In the first frosts of autumn in Soria, when the snowflakes appear and the orchards are almost at rest, a unique route pulsates in Quintanas Rubias de Arriba, where the trees whisper verses and rural memory blends with literature. Among lingering apples and the occasional hidden walnut, this walk transforms the countryside into an open book and connects the village life with poetic tradition.
That is the spirit of El Huerto Poeta: a social, cultural, and recreational initiative with roots in 1985 and continuous expansions until 2024. It is a permanent open-air exhibition of poems, promoted by the Cultural Association Friends of the Village of Quintanas Rubias de Arriba and conceived by the professor Alfonso Fresno, whose seed was seven ash trees planted almost four decades ago.
The surroundings and the start of the walk
The route winds through dovecotes, temples, orchards, and a reforestation of walnut trees that define the character of the landscape. From the Cave of the Forge, a place of remembrance for those who left and always return, Fresno guides a journey that aspires to embrace the local heritage with the word in a town of silences tempered by the smoke from a few chimneys.
Before delving into the poetic realm, the route winds its way past fountains and along a walnut-lined path much loved by the locals. These trees have provided shade in summer and bountiful harvests—this year, up to 100 kilos—and some still bear fruit. late-ripening walnut among the remnants of autumn.
Milestones of the journey
The route delves into places steeped in history, such as the Cerrado de los Bueyes—a stone enclosure where some 80 oxen once gathered—and the Cueva del Pajarón, a cave wine cellar that seems to yearn for small string concerts. In these locations, geology and vernacular architecture provide the backdrop for a landscape reading of poetry.
The Poet's Garden formally begins at the Poplar of Empathy, the most recently inaugurated piece (2024) and dedicated to the late Jesús Bárez, former Councilor for Culture in Soria. The tree, with five branches, houses a ballad of five pairs of verses in the four Spanish languages, alongside texts in Galician, Catalan, and Basque—with nods to authors such as Eduardo Pondal, Joan Margarit or the Txori, Txori by Joxean Artze.
From there, the path leads to the Plazoleta Cervantes, inaugurated on October 12, 2014, by José Fernando Sánchez de Ruiz, president of the Casa de Castilla-La Mancha in Madrid. It features a bench with a feather motif beneath a white mulberry tree, and nearby stands a a centuries-old moral tree to which Alfonso Fresno dedicated a poem written on its own trunk.
The next stop is the Children's Poet's Garden, promoted by the school in Quintanas de Gormaz, a true gem of the region. In the old washhouses (dating from the 1950s, with a pond enlarged in 1961), the classic school activities that never fail to please are on display: Lorca, Machado, Alberti, Juan Ramón Jiménez or Gloria Fuertes.
Universals, enthusiasm and memory
In the Universal Poets section, one enters through holm oaks that evoke Machado, rhymes reminiscent of Bécquer, and pages dedicated to local voices like José MarÃa MartÃnez Laseca or FermÃn Herrero, alongside high school poems by RosalÃa de Castro, Miguel Hernández, Manuel Machado, or Gerardo Diego. There, on May 5th, the students presented a participatory tribute to Machado in a meadow surrounded by verses.
The path picks up speed at the Hermitage Fountain, where the Enthusiastic Poet's Garden shines. This section celebrates lesser-known authors—there are also texts by Fresno himself—and connects with the washhouses, the scene of women's hard work until 1900. After the laundry came the slaughtering, cleaning pig intestines with icy water, a testament to everyday resistance and transmitted knowledge.
From the original seed to the present
The Original Poet's Orchard dates back to 1985, when seven ash trees were planted in a plot of land that seems to want to be named after its tree. That first sprout blossomed in 2015 with a community inauguration, and today those trunks gaze out over the town like guardians of an open-air library.
The route concludes next to the row of wineries at the entrance to the town, with the "Poets of the Land" section. Names linked to Soria parade by, such as Aurelio Rioja, Claudio RodrÃguez, Alfonso Fresno, Carmen Ruth Boillos, Óscar Sotillos, Isabel Miguel, Celia Calvo, Francisco Pino, Isabel Goig, Dionisio Ridruejo, and Carlos Aranda, among others. The grand finale takes place at the restored wine press, where signing the guestbook adds a special touch. last verse to each traveler.
How to visit it and the Roman heritage
Those arriving independently will find a recently installed sign at the village entrance highlighting points of interest, although the guided tour with Alfonso Fresno (see the association's website) provides a more complete narrative and answers to questions about each stop. Both options are available so that everyone can choose their preferred approach. reading rhythm of the landscape.
Beneath the surface lies another chapter: a Roman aqueduct, four and a half meters deep, which was channeled in 1935 to feed several springs along its route. The nearby Roman settlement, with the Tiermes-Uxama road as a key reference point, fuels the desire to continue investigating the aqueduct and its potential uses. boundary markers of historical jurisdiction.
A living project
Throughout the year, the town fills up with recitals and meetings that sow new readings among branches and stones. On the horizon is a Cart Museum that will bring together publications by participating authors, while Quintanas Rubias de Arriba—barely thirteen square kilometers—continues to assert its blend of nature, history, water and literature.
There remains a place where poetry isn't kept in display cases, but rather planted, watered, and lovingly pruned: The Poet's Garden of Quintanas Rubias de Arriba links rural memory, universal authors, and local voices in a stroll that invites you to return, to explore each stop at your leisure. to add new verses to the landscape.
