Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Welcome to the Palace of Santa Coloma, the Park House of the La Fuentona Natural Monument and the Calatañazor Juniper Forest Natural Reserve.

As with the other park houses located all over the region of Castile and Leon, this is the recommended gateway to these natural areas. You will be given information about the Nature Reserve in this interpretation centre and help with planning your visit.

It provides information on iconic species and habitats to help you identify and appreciate the cultural and natural heritage in these places in a respectful way, and by doing so foster the conservation and appreciation of biodiversity and cultural heritage.

This house is located in the old Palace of Santa Coloma, at the entrance to the village of Muriel de la Fuente in the province of Soria, between the Calatañazor Juniper Forest Nature Reserve and the La Fuentona Natural Monument.

They are both located in the westernmost region of the Cabrejas mountains, in an area marking the transition between the plain of the river Duero to the south and the Urbión and Neila mountains to the north. La Fuentona was designated as a Natural Monument in 1998 and the Calatañazor Juniper Forest was designated as a Nature Reserve in 2000. The two natural areas are part of the Sabinares de la Sierra de Cabrejas Special Conservation Area, which is part of the Natura 2000 Network and covers an area of over 32,000 hectares.

Before you reach the Park House, as you leave the car park, you will come across a pole sign that provides some information about the natural park. It contains photographs of a flock of sheep, people, a vulture flying, the Spanish juniper, a Portuguese oak and the fortified town of Calatañazor.

A sign to the left of the pole sign shows the paths you can follow with three arrows: a route 1.9 kilometres long to go to Fuentona and another route 1.6 kilometres to go to the juniper forest.

Continue straight ahead to visit the Park House.

There is a wooden panel between the two shelters. Walk around it to find out more about the network of trails in this area. There is a juniper tree, some gall oaks and holm oaks in the garden between the House and the car park.

If you continue around the palace, you will find that the back of the palace is on one storey and it is covered with grass and plants all around.

There is a shield carved in stone on the left in this intermediate space. It is a reproduction of the coat of arms arising from the marriage of Juan Alonso de Vinuesa y Castejón and Margarita de Fuenmayor, which was part of this palace. It is a Renaissance coat of arms, with a French influence. It is divided into four quarters, containing an amphora with violets, a chequered cross, scallops and fleurs-de-lis.

As you enter, the three floors open up to the roof of the tower. Wooden walkways with ladders run along the walls, allowing you to climb up to the top.

When you enter you will find the reception desk, where staff working at the centre will greet you and help you plan your visit.

Next to the counter, on the right, there is a round table with a map showing the places of interest in the Juniper forests of the Cabrejas mountains.

In the corner on the right, next to the door, there are some display cases from the green store, where you can buy typical products or a souvenir of your visit.

Take the door on the left wall to enter the main part of the palace. As you go through the door, you will find the lift; there are wooden stairs to the left and halfway along, a corridor leading to the toilets.

The visit is circular, in an anti-clockwise direction; so turn right when you enter.

The first panel, on your left, tells you that you are in a unique place in Castile and Leon, with an image of the Calatañazor Juniper Forest Nature Reserve and another of La Fuentona.

Afterwards, if you go straight ahead, you will find a model of the Park House. Once you have found out about the exterior, pick it up and you will find the plan of the interior of the palace and how the visit is organised.

Turn left. On the right, you will find a panel with information about the Natura 2000 Network and a map of Europe.

The Natura 2000 Network, an initiative by the European Union, seeks to protect significant representations of Europe's diverse ecosystems evenly distributed across Europe's various biogeographical regions. Its networked structure aims to ensure the connection between these natural spaces, thereby ensuring the survival of various species of fauna and flora. The places considered for inclusion in this network are Sites of Community Interest, known by the abbreviation "SCI", including the Juniper Forests of the Cabrejas mountains, which are renowned in Europe for their uniqueness and importance in the conservation of biodiversity. This site of community interest includes the La Fuentona Natural Monument and the Calatañazor Juniper Forest Natural Reserve.

Opposite this panel, on the left, behind the panel on the Juniper Forest and La Fuentona, you will find a log on the ground, covered by another piece of wood. Lift this log and you will see that it is hollow. This was an ancient man-made bee hive.

Images and information about the villages and people in this region are displayed on the wall to the left as you walk down the corridor.

The architecture of the area typically contains low ceilings, with north-facing façades and conical pinewood chimneys. The buildings are made of stone, adobe and juniper and pine wood. They have small doors and windows facing south.

