El Camino de las Raíces

Art and Nature get together in the Camino de las Raíces (The Path of the Roots), where the tourists can still see the traces of the collective memories of the village of La Alberca and the area of the Sierra de Francia.

This circular route crosses some settings which show the roots of an old culture, the beliefs and the collective stereotypes of its inhabitants.

We can find art propòsals around the route. These proposals will excite the visitors and will make them look at the surroundings in a different way. Begoña Pérez; Lucía Loren; Iraida Cano and their oak leaves. Fernando Casas, with his “asteroid”; Carlos Beltrán; and Fernando Méndez are the artists who want to surprise the visitor and invite him to look back to the roots and also to the sky.

La Alberca is the starting point of a route surrounded by a forest full of oaks and chestnut trees. The path takes the tourists to the hermitage of Majadas Viejas, going through the Montón de Cantos. There are some stones where the Loa of the religious pilgrimage is performed. Then the visitors arrive at the lake and the hermitage of San Marcos, which is said to be a clear example of well preserved root; once they get there, they go back to La Alberca.

This is undoubtedly the ideal opportunity to visit La Alberca, which is believed to be one of the most beautiful villages in Spain and was the first one declared Historical Site in 1940. In La Alberca we can visit the Casa del Parque Natural de Las Batuecas-Sierra de Francia where we can find information about the Natural Park; there is also a museum about the vegetal and animal species of the environment.

In the nearby settings, such as Las Batuecas valley and the Peña de Francia the visitors can find charm and mystery,