Admiring a starry night sky is a show we should never give up the chance to see, a treat for the senses and an unbeatable experience etched forever in our memories. All around the world, since the beginning of time and for every culture and religion, observing the skies has been a permanent source of inspiration.

Today’s sky is essential the same sky that over the years, marvelled our ancestors, who searched for the meaning of life and why things are the way they are. Unfortunately, city life and light pollution in most of our environments make it almost impossible to distinguish the stars in the night sky. But they are there, visible to the naked eye. To see them, we just have to find the right place to view them.

One of the these places is the Parque Astronómico de la Serranía Conquense (Cuenca Mountains Astronomical Park, which has just been declared a Starlight Tourist Destination –endorsed by UNESCO–, a seal of quality for the sky only given to the places in the world where you can see the firmament in all its splendour.

The Parque Astronómico de la Serranía Conquense offers sustainable, smart tourism that “simply” aims to observe the sky in optimal conditions. Tourism for visitors of every age wanting to learn, discover and enjoy the mysteries hovering above our heads. All-year-round tourism as well. The sky is always there, in every season and hemisphere.

There is nothing more gratifying that recognising, with your own eyes, stars, planets and constellations - the unmistakable beauty of the firmament. We only need to find what we’re looking for: the right natural environment and the sky.

Castilla-La Mancha is a paradise for astronomical observation and the above-mentioned Parque Astronómico de la Serranía Conquense, located in the Serranía Conquense National Park, is one of the best examples. It covers 19 municipalities: Arcos de la Sierra, Beamud, Castillejo de la Sierra, Cuenca, Fresneda de la Sierra, Fuertescusa, Huélamo, Las Majadas, Mariana, Portilla, Poyatos, Ribatajada, Sotorribas –que incluye Collados, Pajares, Ribagorda, Ribatajada, Ribatajadilla, Sotos, Torrecilla y Villaseca–, Tragacete, Uña, Valdemeca, Vega del Codorno, Villalba de la Sierra and Zarzuela.

These corners of tranquillity, nature and unique nights guarantee visitors a complete offer for enjoying the night sky and natural environment, and have a quality tourism infrastructure for people wanting to visit and enjoy astronomy.

On top of that, the Serranía de Cuenca showcases impressive scenery, with great geological, palaeontological, botanical, wildlife and forestry value. The low population density, along with the continued existence of traditional ways of life, also adds great ethnographic interest, which has made possible the good state of conservation the area is in.

The heritage is surprising, old, vast, intangible and mind-boggling: a privileged place where we can enjoy, in perfect harmony, silence and nature while marvelling in contemplation of the firmament, an open window to what we never see: the sky.