CUENCA, the capital of the above department, stands near the river Incar at its confluence with a small stream called the Huecar, on a site 3400 feet above the level of the sea, and is distant about nine miles from Madrid. It was once a flourishing town, the focus of the provincial wool-trade, but it has now a population of barely 8000. Its cathedral was founded by Alonzo VIII. in 1177, and is one of the most remarkable in Spain. A few woollen factories and paper mills are all that now remain of its ancient industry.