Instantly recognizable, Cortijo Del Fraile is only a few kilometers from Los Albaricoques, and was featured most prominently as Father Ramirez's Mission in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. The rear of the structure was also used as Indio and his men's base camp once they reached Agua Caliente in For a Few Dollars More. This entry will focus on the Ramirez mission, and I will have another entry for Indio's camp later on.
1966 and 2013
Built by Dominican friars in the eighteenth century Cortijo del Fraile (the Friar’s Farmhouse), has a very interesting if not dark past. The setting for these events were used by Federico Garçia Lorca in his chilling play ‘Blood Wedding’.
The structure is currently crumbling and in a terrible state of disrepair. It is fenced off so it cannot be accessed.
Below are a few pictures of the front as featured in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (click to enlarge)
The door that Tuco enters
In 2011 the location was declared a site of special cultural interest by the regional government, the Junta de Andalucía. Sadly nothing has yet been done to preserve this historic site.
Yeah it is sad to see the structure in such need of repair. It must be very, very old. Wonder how much location scouting Leone did for these films.
ReplyDeleteI sincerely hope that this beautiful structure does not end up in a pile of rubble.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the pictures and the history lesson Aaron.