The fortified town of Calatañazor includes the remains of the castle overlooking the fields, where the Muslim leader Almanzor suffered a heavy defeat.

There are also remains of the Roman road that passed along the same road that now links Soria and Valladolid, and which linked the towns of Uxama and Numancia.

The Celtiberians populated this area prior to this, as is evidenced by the remains of the hillfort in Ocenilla.

Religion is also reflected in Romanesque and Gothic churches and shrines.

There is a scythe, a lock with a key and an old tile at the bottom of the panel, behind a glass case.

To the right of these panels, there are others with the title of "Traditional life".

Agriculture has been the economic cornerstone of this region, since the juniper forest provides enough pasture for a good herd of sheep. The Western Soria Royal Cattle Drove passed through this area.

Other sources of wealth have been agriculture, handicrafts, hunting, fishing, resin and lime.

Antique tools are displayed behind glass, including a wooden shovel, augers and a cutter, a pitchfork, a bread puller and an axe.

In the meadows near the rivers, people living nearby cultivate small vegetable gardens and they plant cereals and potatoes in what used to be juniper groves. Aromatic and medicinal plants are also important, such as bearberry, from which the leaf is used to make diuretic drugs.

Extensive sheep farming is the main source of income in the mountains. The native breed of sheep is known as the "ojalada", which is very sturdy and easy to recognise by its black face markings. Beekeeping is also important in the region, because the honey produced in this area is very nutritious and tasty, due to the variety of its flowers.

Juniper wood is much appreciated in handicrafts because of its fragrance and resistance to insects. Blacksmiths also made tools and horseshoes.

The last panels on the right talk about visiting the Cabrejas mountains.

There are benches and picnic areas where you can enjoy the scenery while you have a rest. You can also walk, ride or cycle along the trails, which are clearly marked and signposted.

Fishing enthusiasts are fond of the waters of the river Abión, where there are two fishing reserves, and a free stretch where the fish must be returned to the river.

Speleologists also enjoy this area because of the plentiful gorges and caves. The difference in altitude between the mountains and the plain also makes it an ideal place for paragliding.

In the glass case at the bottom, there is a beekeeper's bellows and mask, a sickle and reaping gloves, cowbells and shears for shearing sheep.

The panels continue on the wall to the right.

The moorlands of the Cabrejas mountains are the world's primary home for the juniper, a species with a presence limited to small areas in Spain, North Africa and southern France. Life here is not easy, as there are almost no limestone soils, considerable contrasts in temperature, scarce precipitation that drains away quickly and barely moistens the substratum, and various types of inclement weather, such as hailstorms and late frosts. The juniper is the only tree capable of surviving in this harsh environment.

The moor, covered with juniper trees, has an ancestral beauty that evokes the landscapes that dominated much of southern Europe millions of years ago.

The panels also contain images of holm oak forests, the most common forest in Castile and Leon, found on the sunny slopes of the Cabrejas mountains.

The photo below is of a Portuguese oak, a species of oak typical of the Mediterranean. They are rare in these mountains because they were cut down so that the rich soils which they grow in could be cultivated.

The last image shows a boxwood, a shrub which in Soria only grows in the Cañón del Boj gorge, which is very near this Park House.

The following panels show the wildlife that lives in the area, including the large blue butterfly, whose caterpillars secrete a substance which is appetising to ants, which feed and care for them in their anthills.

There is an interactive display with buttons on the right. Some have information about plants, birds, mammals and reptiles and the others are next to the drawings that represent them. The green light goes on if you match them correctly.

The following panels focus on landscapes created by water such as springs, waterfalls, canyons and lagoons.

Water, the symbol of life, is readily apparent due to the lush green belt that flanks it, which is known as riparian forest. These forests, dominated by poplars and willows on the banks, are characteristic of these areas.

However, in the water, you will find an explosion of life: aquatic vegetation, a variety of invertebrates, fish, frogs seeking shelter and water snakes and otters foraging for food.

La Fuentona is the best known landscape in these mountains. Its source is in an underground aquifer, and it rises at the foot of a valley of impressive walls surrounded by juniper trees that further enhance its presence. The river Abión, which carves out canyons and gorges along its course, rises in La Fuentona.

There are also the Villaciervos and Villaciervitos lagoons, which rise from the groundwater in the plain.

Next, there is an interactive display activated by holding down a button which lights up the panel next to it, revealing animals and trees that are otherwise hidden.

