Requena Villages: Casas del Río

Casas del Río is located on the south side of the municipality of Requena, close to the Cabriel river and in the border of the region of Valle de Ayora. One may arrive there by means of the road CV-442 (which comes from the motorway N-330 between the towns of Requena and Cofrentes) and by the road CV-443 which comes from Los Isidros (from the motorway N-322 between the towns of Requena and Albacete).

HISTORY

The origins of Casas del Río happened in the 15th century, as a Moorish village belonging to the town of Cofrentes. The definitive foundation was in the year 1720, by Antonio and Asensio Serrano, a family who came from Jalance, and whose descendants made dams in the river and built wheels or treadmills to elevate the water so they could be able to irrigate arable lands next to the river.
Many floodings of the Cabriel river along the years made this hydraulic system to disappear, and at the present time only the treadmill located in Casas del Río stands, still watering the place called Rinconada de Muñoz, with a surface of 19 hectares.
This veritable relic of our past is the only one that is working in the whole Valencian Country, and was lastly restored in 2001.

The features of the treadmill are:

Its diameter is 9.60 meters.

It has 20 spokes in each side.

The central axis is made of iron, with a diameter of 19 cm and is encircled by a wooden crown with a diameter of 130 centimetres.

The width of the treadmill is 165 centimetres.

The extraction flow is of about 1,500 liter/minute, depending on the rotation speed of the wheel.

Casas del Río belonged to the Cofrentes municipality up to 1874, and in that year it became part of the municipality of Requena.

ENVIRONMENT

The whole environment of the village constitutes an unique area, with forests full of life, with an assorted wild fauna and beautiful places like La Fuente del Sapo, where excellent waters are found and where the mountain goat inhabits, or Los Sainetes, with its springs, or El Atochar, and many other places not contaminated by men's presence.
Cabriel river is inhabited by many species of fish that gives life to several kinds of fishes: trouts, barbels, pikes.., so it is a real paradise for nature lovers.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Around the village, we can find olive trees, vineyards and almond trees, but due to the spectacular environment, it offers great possibilities for tourist facilities, campings (there is one open only in Summer), hotels (there is one with ten rooms), watersports, fishing, hunting, climbing, trekking...
Link to the website of the Rural Hotel La Noria del Cabriel

PUBLIC FESTIVITIES

The festivities of the Patron Saint happen in August 15th, when it takes place a great annual meeting of neighbours, their families, and visitors.

OUTSTANDING BUILDINGS

The already mentioned treadmill of the 18th century and the parochial church of San Antonio de Padua, built in 1893, which has in its façade a ceramics mural that represents the origins of the village, and the building of the former Moorish treadmills.