Manzanares

Sonia Huertas, Ainhoa Atencia, María Fernández, Aitor Martínez y Sandra Martín.

Manzanares is a town in the province of Ciudad Real in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). It's at Azuer riverside. It was founded on the first half of XIII century. Its population is nearly 20.000 people. The Mayor of the town is Antonio López de la Manzanara.

In its beginning it was a neighborhood for the people who worked at the train station and little by little it grew up.

At Divina Pastora there's also….

The most beautiful thing in this neighborhood are the fields and the "Divina Pastora Festival"

It's from the end of April to the beginning of May ( about 5 days). Many people come to have a good time with the fair's attractions and with the events.

• There is a large green area at River Azuer called : “Paseo Príncipe de Asturias”

• To the right of the walk there are outdoor bars that are open in the summer. At the back there is the square where the attractions of the fair stand.

• The trade fair lasts six days. There are all kinds of attractions for children and adults: a kangaroo, bumper cars, 3D cinema, crazy chairs, air bed for children, a big wheel shoot stands where you can get a soft toy if you are good at shooting.

There are also food stalls, bars and fritter stalls

• Every year famous singers and bands give concerts and there is also bullfighting.

• There is a fairground called FERCAM, an outdoor fairground where the companies present all the variety of their products: agricultural machinery, cars and the latest developments in agriculture.

• The fair takes place from 3rd to 7th July.

The Asunción Church was built between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries.

The church was burned twice: one in the sixteenth century by a candle in the procession of Corpus Christi and another during the Civil War when it was burned with gasoline.

The church has needed several restorations and was last restored in 1985.

Altagracia Church

In the twentieth century this church was rebuilt. It was held in the postmodern style in which the priority is the distribution of space rather than visual ornamentation. The Virgin of Altagracia is also the saint patron of the Dominican Republic. This devotion comes from the very foundation of Manzanares.

Castillo de Pilas Bonas

Its origin is in the thirteenth century, around the year 1239, by the Order of Calatrava to oppose the Order of Santiago. The castle has been recently restored and is now active as a restaurant and inn that is currently visited space.

Bullring

It was built in 1900. After the Civil War, was reopened in 1944. The most tragic event was the death of the bullfighter Ignacio Sanchez Mejias, on August 11, 1934

Flour factory

It is a large volume building erected in brick in the late nineteenth-historicist eclectic style. It employed 170 workers.

CULTURAL MONUMENTSManuel Piña MuseumManuel Piña MuseumShows the work of a fashion designer

from Manzanares, one of the most important Spanish designers from the 70s until the 90s.

Cultural Center "The Blind of Manzanares"

Building in which the writer Santa Teresa de Jesus spent one night in 1575. The building was named in honour of the Blind of Manzanares, a great local poet.

Solar System WalkIt is a scale model of the solar system built in the park of the ducks. It was opened in 2010.

Music SchoolIt was built in honour of Julian Sanchez Maroto, a local musician.

Chapel of the Holy CrossIn it is the sculpture of the town's patron, Jesus del Perdón. The chapel was destroyed in 1936, but it

was rebuilt later.

Gran Teatro.The Gran Teatro is a theatre and there is also a square with three fountains.It is located in the centre of Manzanares. There are a lots of shops around it, compared to the rest of Manzanares.

In the square there are two sculptures, one of these sculptures represents a bullfighter who died, and the other represents a blind, who wrote a book when she was blind.

Behind the principal part of the square, there is a park where the children play in the afternoon.

In the theater, apart from plays there are usually painting exhibitions and concerts.