The city that turned a movie set and attracts tourism due to it: ‘I introduced Catherine Hepburn’s umbrella’

“A variety of motion pictures had been filmed right here, sure… through the filming I wore Catherine Hepburn’s umbrella. She was 19 years outdated on the time.” Pedro Loranca, mayor Atienzaas if nothing had occurred, as if daily he was with a Hollywood actress, whereas she drinks cafe con leche on a platform within the Plaza de España, a couple of meters from the Arrebatacapas Arch, the gate of the wall in its day, and it’s known as this, as a result of it’s the windiest place in the entire city.

It is noon, the skies have simply cleared and the solar is up and it is snug after a morning of rain that has just about ruined the journey for 50 “outdated individuals” from Alcorcón who got here to spend the day right here and Sigüenza, two medieval treasures that are actually aiming to change into a World Heritage Web site. “The reality is that the historic middle may be very stunning, however with the rain we weren’t in a position to see it very properly,” cMaría says as she takes footage of the church of San Juan.

A view of the Atienza fort and the church of Santa María del Rey, on a hill within the city. / VIGARAY SCOTLAND

As soon as naked

Within the sq., secret, flirtatious, there are three bars. Three of Atienza’s eleven hospitality facilities, maybe rather a lot for a census inhabitants of 431 inhabitants in line with the INE, though in summer time the variety of neighbors multiplies. “Perhaps they are not all open, hey!”, says the mayor, who nonetheless acknowledges that it is all attributable to “vacationer attraction”, and that is what retains them away. to a inhabitants that historically lived off livestock and agriculture. “The reality is that issues had been carried out very properly, and increasingly persons are coming,” stated Pedro, who’s already in his fourth time period, about what occurred earlier than.

With out him current, there are neighbors who acknowledge that he’s additionally doing very properly, that he has cleaned up the city rather a lot, amongst different issues enhancing the world of ​​the fort, the one one who took consideration in ‘El Cantar del Mío Cid’. Rodrigo Díaz de Reside for contemplating it a “very huge peña”, which made it virtually unbelievable. A number of elements of the broad wall are nonetheless preserved​​​​on the high of the hill, from the place you may see a variety of corn fields.

Atienza was essential within the Center Ages, first as a border between Muslims and Christians and later between Castilians and Aragonese. There have been 10,000 individuals and there have been 15 parishes, a number of convents and hermitages. It was on the scene of conflict tips that Álvaro de Luna, El empecinado or Basic Hugo – Víctor Hugo’s father – had been the principle characters.

A gaggle of vacationers after they visited Atienza, in Guadalajara. / VIGARAY SCOTLAND

Stone homes

The magnificent fort, the stone homes, its well-known church buildings – two of them, the church of Nuestra Señora del Val and the Church of Santa María del Rey, on the foot of the fort, subsequent to the cemetery, from the twelfth century – and ‘ That lovely Croith-neachd sq., porticoed and With the white mail and the run-down homes, they make the city appear to be it stopped in a time very distant.

Catherine Hepburn, through the film ‘The Trojans’, recorded in Atienza. / EPE

As such, it has been chosen as a setting for a number of movies, sequence and tv commercials in current a long time. Among the many most well-known movies are ‘The Trojan Girls’ (1971), the aforementioned movie with Catherine Harbour; ‘Chimes at Midnight’ (1965), by Orson Welles; ‘Love Letters from a Nun’ (1977), by Analía Gadé; or ‘Lázaro de Tormes’ (2001), by Fernando Fernán Gómez. Lately, final yr, its streets have been an everyday setting for the profitable sequence ‘Between Land‘, from Antena 3.

“Many homes needed to be submitted and the homeowners needed to be contacted,” recollects the mayor, who ensures that the Metropolis Council all the time tries to to make filming doable, which is why “nobody prices something,” they solely requested the homeowners for one thing. sequence producers for to pay for cleansing the entrance, which was used as a central location for your entire manufacturing staff for nearly a month who lived and filmed there.

The Plaza del Trigo de Atienza, which frequently seems within the sequence ‘Between the Lands’ / VIGARAY SCOTLAND

“They had been well mannered, very pleasant,” recollects Luci, the proprietor of Los Arrieros bar, the place the outdated on line casino was. “Now individuals even come to see the city on weekends as a result of seen them within the row. And whereas they had been right here they left advantages. A number of individuals got here right here for breakfast daily. [el equipo en total estaba formado por unas 85 personas]” stated the girl, who has simply ready two potato omelettes that look superb. He admits that whereas enterprise is sluggish through the week, Saturdays and Sundays do properly, that is why they make use of two individuals. “I noticed the sequence and it is vitally stunning; “The entire city got here out.”

2,000 individuals a day

“However come on, what will not go once more,” stated Luci, “that was the sequence” Recreation of Thrones “. That was spectacular. Folks did not actually have a parking place and it was eleven at night time and so they saved coming. The one in regards to the bottles and sandwiches we had been promoting…buff.” The resort firm refers back to the yr 2019, when HBO, the producer of the well-known sequence, selected Atienza as one of many 5 locations the place they had been going to position an “iron king” to final season promotion. They put him close to the fort.

Queue to take a photograph on the throne of Recreation of Thrones, positioned within the fort of Atienza in 2019 / EPE

Greater than 2,000 individuals got here to the city daily for greater than three weeks to see the throne and take an image. “That was horrible,” stated the long-retired mayor who has labored all his life in a cold-storage manufacturing unit within the capital. “We lived in Madrid, close to the Gómez Ulla, however each weekend, all of us, we got here right here and returned on Monday,” says Pedro, who proudly says that the HBO delegation gave him the unique sword from the film. “Now it is on the council (of Guadalajara),” stated the mayor, whose image sits on the throne on his WhatsApp profile. regular. Everybody remembers that month of turmoil within the city.

Camino del Cid

“He left rather a lot within the bars, however not right here within the resort, solely those that ready the throne stayed there for some time,” says José Antonio, proprietor of the Resort Palacio de Atienza, one of many a number of accommodations within the metropolis. , who admit that the sequence ‘Between the Lands’ has introduced them some vacationers, aside from the same old ones, as a result of, aside from the attractiveness of the medieval city, Atienza is throughout the La Lana Approach, the Don Quixote Approach and the Camino del Cid. There are additionally a number of artwork and tradition museums. “If it wasn’t for tourism, we would all have to depart city.”

The city of Atienza, from a distance. / VIGARAY SCOTLAND

“These within the row left rather a lot, within the bars, within the bakery,” remembers the pharmacist, who additionally favored what she noticed within the row. “It was very seen,” recollects Alfi, a waiter at one other of the sq.’s accommodations, which has a poster of a number of Hollywood actors from the final century. “Additionally, they had been all superb, now we have an excellent time,” he stated, smiling. In truth, there’s a particular satisfaction within the city for being chosen for filming, for the distinctiveness of its streets. “She has great corners and right here in the summertime it is superb,” stated Marisol, who lives together with her husband in Barcelona, ​​​​however involves her household’s home when she will be able to. “And you’ve got simply come on the proper time, as a result of this Sunday [por hoy] “The Caballada is widely known, which is a practice for greater than 800 years.” however that is one other story.

Element of the Atienza wall. / VIGARAY SCOTLAND