Today I want to talk to you about an abandoned village in northern Spain: Cortiguera.
A view of Cortiguera
This beautiful village, in the province of Burgos, with a medieval air, is located on the left bank of the Ebro Canyon. Since antiquity, it has been a village of sturdy ancestry, as attested by its noble manor houses. In the 60's, of the last century, began its decline, as it also happened in many villages, in the region, due to isolation and poor communications suffered, as well as lack of incentives, for young people, and the emerging industry, which then appeared in the Basque Country. The people went to Bilbao, mainly, and some families to Burgos and Santander. Felipe Varona and his brother were the last to leave the village, around 1965.
Palace of the family De la Fuente Bustamante
Palace of the family De la Fuente Bustamante (Built in 1701)
Another Palace in ruin
A noble house in ruin
In the decade of the 90s, a group of young neo-rural people settled in the village, isolating themselves from the world and living, at their free will, for a few years, until they decided to leave. At present, Cortiguera, authentic delight of village, to walk leisurely without haste and delight in the multitude of corners, which appear before our eyes, is winning the battle against abandonment, because the access road has been fixed, they have rehabilitated several houses and a house works like rural tourism (Tálamo); however, the abandonment is still evident and there is still much to be restored and rehabilitated, including important heritage pieces.
Some abandoned houses
Other houses at the entrance of the village
A street with some houses
Another street with abandoned houses
A house with a nice view
The farmhouse Talamo
The sitting room of Talamo
Especially worrisome is the situation of ruin, which presents the Gothic church of San Sebastian, of magnificent design and superb starry vault, with great beauty. Its portico of entrance, unfortunately it came down, which forced to plug, partially, the access door. Inside we can also see wall paintings, already worn, and graves on the ground, looted, as well as a winnowing machine, to separate the grain from the straw, which is out of place. Fortunately, the altarpieces of San Miguel and the Resurrected Christ could be placed safely and, nowadays, they are in the Altarpiece Museum of the church of San Esteban, in Burgos capital.
The church Saint Esteban with Góthic style from the XVII Century
A vault of the church
Inside the church
A big detail inside
A detail of the bell tower
As I said before, some houses of Cortiguera, where we can admire impressive works of stonework, have been happily restored. This is the case of the Palace, with two towers, of the De la Fuente Bustamante family, which after being abandoned for a long time, has been acquired by a private citizen and rehabilitated. But, as I also pointed out before, there is still much to be restored, such as the old school and several mansions from the seventeenth century.
The Bustamante´s Palace
The old School
Well, I hope that you will like this article and hope that you can go to this nice village anytime.
Until my next post, kind regards, Luis.
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