Tourist Attractions & Monuments Andalusia

Dating from the 18th century, Hacienda La Laguna houses a hotel, a hotel school and a museum of olive tree cultivation created in 1997. Very well designed, it includes various oil mills and a variety garden. We will also visit its monumental bodega built in 1848, classified as a property of cultural interest and called the"OliveCathedral". An essential step to familiarize yourself with the many varieties of oil and production methods.

Also known as the church of San Juán Bautista, this is one of the best examples of Baroque style in Rota city. Inside, it will be noted in particular the altarpiece of the main altar, work of D. Diego Roldán, at the centre of which the image of Our Lady of Pain, bearing the body of Christ dead, lies.

Opened in 2015, this new centre, with its modern design, which aims to "dissolve" into the urban space, aims to be a place for research and study on the life and work of Frederico García Lorca, to promote the dissemination of his literary work and to preserve the writer's documentary legacy. The latter, composed of nearly 20,000 documents including manuscripts of all types: correspondence, poetry, prose, theatre, photographs, works of art, furniture and 3,500 Lorca manuscripts and 3,000 other authors and about 50 original drawings by Lorca. With a total surface area of 4,700 square metres, this centre includes a 410-seat theatre that hosted the Granada International Poetry Festival, the International Music and Dance Festival and the Frederico García Lorca Poetry Prize ceremony; a 500 square metre exhibition hall that regularly hosts new exhibitions on Lorca's work. As well as a library and a reading room. At the entrance, a shop will allow you to buy books by this writer.

Ardales's interpretation centre is designed as a hyphen between us and the history of the cave that we discover at the end of the visit. In the large circular hall, you can see the reproduction of a ground excavation site while, all around, panels summarize the main knowledge we have of our ancestors: the places where they lived, the traces found and the great stages of human evolution. On the floor, the exhibition focuses on the presentation of the cave and archaeological discoveries in the region. A space even allows to move virtually into the cave via a 3 D reconstitution.

Traces of Occupation's human occupation have been uncovered in this small cave that is still being excavated. The excursion will also be the occasion for a beautiful walk in beautiful landscapes.

A few kilometres from the city centre, the cave of Ardales was discovered in 1821 in favour of a small earthquake that represented the entrance. The cavities, dug by thermal waters, form a maze of 1 500 m long which was explored by Abbot Breuil in 1918. Traces of habitat were found about metres from the mouth, but it is likely that this cave served only temporary camp during hunting periods.

Engravings and paintings have been discovered throughout the cave, even in the most obscure places. Stalagmites carved and filled with fuel, usually made with the wax of bees, animal fats and olive oil, were used to illuminate the passages. For inaccessible places, ropes made in the rock were also found. There were a total of 107 drawings dated Gravettien and Solutréen, and over symbols. Among the most important representations: a large deer with red legs, coloured by a mixture of resin and clay, and a silhouette that could be that of a woman, and many hands in negative. Notable is: most of the engravings were made not with a tool but at the point of the finger.

Lost in the fields, the Dolmen de Soto was discovered by chance in 1923. It is one of more than 200 megalithic monuments found in Huelva province, erected between the Neolithic and the bronze age. If the region has many megaliths of this type, it distinguishes itself by its size. The gallery is part of a circle of stones, unfortunately disappeared, which originally reached 75 metres in diameter, which is the longest dolmen in Spain. As in Campo Lameiro, the dolmen is buried under an artificial hill. The building had several functions: it was buried in a mother and a child, whose skeletons were found, but certainly also in terms of timing and observatory. The stone blocks supporting the roof of the gallery are all engraved with signs and symbols.

In the interpretation centre, a documentary in synthetic images details the construction of the dolmen by the population of a neighbouring village whose traces were found at 400 m from the site. A second film focuses more closely on the symbols found in the gallery.

With the dolmen approach, please note the ambulatory, which is still visible on the ground and which did the entire round of hill. Some stones remained, but most disappeared, parts for the construction of houses around or used as galleries to attend the bullfighting, as shown in the ground of the arena, which encroaches on the mound. We enter the latter with a 21 m long gallery and at the end of which the ceiling height reaches 3,5 m. The biggest stone supporting the whole weighs over 20 tons! Excavations carried out during his discovery found 8 skeletons, including that of a child. Most of them had a very large number of engravings: daggers, anthropomorphic silhouettes or symbols adorn stones in different places, without a precise reading or interpretation of the stones.

The restoration of the site has been very well conducted. The interpretation centre, drowned in the landscape, is almost invisible and the lighting of the gallery has been thought of so as to highlight the engravings.

In 2015, the municipality sought to acquire part of the adjacent field where there is a second dolmen, a little smaller dolmen that has not yet been subjected to full excavations and studies. Early research in the 1920 s found the skeletons of 18 to 20 individuals, some crouching and supported against walls and others lying on their backs. So the site is still far from having delivered all its secrets.