The following panels provide information on how the landscape was created.

Several million years ago, the Cabrejas mountains were covered by a shallow sea. The abundance of fossils, especially those of molluscs and other marine invertebrates, such as the large oysters on display in the town hall square of Calatañazor, bear witness to this maritime past.

The mountains are mostly composed of limestone rock, which was gradually laid down as sediment over millions of years, accompanied by other materials such as marls, which were transported here by the waters of seas and rivers. The subsequent orogenic movements which lifted these materials, and the processes of erosion that wore them down shaped the landscape of the mountains as we know them today.

Turning again to the right, you will find a pedestal with an interactive screen and another screen on the wall showing images of La Fuentona, the juniper tree and the nearby villages.

On the wall to the right, there are three rotating panels with three faces, and each one shows images that create a puzzle when they are joined together. The first comes from a stream, the next from a snow-covered juniper and the last from the Pico Frentes mountain, which is the western boundary of the SCI.

To the left of the mobile interactive display, there is a gap in the wall that leads to a space that simulates being underwater.

Models of fish and a diver are displayed on the walls on the right. In the centre of the room, there is a pedestal with a lever and buttons to control the interactive display on the back wall, to the right as you enter the room.

You can see the wildlife on display in this room in La Fuentona. This includes fish such as the trout and bermejuela, and plants including the pondweed, female bindweed, water buttercup, milfoil and clematis.

Images from the television programme "Al filo de lo imposible" that was filmed in La Fuentona are shown on another screen opposite the entrance.

Caving is also very important in La Fuentona. Over several decades, a team of professional cavers has explored the waters of La Fuentona to investigate the galleries and currents that nourish the lagoon. This risky undertaking requires precision, technical skill, experience and rigorous physical and mental preparation, as any mistake can be fatal. Thanks to this work, we now have more extensive knowledge of how the lagoon is fed, what happens beneath the surface of this Natural Monument, and the course of the groundwater.

Now you come to a space dedicated to the Spanish juniper tree. It is a large space, with models of logs arranged randomly in the middle of the room to imitate a forest. Information about this tree is displayed on the panels that act as walls.

The first thing you will find on the right as you leave is a sign with information about the juniper.

This tree can grow to a height of 25 metres and a diameter of 2 metres. It has a dense, blackish-green crown and a greyish bark. Its leaves are small and flaky, although they are needle-shaped in young specimens. It has bluish fruit measuring around 1 centimetre, which are found only on female specimens, while males produce large quantities of pollen, which looks like smoke on windy days.

A piece of a juniper tree trunk hangs on the left wall, with a panel that shows historical events that took place while the tree was growing.

The four logs in the centre of the space act as information panels and have a carpet of artificial turf.

The first one is titled "Small worlds" and talks about the little animals that live in juniper trees. It is an interactive display with small holes, through which you can see various species.

The next one on the left, is titled "Eating and singing" and contains information about the species that come to the junipers to establish their territory, attract mates, create their nests or feed, such as thrushes, rabbits, foxes and martens. There is a model of a woodpecker on a log and some buttons on the left. When you press them, these produce the sound the animals make.

The next log is titled "Living Monuments". It discusses how junipers can reach 500 years of age and be as tall as a nine-storey building, which is why they need a huge network of roots for sustenance. At the bottom of the panel there is a button which lights up the path the nutrients take from the roots to the leaves when you press it.

The title of the last log, on the right, is "A good shelter, a place to grow". The panel shows that mature trees have cracks and hollows that provide hiding places for many species. There are two buttons in the centre, which reveal a woodpecker and a garden dormouse in two circles on the panel when you press them.

Walk past all the logs and continue on the path.

You will come across a round pedestal in the middle of the corridor. It has a foot pedal that you can step on to light up the centre of the interactive display. This shows all the organisms that live under the ground, such as bacteria, fungi, earthworms, woodlice and plants. They all produce inorganic salts that will be absorbed by the plants' roots.

Behind the interactive display, there is a rectangular panel on the wall showing the fertility of the soil, junipers and cattle.

The juniper thrives in moorlands, where its leaves and other decomposed remains of the tree form a fertile soil. This substrate supports herbaceous plants that are essential for a livestock herd of a significant size. Junipers have been indirectly encouraged by human action, as the juniper's seeds are scattered in cattle excrement.

