removed and is now in the church of Alconchel.  What remains is a whisper of the monastic atmosphere, the situation is still romantically beautiful on the banks of a flowing stream with lush vegetation hiding the last walls, vaulted ceilings and the bell tower, under this construction is the original cave with signs of the simple ermita, some niches where holy statues would have been placed. The most intact structure is the 18th century aqueduct which spans the river, a last attempt at sustaining the life of the monastery. By the time of the Peninsular wars of the early 19th century which caused further destruction, there was very little construction left. A sad fate for a place build to encourage the devout brothers in their stringent vows and fervent prayers. 

It would be a matter of opinion if it was worth a 26km detour there and back to see the barely recognizable ruins of an old convent. We found it fascinating to drive on the narrow camino through a perfect dehesa landscape, meeting herds of black Iberic pigs and cattle grazing under ancient holm oaks with glimpses of vast views between the hills. The site of the convent could hardly be more remote even nowadays but in former centuries it would be a long walk to any civilization and a hard life in the idyllic valley, the tranquillity is still stunning, perfect peace with just the sounds of birdsong and running water.

Coming from Alconchel with its magnificent Castillo de Miraflores (open at weekends) 

take the Ex 314 road to Cheles. After 3.50km there is a large barn on a hill on the left, just after there are caminos to left and right, take the left one which has a barely legible sign for Jarales, continue on the track, going through 4 gates with cattle grids until reaching the convent on the left before crossing the river. The convent has a wire fence surrounding it but broken in many places. Caution is needed as the slope is steep and the slate slippery, the remaining masonry is precarious, be careful! 

https://www.google.es/maps/dir/Alconchel,+06131,+Badajoz/Cheles,+06105,+Badajoz/Convento+de+Nuestra+Se%C3%B1ora+de+la+Luz,+Alconchel/@38.4943306,-7.2463544,12z/data=!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0xd16d5e76130e5c3:0x3e6df2e1e646b7cf!2m2!1d-7.0700124!2d38.5170106!1m5!1m1!1s0xd1731f5c7978333:0x79d6472f326c1eff!2m2!1d-7.2828208!2d38.5117961!1m5!1m1!1s0xd172b7cdecfb9cb:0x352a8945d7ebcd82!2m2!1d-7.1761158!2d38.4658061!3e0

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 

A trip to Las Hurdes and the waterfall of Chorro de la Meancera at El Gasto

We left  the finca early as it's a 2 1/2 hour journey to the tiny pueblo of El Gasto, literally the end of the road, a very winding and steep road.

Our aim was to do the hike between El Gasto and the powerful waterfall known as Chorro de la Meancera.

We were impressed by the effort spent on making the walk along the river accessible and safe, much easier than we imagined to reach such a remote site. We particularly enjoyed the well constructed

boarded walks suspended around the rocks of the river valley.

 

The views down the valley and up to the amazing crags were exciting before getting to the main attraction, the waterfall itself. The water seems to irrupt from a narrow crack in the crag and falls with mighty force for over 100 metres crashing into a pool before tumbling down the river over smooth rocks and ledges.

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The day was sunny and warm, a wonderful place to linger and breathe in the surrounding nature but I would love to come back on a gloomy day with rain and possibly some thunder and lightening for a really gothic romance experience.

We walked back on the same route with fresh perspectives. 

On re-entering the village Manfred and Lucy headed off for a drink while I wanted to find some original primitive dwellings built of dark slate giving these Hurdes villages the name "pueblos negros" notoriously featured in Buñuel's  film "Tierra sin pan". Also wanted to find some natural honey, Las Hurdes has always been famed for its honey, one of the few products the inhabitants could sell for cash.

 When roads were built covering the original mule tracks over Las Hurdes it was possible to bring building materials and modern life invaded these remote villages, buildings were thrown up with hideous results, no reference to the nature of the terrain or natural building materials. But who can blame them?  They had been driven out of their hovels in these wild mountains by the deprivations of extreme poverty and hunger to work in big cities or further afield in France and Germany in the 60s and 70s. They returned with money to improve the dire living conditions but unfortunately they chose to build in an urban style with several floors using cheap materials which have not aged well, a pity. I was hoping to find at least some vestige of old dwellings, an important part of the history of Extremadura when life had been so diverse with traditions, cultural differences, costume and even dialects depending on the area. There were more old houses than I expected, all huddled together at the extreme end of the village next to the river. The alleyways between the ruins filled with weeds and rubble, a mule observed me from a stable that had no doubt once been inhabited by a family.

In the past it was recorded  that not only were the people here were so restricted that they could not make bread but also they built with no chimneys, letting the smoke from cooking fires escape where it could through the rafters and roof of slate slabs. I saw that none of the old houses had chimneys or even windows, just one primitive wooden door. A vision from the past appeared,  a woman sitting at her door with smoke billowing through her roof, she might have been 80 and probably remembers the time before roads, electricity and piped water when the only food was foraged in the woods or from tiny patches of cultivation by the river which were regularly ruined and flooded every winter, when the village was just this collection of old houses with no modern conveniences at all. 

She sat there quietly with memories of a life lived through amazing changes, it was as recent as  her parents generation that the bizarre and mysterious life of the people here inspired real horror stories of disease, incest, mental and physical afflictions and incredible superstitions..... See this post

https://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com/search?q=las+hurdes  

P.S. Found the honey, bought 500 g of the most wonderful tasting honey for €7.00, no label but straight from the bee keeper.