A few days ago, a television contestant talked about an abandoned village, in Guadalajara (central Spain), called La Vereda, and he said he liked it a lot. So, I was curious to see pictures of that village and share them with you.
La Vereda is a very small village, it is abandoned and very isolated; but it is being recovered thanks to the Cultural Association La Vereda.
The village La Vereda (Guadalajara)
A little wall with the name "LA VEREDA"
Other houses of La Vereda
The church
The best way to arrive there is to go to the reservoir of El Vado, from Campillo de Ranas or from Retiendas, by the Gu-188; then you arrive to the spillway and dam of the reservoir; from there, after the dam, leaves an unpaved forest path, that enters the thicket of the pine forest and leads you to the village of La Vereda, 10 kilometres of road, that, if it has rained, it is advisable not to enter it with a normal private car, because there are a series of holes and potholes in the road, that they do it, a bit rough, but not impossible to travel; the road is not lost, it is all straight and after a series of winding curves, you reach a stop in front of a cut, where you can see the first houses of the village; on the same road, there is a siding, where to leave the cars and, right there, on a black slate wall, you can find, on a board, the name that indicates that you have arrived at the village, an entrance that, without a doubt, it invites you to pass and stroll, through the irregular alleys.
The village of La Vereda is located in a remote area of Guadalajara, sheer lands, with difficult access and little infrastructure of roads, without basic services such as tap water, electricity and doctors, the village was losing population by the massive emigration of Its inhabitants to big cities; that and the construction of the reservoir of El Vado, that completely drowned the village, from which receives its name, left the village of The Vereda even more isolated; the missing ICONA wanted to throw the houses, abandoned by the neighbors, and to reforest that part of hill, but, in 1976, a group of architects, from Guadalajara and Madrid, avoided the collapse and decided to create a cultural Association around the village, to maintain its architectural legacy, that today is one of the jewels of the black architecture of Guadalajara and, since then, they have been rehabilitated the best preserved buildings and, despite the lack of electricity and tap water, it has been endowed with life to the village, thanks to the work of this Association, that today is called “Asociación Cultural La Vereda”.
One of the buildings, that is most striking, is the small square church and with a steeple, where it is observed the absence of the bell, a small porch supported by wooden columns; there, on the porch, there were traces of rice, so you can think that weddings were still being officiated and it is sincerely a very original place to get married.
If you enter through the irregular alleys of the village, you will discover how many houses had been rehabilitated, some were in process with scaffolding and others had succumbed to abandonment and decay, but the old small walls and plots, where they were, were intact and it was a very contrast Interesting; the area of the Sierra del Ayllón is very rich in black slate, as you can see on the bridge of the river Jaramilla; here, in La Vereda, the old settlers knew to use for their constructions, what they had at hand and, nowadays, we have a wonderful legacy. Along with Majaelrayo and Matallana, La Vereda is a clear example of what was the traditional construction, in black architecture of Guadalajara; neighbors, who today are rebuilding the village, maintain this custom and, as you see in the photographs, rebuilt houses are not getting any bad.
As I told you, the village of La Vereda is on a cut that forms the stream Vallosera; it is impressive, to see the remains of houses, that were on the edge of the cliff, in this area of the village, being the most isolated and I think dangerous, by the proximity of the ravine; it is where you can find most abandoned houses; undoubtedly, that area is the best for the observation of birds, that inhabit that cut, vultures and small eagles inhabit the nooks and crannies of the cut.
If you go there, you will can walk the streets of La Vereda, observing some small details like planks indicating the name of the old streets, you will can also see how some houses had been rehabilitated as workshops, workshop of ceramics, of restoration and forge; it is curious to see how some lintels of wood follow standing, while the house does not exist or doors, that after opening, they give access to a plot, surrounded by small walls of slate.
La Vereda, Isolated, with little coverage, no tap water, no light, is the perfect place for those who want to escape the stress of the city, a semi-abandoned village, in a hidden place of the province of Guadalajara, a village that, thanks to the effort of a few who defended the architectural and traditional legacy of the area, today it has become a benchmark, in terms of preservation and defense of traditional culture, no doubt, in my opinion, the Association is doing very well, recovering one of the greatest jewels of black architecture, for the enjoyment of the adventurous, in walking the forest track from El Vado.
I feel very happy knowing this small village –although it is only through these pictures--, I think I am going to search a lot of abandoned villages, to share them with you. This village could be a lot of slates in ruins, however it is a village full of live, surrounded by a wonderful nature, a clean and authentic place.I suppose that the most that you can hear is the chirping of the birds and the wind blowing between the slate cut; therefore, it is a visit that I recommend you.
Well, I hope that you can visit this small village and, if you do it, please tell me it.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
Sponsored by Caostaluz Lawyers.
Please click below:
