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| A view of Gumiel de Mercado and surroundings form Cuesta del Viso. You can see the hill (el Castillo) on the left side of the picture. |
Gumiel de Mercado has a huge hill in the
middle of town with several bodegas (wineries) built into the hillside.
Apparently there used to be a castle built on the hill, but there are no longer
any physical remains (though the place is still referred to as "El
Castillo"). I'm not sure many of
these bodegas still function and many of them have fallen into disrepair. The
ventilation chimney is a beautiful remnant on the hill, but in many places
these have crumbled leaving unmarked holes dotting the hill.
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| A chimney with Iglesia de San Pedro in the background |
There is a path you can follow to the top
of the hill, a short 10-15 minute climb. You can see all of Gumiel de Mercado
and with the elevation, nearly all of the surrounding farmland. This view is
only surpassed by taking a short half hour trek to the top of a nearby hill
overlooking Gumiel de Mercado, known locally as Cuesta del Viso.
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| View of Gumiel de Mercado from el Castillo. |
The area surrounding Gumiel de Mercado is
generally flat and used for agriculture, mainly wheat and grapes. There are a
few small hills in the area and even a walking circuit connecting the nearest
towns within 10km. You can get a beautiful view of the surrounding area and the
spaces are wide open and calm. When taking a walk, it is not uncommon to run
into one of the local shepherds with there flock of sheep and trusty dog,
usually a bull mastiff. The shepherds are always chatty, probably a result of
spending the majority of the day with only their animals.
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| Bodega, chimney, and storks nest. |
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| View of the Iglesia de Santa Maria from the top of el Castillo. |
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