Ciudad Encantada

The Ciudad Encantada (English: Enchanted City) is a geological site near the city of Cuenca, in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain in which the erosive forces of weather and the waters of the nearby Júcar river have formed rocks into distinctive and memorable shapes.[1]

Ciudad Encantada
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature)
Rock wall in Ciudad Encantada
Location of Ciudad Encantada
LocationCuenca, Spain
Coordinates40°12′29″N 2°0′35″W
Area250 acres (100 ha)
Established1929
A mushroom rock, Ciudad Encantada.

It was declared a Natural Site of National Interest on 11 June 1929.

Origin of the formations

The rock formations of Ciudad Encantada are karst formations made of limestone and dolomite, which date back to the Cretaceous period, approximately 90 million years ago.[1] Rain falling on the original limestone plateau wore down the porous limestone, leaving behind the more resistant dolomite. Because the dolomite was not always distributed evenly in the original rock, the result was the irregularly eroded shapes that form the Ciudad Encantada.[1]

Shapes of rocks

The rock formations that have been named include:

  • Mushroom rocks Seta ('Mushroom')
  • Puente ('Bridge')
  • Cara ('Face')
  • Convento ('Convent')
  • El mar de piedra (The stone sea)
  • Teatro ('Theatre')
  • Hipopótamos ('Hippopotami')
  • Amantes ('Lovers')
  • La foca (The seal)
  • La tortuga (the turtle)
  • Los osos (the bears)

In film and television

Ciudad Encantada appears as a location in the following films:

  • Rock walls
  • Man's face
  • Other mushroom rock
  • The stone sea
  • Battle of the crocodile and the elephant
  • The mushrooms
  • A drawing of Ciudad Encantada, circa 1875, published in Annals of the Spanish Society of Natural History
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References
  1. Scheffel, Richard L.; Wernet, Susan J., eds. (1980). Natural Wonders of the World. United States of America: Reader's Digest Association, Inc. pp. 100. ISBN 0-89577-087-3.


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