The Sierra de Villuercas stretches for about 60 km in a roughly NNW/SSE direction in the southeast of Cáceres Province. From its northern end a lower ridge stretches in an arch further westwards from
Deleitosa. Southwards there is a straight low ridge aligned in a N/S direction connecting with the
Sierra de los Golondrinos prolongation further south straddling river
Guadiana. The lower
Sierra de Montánchez extends further west of the Sierra de Villuercas. This range is parallel to the
Sierra de la Palomera and
Sierra de Altamira further east of Guadalupe. There is an abundance of fossils of
Ammonites,
Trilobites,
Brachiopods,
Graptolites and
Cloudinids in certain points of the range. The highest point of the range is conspicuous
La Villuerca (1,603 m), which gives name to
Las Villuercas comarca and is the highest point of the greater Montes de Toledo range. Cervales (1441 m), Carbonero (1428 m), Ballesteros (1342 m), Sobacorbas (1320 m) o Risco Redondo (1287 m).
Geology The Sierra de Villuercas geological structure is similar to the
geology of the Appalachians. The range is mainly composed of
slates and
quartzites that are often exposed in its jagged peaks. There are also interesting
conglomerate geological formations made up of quartzite
boulders and
unstratified clays known locally as
"rañas". ==History==