Iniesta

Archaeological finds across Iniesta's municipal territory span from the Neolithic and Bronze Age through to modern times. In 1995, the first scientific excavation uncovered an Iberian necropolis called Punta del Barrionuevo, and a subsequent dig revealed one of the oldest painted-pebble mosaics known from the Mediterranean world. Roman-era remains are extensive and high quality, a bridge, votive altars, villa ruins, coins and inscribed stones, and most historians identify the site as the ancient town of Egelasta, famed across the Roman world for the quality of its salt.

Under Arab rule, known as Yanasta, the town was a regional economic centre built on saffron farming, sheep herding and carpet weaving. Alfonso VIII took it in 1186, and after passing through several lords within the Marquesate of Villena, among them the scholar Enrique de Aragón, who kept a celebrated library in the castle until an inquisitor burned most of it, the Catholic Monarchs converted it to royal jurisdiction, a status it never lost. Agricultural expansion in the following century pushed settlers outward, founding what became the nearby towns of Madrigueras and Villagarcía del Llano.

The parish church of La Asunción, built across the 15th and 16th centuries, is hard to miss: 60 metres long, 20 metres wide and 20 metres to the dome. Its interior mixes styles across a central nave and two side aisles. The standout object inside is a processional monstrance made by Cuenca goldsmith Francisco Becerril in 1556.

The Ermita de la Concepción, originally part of a convent, has had a remarkable afterlife, trade union meeting room during the Civil War, grain store, mushroom warehouse, and now houses the town's Archaeological Museum, its original herringbone timber ceiling still intact. The town hall occupies the former Casa-Palacio of Enrique de Aragón, where a tower and archway are said to mark the entrance to the old castle. Among the surviving noble houses, the Palacio del Marqués de Melgarejo has one of the most striking facades in town and served until recently as the Civil Guard barracks.

The Casa de Doña María de Luján retains its original flooring and stonework with Herreran influences, and the Casa de la Inquisición still bears its shield, cross, sword and olive branch. The bullring is unusual: carved into the hilltop itself, with caves beneath the shaded stand that housed the town's poorest residents until not long ago.