Fortines del Plano. Villel
Fortines del Plano
Villel
The importance of the strategic situation made it a place of continuous attacks, concentration of soldiers and a means of escape. At first he was a Republican until the Valencia offensive, which was taken by Franco’s troops. Villel was occupied by columns from Cuenca in August 1936, being an important center of concentration of forces for the Republicans, also having a double defensive function; on the one hand, to prevent advances and on the other as a platform for attacks. Sample of them are the numerous remains that are in its surroundings, in the places known as La Serretilla, Cerro La Horca and El Plano. Due to its accessibility and conservation, the different positions of El Plano stand out.
Fortines del Plano
Trenches and Shelter
In the upper part of the hill, there is an enclosure of eroded trenches, which border the entire hill. Taking the town as a reference, on the back face of the hill and on the line of trenches, there is access to a small cave that surely served as a refuge.
From Villel, take the path that leads to the Sancturary of Fuensanta, we will see a sign for the direction of the wind (windsock) where there is a fork in the roads, there we will take the path to the left, leaving Fuensanta. We continue it, passing the clean point until we reach the dump. Once there, park the car en continue on foot up the hill to reach the position.
Machine Gun Nest
It is a fortress with a reinforced concrete machine gun nest function, with original polygonal foundations. A hemispherical vault is raised with an outward pointing, its access is through a small door located to the northwest. Inside we see an inscription with the date 1938. In the north direction there are two shooting loopholes. Along the Fuensanta road, from Villel we travel approximately 1.5 km, we turn left, we pass the heliport (cement slab painted with an “H”); We follow the path of the Vera Cruz, leaving behind the animal breeders we reach the boulevard, where the machine gun nest is located on the left, next to the almond grove.
In Cascante del Río there are two forts with the same characteristics as the aforementioned machine gun nest, which is why they must have been built by the same fortification unit at similar times. Accessibility to them is difficult.
