Fuenlabrada de los Montes

Description

In the extreme northeast of the province of Badajoz, being part of the Extremadura region of La Siberia, is located Fuenlabrada de los Montes, municipality whose landscape combines the meadow with rugged and hilly terrain, but without great heights. Forests of cork oaks, pines and strawberry trees grant the area all the beauty of the green places.

As soon as we entered the town, we found a column of granite raised on gravel; it is called "Rollo de Santa Ana" . It has its origins in the Middle Ages, being the way at that time to exemplify that in the village there was a justice system. In the Plaza de España of Fuenlabrada de los Montes we find the Town Hall , axis of the administrative procedures of the town. In the center of the same, a few meters from the town hall, is the "Fountain of the Girl" , a fountain from the nineteenth century that consists of a bronze figure representing a girl holding a swan. Popularly known as "La Niña" or "La Morita" in the locality. It is not the only sculpture that the visitor can find in the village, because they are also the "Monument to beekeepers" - located next to the Parque de la Constitución - and another sculpture called "A la apicultura" - located in the park of Santa Ana - . As can be seen, they pay tribute to the beekeeping activity, the main economic sector of the locality to which the river stone mosaics that adorn the soils of the Paseo de la Constitución are also dedicated ; as well as the life-size statue of St. Ambrose - patron of beekeepers - , present in the park that receives the same name as the former bishop of Milan.

Another element to be highlighted within the urban nucleus of Fuenlabrada de los Montes is "El Pilón" , a stone construction that was once supplied by cattle, but that no longer has water.

Point of interest for its artistic value is the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady , a temple that dates from the sixteenth century. Mezcolanza of Mudejar, Gothic and late Romanesque styles, this monument is characterized by its beautiful buttresses , present on the outside . Attached to its façade is a simple and elegant tower. Already inside the church - divided into a main chapel with a starry vault, a chapel with a barrel vault and a sacristy - an altarpiece by Juan de Holanda and Diego de Aguilar can be found . It also highlights the presence of a baptismal font in granite, presumably from the 14th century.

Another outstanding temple of the locality is the call Hermitage of Santa Ana , of S. XVI. It is a work of Mudejar style, built in stone and brick, with a cross-shaped floor. It houses an image of San Isidro, around which a procession is celebrated on May 15, on the occasion of the feast of San Isidro Labrador . Traditional costumes are worn, carriages are pulled out and the streets are decorated to celebrate such a name day.

In the outsides of Fuenlabrada de los Montes we can find, in two shelters located at the base of two quartzite cliffs , schematic cave paintings . Another external element to highlight is the so-called "Pretura del Molino" , a natural swimming pool equipped with various services, such as picnic areas, barbecues, toilets ... and other elements to enjoy this place, also suitable for fishing.

Fuenlabrada de los Montes - like other towns such as Herrera del Duque, Villarta de los Montes and Helechosa de los Montes - is part of the De Cíjara Regional Reserve , an area that not only has large and small game species, but also a large number of protected species and a mainly Mediterranean-type flora. Not only is this natural space a place for the practice of flora, fauna or landscape observation, but it also highlights in recent years the mushroom and mushroom harvest practice , since several varieties that attract the interest of the collectors.

Several festivities are celebrated in the municipality of Fuenlabrada de los Montes, in addition to the aforementioned festival of San Isidro. One of the most important festivities, at the same time old, that are celebrated in Fuenlabrada de los Montes is the Corpus , which includes dances and persecutions of characters characterized as demons and the like. San Roque, "La Candelaria", "Las Castañas" or "Leño de los Quintos" are just some of the most recognized festivals in the town.

Regarding the gastronomy of the place, the first point to note is that Fuenlabrada de los Montes is famous for its honey, not in vain it likes to receive the nickname of "village of honey" , based on its long-standing beekeeping tradition, a work in force for centuries and that lasts from generation to generation, giving it a great prestige not only nationally, but also internationally. For the production of honey a transhumant apicultural model is followed, which seeks to optimize the different blooms, producing in turn different types of honeys that are then sold wholesale to large companies in this sector. Among the varieties of honey produced in Fuenlabrada de los Montes we find the "Honey of Thousand Flowers" , the "Honey of Heather" , "Honey of Rosemary" , "Honey of Thyme" , "Honey of Azahar" , "Honey of Eucalyptus " , " Honey of Encina " and " Honey of Forest " , of different characteristics and properties all of them.