The best cycling routes around Puertollano

The Almodóvar del Campo Lagoon is a unique natural and geological feature located in the province of Ciudad Real, within the Campo de Calatrava region, famous for its volcanic landscapes. It is a lagoon formed in the crater of a volcano after a phreatomagmatic eruption (interaction between magma and groundwater). This type of lagoon is called a maar.

This castle stands on the impressive Alacranejo hill and, despite its original defensive character, it underwent various modifications. Opposite it there is another hill with the ruins of the Salvatierra Castle, in the lands of Calzada de Calatrava. It probably has Arab origins, but it was deeply remodeled with the transfer of the knights of the Order from the Castle of Calatrava La Vieja (Carrión de Calatrava) in 1217, after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa with the aim of consolidating the defensive line of Sierra Morena. In turn, it is made up of three walled enclosures and is accessed by the original road that was built on the occasion of the visit of Philip II through the Iron Gate, in red volcanic stone. Afterwards, we can find the Gate of the Arches, which allows entry into the parlatorio or courtyard of the convent, the courtyards, the church, the rooms and the refectory. Really, when you walk through it, you can imagine what happened in

The monuments and centers of cultural interest are spread throughout its streets: the Palermo Museum, the Casa-Convent of La Merced, current home of the Hieronymite nuns, in a modernist style and dating back to the 19th century. Continuing the visit you can visit the Cervantina Library, inside which countless editions of Don Quixote are collected, in various languages, formats and periods, as well as canvases and drawings related to the Cervantine character. From here you can also see the Municipal Theater, built in 1845 on the site of the old Carmelite Convent.

Bring a snack, it's idyllic

In the Alcudia Valley, we find the municipality of Almodóvar del Campo built on the side of a volcano, so present in Campo de Calatrava, and whose crater is now a lagoon. The Arab footprint is the most emblematic of the city, leaving behind the memory of the Castle and above all the unique Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption. There you can see the first videomapping in Spain permanently installed in a closed space, under the theme of the life and work of San Juan de Ávila.

It is formed by a Strombolian volcanic cone of pyroclasts, and due to the quarry in it, its internal structure is exposed. Attached to the foot of this volcano is the Almodóvar maar, which is a phreatomagmatic explosion crater that erupted at the edge of the Paleozoic series, cutting a substrate of hard lithology and destroying part of the previous volcano. The maar crater is funnel-type (hard-type substrate) and houses an ephemeral lagoon inside. In its southern and eastern contour the maar has a ring of tuffs, with pyroclastic facies. The phreatomagmatic deposits of the maar ring are located on a Cenozoic red colluvium. The main interest is of a volcanological (petrological) type and as a secondary interest the geomorphological interest stands out.

It is a volcanic formation made up of a crater and the Cerro de los Molinos. The crater gives rise to the lagoon and the hill is composed of solid lava. It is located near Almodóvar del Campo, in an easterly direction and, according to historians, it gave origin and name to the settlement of the population.

Puertollano is a Spanish town in the province of Ciudad Real, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. Traditionally, it has been associated with oil shale and coal mining and industry. The area in which Puertollano is located has been inhabited since prehistory, with archaeological remains found that correspond to Homo heidelbergensis and Homo antecessor. During the Middle Ages the city was born, linked to the repopulation process of Castile during the 13th century. In the 16th century, Puertollano received the rank of town, a privilege granted by Philip II. At that time Puertollano was an important agricultural and livestock center. The demographic consolidation of the city occurred at the end of the 19th century, with the development of coal mining and the inauguration of the train line between Madrid and Badajoz. Its cultural heritage It corresponds mainly to religious buildings, such as the church of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (14th century), the church of the Virgen de Gracia (15th century) and the church of the Asunción (16th century). There is also a mining museum, and an old medicinal sour water spa, known as the Bath House, which today is a municipal service to citizens.