Cuenca - Convento de San Pablo

When the Muslims conquered the area in 714, they recognized the value of this strategic location and built a fortress between two ravines.

In 1076, Cuenca was unsuccessfully besieged by Sancho Ramírez of Aragon. In 1080 there was a treaty between King Yahya al-Qadir and Alfonso VI. of León and Castile, through which some fortresses were ceded in exchange for military aid.

Cuenca was then conquered by Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad in 1086. However, when his country was attacked by the Almoravids, he again offered Cuenca to Alfonso in return for military support. The first Christian troops entered the city in 1093. However, the Almoravids conquered it in 1108. As part of the Reconquista, King Alfonso VIII conquered the city from the Moors in 1177 after a nine-month siege. The Diocese of Cuenca was founded in 1183. Alfonso X gave Cuenca the title “ciudad” in 1257.

Cuenca is divided into two different areas, the Old Town and the New Town. The first is located on a rocky hill bordered on the north by the gorges of the Júcar River and on the south by its tributary, the Huécar River. Cuenca is a vibrant city with a population of about 55.000.

Convento de San Pablo

The building is a sixteenth-century former convent, that belonged to the Dominican Order. It stands on a promontory over the Huécar River. The church was finished in the eighteenth century, in rococo style. Since 1993 it has been a state-owned Parador hotel. A deep gorge separates the former convento (right) from the old town of Cuenca.