There are places worth visiting to remember what once existed there. Not far from Madrid (it’s less than a two-hour drive away), you’ll find one of these places steeped in history and set in a beautiful natural setting.
Santa María de Poyos is one of the hundreds of Spanish villages that were submerged due to the construction of dams during Franco’s dictatorship. The village was located in what is now the municipality of Sacedón (Guadalajara), in the region of La Alcarria.
Today, it lies submerged beneath the Buendía Reservoir, but remnants of its buildings still emerge when the water level is low. There, the ruins of house walls and the entrances to some of the wine cellars that the residents of Santa María de Poyos left behind when they were displaced from their homes remain preserved.
But the memory of the town still endures on dry land. Located in a pine forest at the foot of the road that circles the reservoir, the San Andrés de Poyos chapel was built by the displaced residents to keep the memory of the submerged town alive.
Thus, even though it may appear to be a small and rather modest chapel, it stands as a symbol of displacement and a memorial to the families of Santa María de Poyos. To this day, a pilgrimage continues to be held there every fourth Sunday in September.
Routes around the Buendía Reservoir
The San Andrés de Poyos Hermitage is located in the Altomira mountain range, which runs north to south through the provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara. The area offers numerous hiking trails through the typical local Mediterranean landscape, where visitors can enjoy the views of the reservoir’s surroundings.
The most famous is probably the Ruta de las Caras, a free, easy, and family-friendly option that starts in the nearby town of Buendía. Along the route, you can admire twenty sculptures carved into the rock by local artists in the 1990s, which blend seamlessly into the landscape.
The route is part of the PR-CU46 trail, a longer circular path (about 14 kilometers) that passes by the Peña de la Virgen lookout point. From there, you can admire a panoramic view of the Buendía Reservoir, beneath whose waters the ruins of Santa María de Poyos remain submerged.