The Ciudad Encantada (English: Enchanted City) is a geological site near the city of Cuenca, in the autonomous community of

Castilla–La Mancha Castilla–La Mancha (, , ), or Castile La Mancha, is an autonomous community of Spain. Comprising the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara and Toledo, it was created in 1982. The government headquarters are in Toledo, and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in which the erosive forces of weather and the waters of the nearby

Júcar river left The Júcar () or Xúquer () is a river on the Iberian Peninsula of Spain. The river runs for approximately 509 km from its source at Ojuelos de Valdeminguete, on the eastern flank of the Montes Universales, Sistema Ibérico. Its most i ...

have formed rocks into distinctive and memorable shapes. It was declared a Natural Site of National Interest on 11 June 1929.

Origin of the formations

The rock formations of Ciudad Encantada are

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

formations made of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and

dolomite Dolomite may refer to: *Dolomite (mineral), a carbonate mineral *Dolomite (rock), also known as dolostone, a sedimentary carbonate rock *Dolomite, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community *Dolomite, California, United States, an unincor ...

, which date back to the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

period, approximately 90 million years ago. Rain falling on the original limestone plateau wore down the porous limestone, leaving behind the more resistant dolomite. Because the dolomite was not always distributed evenly in the original rock, the result was the irregularly eroded shapes that form the Ciudad Encantada.

Shapes of rocks

The rock formations that have been named include:

In film and television

Ciudad Encantada appears as a location in the following films: * ''

The Pride and the Passion ''The Pride and the Passion'' is a 1957 Napoleonic-era war film in Technicolor and VistaVision from United Artists, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and starring Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and Sophia Loren. The film co-stars Theodore Bikel ...

'', 1957 * ''

The Colossus of Rhodes The Colossus of Rhodes ( grc, ὁ Κολοσσὸς Ῥόδιος, ho Kolossòs Rhódios gr, Κολοσσός της Ρόδου, Kolossós tes Rhódou) was a statue of the Greek sun-god Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes, on the Greek isla ...

'', 1962 * '' The Mercenary'', 1968. * ''

Johnny Hamlet ''Johnny Hamlet'' ( it, Quella sporca storia nel West, lit=That Dirty Story in the West is a 1968 Italian film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The film is a Spaghetti Western version of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Hamlet''. Plot Johnny Hamil ...

'', 1968. * ''

The Valley of Gwangi ''The Valley of Gwangi'' is a 1969 American fantasy Western film produced by Charles H. Schneer and Ray Harryhausen, directed by Jim O'Connolly, written by William Bast, and starring James Franciscus, Richard Carlson, and Gila Golan. Creature ...

'', 1969. * ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

'', 1982. * ''

The World is not enough ''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Michael Apted, from an ...

'', 1999.

Gallery

Rock walls in Ciudad Encantada.jpg, Rock walls File:Ciudad Encantada cara de hombre.JPG, Man's face File:09042009 160012 CEC 0024 - WLE Spain 2015.jpg, Other mushroom rock File:Ciudad E 8.jpg, The stone sea File:Ciudad encantada 4.JPG, Battle of the crocodile and the elephant File:Ciudad encantada 5.JPG, The mushrooms File:Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (1875) (17979785569).jpg, A drawing of Ciudad Encantada, circa 1875, published in Annals of the Spanish Society of Natural History

References

External links

Visitor information
from th
Ayuntamiento de Cuenca

Web Ciudad Encantada Cuenca
Landforms of Castilla–La Mancha Rock formations of Spain Tourist attractions in Castilla–La Mancha {{CastileLaMancha-geo-stub