The common pastureland, located where the soil is deeper and cooler, is mainly used for larger livestock, such as cattle or horses. This livestock feeds on grasses, shrubs, seedlings in meadows and the branches and leaves of juniper trees. The best specimens of juniper are found in barns and common pastureland, which is where "juma" or "resaca", a fertiliser created by the mixture of the soil under the junipers and cattle manure, is found.

Turn right and you will see some logs hanging from cables. They are part of an interactive display in which you approach the logs and smell them.

On the adjoining wall, there is a circular panel that discusses the uses of juniper wood in construction.

The Spanish juniper has been the region's primary resource for construction for a long time. The logs are left to dry for two to three years before being used to manufacture beams and lintels. The branches are intertwined to create half-timbering, used to build pinewood chimneys, walls and partitions. With its remarkable resistance to decay and deterioration over time, juniper is a very durable wood.

On the next wall, you will find a staircase, also made of juniper wood. Above it, other circular panels talk about the different uses made of this wood, for decoration in buildings, as firewood and to make cabinets and trunks due to its resistance to insects.

Next to this staircase, there is a door leading to the next room.

When you leave the previous room, you will find a candle on the left that welcomes you to the memory corner. There is an interactive display on the right, with photographs of work in the area in colour and black and white.

To the left of the door through which you entered the previous room is a door leading to the audiovisual room.

Back in the Memory Corner, you will find a table containing a map of the Sierra de Cabrejas mountains, protected by a glass cover.

This is followed by another interactive display with a screen.

Opposite the map, on the opposite wall, you will find the space given over to another centre in the network of Park Houses in Castile and Leon. A screen at the top of the wall shows images of the Network of Protected Natural Areas of Castile and Leon. Below it is a map showing the Natural Spaces of Castile and Leon.

Next, on the left, there is a temporary exhibition with panels and documentaries on several screens about another protected natural area in Castile and Leon.

Leave this area when you reach the end. You will find yourself back at the beginning of the visit, with the model of the Park House on your right.

Continue straight ahead to go up to the top floor. You can use the stairs or take the lift.

When you reach the top, you will find two benches next to the wall. Turn around and face the staircase. On the opposite wall there is an interactive screen that is activated by pressing a button on the railing. A video telling the history of this Palace will be screened.

Go through the door in the wall opposite the stairs, on the left.

Now you reach a platform attached to the wall that runs up the keep of the palace. This platform is an interior balcony that overlooks the interior floor, the reception hall.

A red panel in this corridor will tell you about the palace's history.

The Palace, which was built between 1583 and 1600 in the Herrerian style of the Spanish Renaissance, possibly by Juan Alonso de Vinuesa y Castejón, passed into the hands of the Counts of Santa Coloma at the end of the eighteenth century, and thereby acquired its current name. After several changes of ownership, it was transferred to Muriel de la Fuente Municipal Council in 1927.

One of its towers was demolished, and the stones were used to build the town hall, the fronton and the bullring. Only the walls of the original keep are still standing today. In 2005, the Castile and Leon Regional Government restored the Palace with an investment of more than 900,000 Euros, and refurbished it for use as a Park House.

To the right, the walkway turns into stairs, which climb the keep in two flights until they reach the second and last floor.

There are several windows in the walls here. In the first, there is a shelf with photographs and information about the riverbank of the river Abión and La Fuentona.

There are two windows on the next wall, with another ledge overlooking the Cabrejas mountains and the juniper forest.

Finally, there is another window with a ledge with more photographs and information about the areas and plains bordering the moor.

At the end of the walkway, there is a glass display case on the floor contained an old chain and padlock. Behind it, there is an upright trunk in the shape of a post, known as a "pillory". The Palace's coat of arms is displayed once again on the back wall.

The word "pillory" meant two things in the past. Originally, the pillory was a post for public punishment, while the scroll represented the administrative category and territorial limits of a town. Muriel de la Fuente erected an unusual pillory made of juniper wood in the sixteenth century. This once common material was replaced by more durable monuments in some settlements. The pillory is displayed next to padlocks and chains used to restrain prisoners. Public display in the pillory was a legal provision from the thirteenth century onwards, which was used as a minor penalty to humiliate and punish offenders.

This audio clip concludes your visit to La Fuentona y Calatañazor Juniper Forest, with its rich flora and fauna, its orography, ancient remains, the importance of wood and the traditions of this region.

If you would like more information, please contact the reception desk or ask any of the staff at the Park House.

Thank you for your visit.