Las Casas Colgadas, también conocidas como Casas Voladas, Casas del Rey y, erróneamente, Casas Colgantes, es un conjunto de edificios civiles situados en Cuenca España. En el pasado era frecuente este elemento arquitectónico en el borde este de la ciudad antigua, situado frente a la hoz del río Huecar, aunque hoy sólo perduran una pequeña parte de ellas. De todas, las más conocidas son un conjunto de tres de estas estructuras con balcones de madera.
De origen incierto, se tiene constancia de su existencia ya en el siglo XV. A lo largo de su historia han pasado por diversas remodelaciones, siendo la más reciente la realizada durante la década de los años 20 del siglo XX.
Han sido utilizadas como viviendas de uso particular y Casa Consistorial, aunque actualmente alojan un mesón restaurante y el Museo de arte Abstracto Español, de Cuenca.
When the Iberian Peninsula was part of the Roman Empire there were several important settlements in the province, such as Segóbriga, Ercávica and Gran Valeria. However, the place where Cuenca is located today was uninhabited at that time.
When the Muslim Arabs captured the area in 714, they soon realized the value of this strategic location and they built a fortress (called Kunka) between two gorges dug between the Jucar and Huecar rivers, surrounded by a 1 km-long wall. Cuenca soon became an agricultural and textile manufacturing city, enjoying growing prosperity.
Around the 12th century the Christians, living in northern Spain during the Muslim presence, started to slowly recover the Iberian peninsula. Castile took over western and central areas of Spain, while Aragon enlarged along the Mediterranean area. The Muslim Kingdom, Al-Andalus, started to break into small provinces (Reinos de taifas under Christian pressure, Cuenca being part of the taifa of Toledo. In 1076 it was besieged by Sancho Ramirez of Aragon, but not conquered. In 1080 King Yahya al-Qadir of Toledo lost his taifa, and his vizier signed in Cuenca a treaty with Alfonso Vl of leon and Castile by which he ceded him some fortresses in exchange of military help.
After Alfonso's defeat in the battle of Sagrajas (1086), Cuenca was captured by the King of Seville, Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad. However, when his lands were attacked by the Almoravids, he sent his daughter-in-law Zaida to Alfonso, offering him Cuenca in exchange of military support. The first Christian troops entered the city in 1093. However, the Almoravids captured it in 1108. Their governor in the city declared himself independent in 1144, followed by the whole Murcia the following year. In 1147 Muhammad ibn Mardanis was elected King of Cuenca, Murcia and Valencia. He had to defend his lands from the Almohad invasion until his death 1172, after which his son had to sign a pact of tributes with the newcomers. A 17 year old Alfonso Vlll of Castile tried to conquer the city, but after five months of siege, he had to retreat after the arrival of troops sent by the Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf. Alfonso signed a 7-years truce but when, in 1176 the Cuencans occupied some Christian lands in Huete and Ucles, Alfonso intervened at the head of a coalition including also Ferdinand ll of Leon, Alfonso ll of Aragon and the Military Orders of Calatrava,Santiago and Montegaudio, besieging Cuenca for months startign from 1177's Epiphany. The city's commander, Abu Bakr, sued again the support of Yaqub Yusuf, but the latter was in Africa and did not send any help. After an unsuccessful Cuenca sortie against he Christian camp on 27 July, the besieged city was conquered by Alfonso's troops on September 21, 1177, while the Muslim garrison took refuge in the citadel.
The latter fell in October, putting an end to the Arab domination in Cuenca. Alfonso VIII granted the city a title, and it was considered to be "Muy noble y muy leal" (Very noble and very loyal). It was given a set of laws, the Fuero, written in Latin, that ruled Cuenca's citizens, and it was considered one of the most perfectly written at that period of time. The diocese of Cuenca was established in 1183; its second bishop was St. Julian of Cuenca, who became patron saint of the city.
During the next few centuries Cuenca enjoyed prosperity, thanks to textile manufacturing and livestock exploitation.The cathedral started to be built at that time, in an Anglo-Norman style, with many French workers, since Alfonso VIII's wife, Leonor de Plantagenet, was French.
During the 18th century the textile industry declined, especially when Carlos lV forbade this activity in Cuenca in order to prevent competition with the Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory), and Cuenca's economy declined, thus losing population dramatically (5,000 inhabitants). During the independence war against
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