70 km from Guadalajara, at the western end of the Central System, is a small but charming town of great beauty and striking history. Walking through its stone streets, surrounded by the imposing nature that presides over the imposing Pico Ocejón, is quite an experience. time travel that, if it weren’t for a very special project, we would have lost forever.
We are located in Umbralejo, one of the most unique Black Architecture Towns that form this unique complex in Guadalajara, an example of what is known as black architecture. But let the name not be misleading, since each of the eight towns are revealed as beautiful medieval towns almost straight out of a story where the stone is the protagonist.
And so Umbralejo was formed, with progressive constructions of quartzite and slate that outlined their irregular layout, typical of rural mountain towns, from some primitive shepherds’ huts.
The inhabitants who once gave life to Umbralejo were mainly dedicated to livestock and dry crops (rye, wheat, barley, legumes), given the hardness of the soil and scarcity of water at that altitude, later adding the production of charcoal.
But in the middle of the 20th century, the town suffered the same phenomenon as so many others in our country, the Rural exodus which would lead to a practically complete abandonment of all its homes at the end of the 60s, due to the lack of services, economic crisis and isolation suffered by its population.
In the following decades it would suffer the natural ravages of the passage of time in a climate as aggressive as that of the mountains, with very long and cold winters, fearing its ruin and disappearance. Until the 1980s when the Ministry of the Environment acquired it to convert it into a Nature Classroom, within the Experimental Program for the Recovery of Abandoned Villages.
With the houses, streets and other buildings rebuilt, perfectly rehabilitated respecting their original design, materials and structures, today Umbralejo has new inhabitants who have given new life to the town, young students and teachers who carry out temporary stays under environmental education, health, coexistence and ethnographic recovery projects.
And so Umbralejo was reborn, now allowing visitors who come to the beautiful surroundings of the Sierra Norte Natural Park to include it on the route of the ‘black towns’ as an essential destination. Just walk through its stone streets and get to know the 70 buildings rehabilitatedbetween houses and haystacks, is already worth the visit, which cannot be finished without touring the ethnographic museuminstalled in an old original home.
If weather conditions allow, as winter in this mountainous area can be very treacherous, the visit can be completed with hiking trails and walks in the surroundings, where nature seems isolated in time.
Guide to the black architecture of Guadalajara
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Photos | CENEAM – Arturo Francisco Barbero
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