San Pablo de los Montes
Church of the Conversion of St. Paul
Panoramic
Information from San Pablo de los Montes:
Telephone: 925 415 181
Web: https://aytosanpablodelosmontes.es/
Info:
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Tourist guide
Email: info@aytosanpablodelosmontes.es
Throughout history, many people have inhabited the present-day municipality of San Pablo de los Montes, leaving important archaeological remains in their wake. In the 2nd century B.C., the Romans left evidence of their presence, with the remains of iron and other metal mines in different parts of the public mountain, which must have been very important at that time and which can still be seen today. From the Middle Ages we find remains of settlements of Visigothic origin from the 7th century, which were later reused by the Augustinian Fathers for the construction of their convent, which this religious order built in the 15th century.
As early as the 13th century, a defensive tower was built by the inhabitants of a village in the vicinity of the present municipality, to defend themselves from possible attacks by bandits or Muslims, who were very frequent at that time; the first settlements began around this tower, which would later give rise to the municipality of San Pablo de los Montes. This tower would later become the bell tower of the present-day parish church in the town.
In relation to the natural environment, the municipality is located in a privileged area of the Toledo mountains, coinciding with the highest altitudes of the mountain range, where the observer will find landscapes of pure and exceptionally conserved Mediterranean beauty, abundant in species of flora, fauna and watercourses. This scenic beauty is enriched by the nearby presence of natural sites such as the national park of Cabañeros and the reservoirs of La Torre de Abrahán and Torcón. Land that offers visitors a variety of hiking routes to enjoy nature in all its splendour.
The rich local gastronomy stands out, associated with the important hunting offer of the area, with typical dishes that the traveller can enjoy in the wide range of restaurants in the municipality, which will undoubtedly delight the most exquisite palates.
This municipality preserves ancestral traditions such as the Fiesta de la Vaca, declared to be of Regional Tourist Interest.
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Also known as the fountain of the Virgen de Gracia. The building has an L-shaped ground plan, divided into three small naves separated by two segmental arches. It was built according to the supposed appearance of the image of the Virgen de Gracia in that place, inside a fountain, by a shepherd called Magdaleno, who took the news to all the villages he came across until it was finally believed to be in the municipality of Ajofrín. It was the people of this village who built a small hermitage over the fountain of the apparition where they kept the image of the apparition. Later, in 1930, the current chapel was built. As a result of all this, a very popular pilgrimage route emerged from Ajofrín to San Pablo de los Montes, known as the route of Pastor Magdaleno, which is still followed today. It is believed that the apparition of the virgin and the pilgrimage route also contributed to the settlement of the first populations in the municipality.
The convent was built by the Augustinian Fathers in the 15th century on the site of 7th century Visigothic ruins. It may have originated in an ancient hermitage, where the hermitage was built for the Virgin and outbuildings where the hermits or hermits in charge of guarding the image lived. The ruins we have today date back to the 15th century and successive works were carried out until the 19th century.
Next to the convent we find the well of the Snow, a majestic well dressed in stone of large dimensions that was used for the storage of ice and snow that served for the conservation of food and other uses, associated with this there are vestiges of another one of smaller dimensions already sunken that must have been communicated with the previous one. It is thought that the well of La Nieve may have been connected to the convent of the Augustinian Fathers by a tunnel or gallery for supplies or as a defensive system against possible attacks.
Located at the crossroads of Calvario and Rebollar streets. Built in 1676 and remodelled in 1742, it is a rectangular monument, consisting of a platform built of granite stone and grey marble in masonry work, on which three crosses and two small olive trees stand, symbolising the place where Jesus Christ was crucified. The Good Friday procession during Holy Week comes to this monument.
A single-storey building in the shape of a cross, consisting of a bell tower built on a 13th-century defensive tower that was remodelled and adapted as the bell tower of a small church before the current one. Later, in another remodelling in the 16th century, a Mudejar-style upper part was added to the tower and the rest of the structure was added to form the current church.
Formerly located in the Plaza de la Constitución, it was moved in 1924 when the roundabout was built on the road to the hermitage of the Fuente Santa. Monument consisting of a carved granite base supported by a double granite masonry base, on which rests a cylindrical piece, also made of granite, in the upper part of which an iron cross is inserted.
Two-storey building representative of popular architecture, built in granite stone, with corner ashlars, jambs, lintels, steps and columns of carved granite.
