From the 7th to 3rd Centuries B.C., people began to settle at Cerro de las Cabezas, an Iberian site. This oppidum, or fortified settlement, began in the 7th Century B.C., and by the 5th Century B.C., the settlement had begun to expand along the hill, was fortified and the first steps were taken in urban planning, which would develop over the 4th and 3rd Centuries B.C, the era of maximum splendour at the settlement. It was abandoned in the late 3rd Century B.C., which has made it possible to recover a complete Iberian-Oretani settlement in an excellent state of preservation, thanks to archaeological excavations.
Part of this land originally belonged to the Order of Santiago, within the area under the domain of the Alambra castle. In 1239, a property division was executed in La Membrilla between the Order of Santiago and the Order of Calatrava (between the territories of Valdepeñas and Torrenueva) to the Peral baths, thereby becoming part of the Order of Calatrava’s properties.
Valdepeñas arose as the unification of several settlements scattered around the Jabalón valley in the 13th Century, mainly Aberturas, Consolación and Corral Rubio, to name a few. When the Order of Calatrava repopulated the area in the mid-13th Century, it became associated with grape-growing when the Cistercian monks introduced the red grape variety from Burgundy. Despite the fact that the repopulation took place late because of its location on the border, it experienced rapid growth in the 14th Century, to become one of the primary villages of the Order.
Its name apparently comes from its rocky appearance in that era, hence the name of Valle de Peñas (Valley of Crags, which has been substantially transformed over time to become Valdepeñas).
Part of the assets of this district were sold (by king Felipe II) to Mr. Alvaro de Bazán in 1575 for 104,895 Spanish Reales and 8 Maravedí, making it an estate, although other scholars set the purchase date in 1585. The document states that the main wealth of the village came from grape-growing and wine. The same period also produced some famous people from Valdepeñas who ventured into the New World, such as the epic poet, Bernardo de Balbuena or the Los Merlos family.
One highly relevant historical event was the city’s resistance against the French on 6 June 1808, when they were on their way to Bailén. The famous guerrilla heroes, Juana “La Galana” and Francisco Abada Moreno “Chaleco”, can be highlighted. Based on these events, the city was granted the title of “Very Heroic City” in 1885.
Thanks to the railroad (1861), there was a great increase in the development of the wine industry, which was cut short in 1911 by the phylloxera crisis that had devastated France years earlier. In the early 20th Century, Valdepeñas had over 100 wineries. In 1932, the Estación de Viticultura y Enología (Viticulture and Oenology Station) was created to stem the outbreak of phylloxera. This would become the origin of the Regulation Council, which currently includes 10 municipalities and 30,000 hectares of vineyards. Vineyards are characteristic of the La Mancha landscape surrounding Valdepeñas and its extensive urban area, which hosts numerous large wineries.
