What you can see on the Cuenca webcams
In the Plaza Mayor, the camera looks up the square to the front of the cathedral, framed by tall, narrow houses painted ochre, red and pink, with iron balconies; it shows how busy the terraces and the cathedral steps are. The other camera sits on the edge of the old town above the Júcar gorge and looks across to pale limestone cliffs and pine-covered slopes, with a stone church and white houses at the foot of the frame and the newer city on the plain beyond.
Cuenca cathedral and its square, from the old town
The city council's camera looks up the Plaza Mayor, the main square of Cuenca's old town, to the front of the cathedral of Santa María y San Julián, begun in the 12th century and one of the first Gothic churches in Spain. On either side stand tall, narrow houses painted ochre, red and pink, with rows of iron balconies, and a tall stone tower rises behind the façade.
Cars and vans still drive into the square, and the picture shows the café terraces, the people on the cathedral steps and how lively the old town is. It is a still image with the date printed across the top.
The Júcar gorge from the edge of the old town
This city council camera, published on Windy, stands on the western edge of the old town, by the church of San Miguel, and looks across the gorge of the river Júcar. Opposite rise pale limestone cliffs eroded into ledges and overhangs, with a footpath zigzagging up the slope and pine woods on top.
At the foot of the frame are a stone church and the white houses of the old town clinging to the edge; on the far left, the newer part of Cuenca spreads over the plain. The cliffs face east and are best lit in the morning. The picture is played here as a time-lapse of the day.
A city on a rock
The Júcar and the Huécar have cut deep gorges on either side of the ridge, which is why Cuenca is nicknamed the eagle's nest. Alfonso VIII of Castile took the Muslim fortress here in 1177, and work on the cathedral began in 1182: it is one of the earliest Gothic cathedrals in Spain, said to reflect the influence of the king's English wife, Eleanor, daughter of Henry II. Its front was partly rebuilt in neo-Gothic style after the bell tower collapsed in 1902. The hanging houses, on the Huécar side, go back at least to the 15th century, and UNESCO listed the historic walled town in 1996.
When to watch Cuenca
Cuenca is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. It stands high on the inland plateau, so winters are cold and summer days hot. The cliffs across the Júcar face east and are best lit in the morning; the cathedral front, which faces the square, catches the sun later in the day. In Holy Week the processions climb through the old town.
Around Cuenca
The San Pablo bridge, an iron footbridge over the Huécar, gives the classic view of the hanging houses, one of which holds the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art. The wooded hills of the Serranía de Cuenca, with the strange rock shapes of the Ciudad Encantada, are a short drive away.
Getting to Cuenca
Madrid-Barajas airport, with many flights from the UK and Ireland, is about 80 miles (130 km) away as the crow flies; Valencia is a little further. High-speed trains from Madrid stop at Cuenca's station on the edge of the city.