The castle dominates the village and roads leading to Sierra from the valley. The square tower was built on the rock. A small circuit leads to the top, where there is a beautiful panorama overlooking the village and surrounding areas. If the stairs are shy, just a few steps away from the Place de la Paix, at the foot of the tower, where you will dominerez the vast olive groves that extend to the foot of Sierra.

Two small pieces present the main archaeological discoveries of the cave: bones, vases, bracelets, tombstones, which form a sample of the historical richness of a shipyard still being searched.

The visit begins with the Ecomuseum ecomuseum who presents the cave ecosystem. Its formation, the secondaires and the secondary cavities, the water circuit… everything went on to show you the scenes! You can also slip into the skin of a bat and move in the cave by getting from its point of view. Attention, tight turns…

The visit of the cave takes about 1 hour. Unfortunately, there will not always be a bats, the tourist attendance long ago prompted tenants to move. In the 1950 s, there were no fewer than 15 000 bats, but only a few specimens attached to them were still volettent. You will therefore be able to concentrate on the geological and archaeological aspect of the visit. Engravings have been discovered there recently. In 2002, scientists noticed a sign that until then had escaped them and on which a deer, bovidé and bear were found. But here are the goats that predominate: There are no fewer than 56 ancient Neolithic engravings. Dated 4300 to 3900 years before our age, these are the first drawings of the Neolithic found in Western Andalucia. Among other reasons, one would note an anthropomorphic and another, more enigmatic, which could be an owl.

The journey of the visit takes us down 65 m, until the place where, voluntarily, a woman was buried about 4 000 years ago in a foetal position. We are still wondering about the motivations that have led men to undertake such a well-equipped to bury this woman precisely here, in a very difficult place of access where it is possible to break his neck every step (rest assured, stairs have been built since). Take the time to admire the geological formations of the cave, especially interesting, with numerous stalagmites and stalactites. They are so many in a room that the latter was called the organ room. The visit is in several stages, with the first discovery of the vestibule, which serves a number of galleries that have enabled a circuit to be set up in 8. The gallery of paintings, with goats, precedes the training room, of more geological interest. Corridors and halls follow up to the lowest point, before they go back almost half a kilometre underground. The entire cave is much larger and reaches 2 km.

This Arab atalaya of the 1126 th century dominates the city and its surroundings, and it is close to the battle of Arnizol in. In clear weather, you can see the heights of the Sierra Nevada.

Built in 1897, it is a copy of the Venetian Palace Vendramin Calergi. A part is reserved for the socios, but another is accessible. There is a restaurant and bar, open from 10:00. 

Built in 1878 by Leopold Lemoniez, this building is one of the most emblematic of the city's industrial past. First factory flour, it was then (1889) a factory producing electricity. Discover by walking along the river.

It was the seat of the electricity plant, built in 1897 by an architect of Puente Genil, Rodrigo García. It owes its name to the sculpture of the Roman goddess Aurora crowning the building. It will also be noted its facade with neo-mudéjares echoes.

Built in 1904 by Antonio Baena Delgado, this former factory producing flour but also hams and oils has been completely renovated and is now a hotel. You can enjoy a drink or a drink in the cafeteria restaurant. Next to the hotel you will see the church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen where the workers of the old factory could pray.

Located in the former convent of the "Victoria", this museum has been hosting deposits from around the world since 1982, such as those of Los Castellares, Castillo Anzur, Fuente Alamo… It is organized around two sections: Archaeology and ethnography. In the cloister, Roman mosaics from Fuente Alamo are noted. In its part, the ethnography refers to the Puente Genil industrial de from the end of the th and early th centuries and, in particular, its expertise in agri-food industry, with tools and models that retraçant the manufacture of quince paste (membrillo).

It is one of the key elements to understand the position and function of a frontier town like Alcalá la Real. During the lower Middle Ages, this system served as a communication system between cities, and the region had many. Those who saw Lord of the Rings will have a little idea of what a fire ignition system means to give the alarm. Today, there are only nine towers and the road dedicated to them can walk through the tower of Moraleja y del Cascante, from downtown. Next to the last tower is the Fuente del Rey, with an old lace, and the church Santa Ana, dating back to the sixteenth century.

It is advisable to stop at Fuente del Río before taking a walk to the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park. It is here that the Río Cabra is born and the park begins. A few steps from the waterfall, a chirringuito with a terrace awaits you, with springs, pretty trees, and guaranteed freshness. Afterwards, Cabra can be the starting point for a walk, bike or car ride in this park that covers eight municipalities. Declared a Natural Park in 1988, it was integrated into UNESCO's geoparks network in 2006, due to the karst specificity of the terrain. It is also this entry into this network that led to the abandonment of the operation of the Cabra quarries.

It is a cave of over 2 500 metres, the largest in Andalusia and the fourth in Spain. It includes colonies of five species of bats.

In this Victorian-Mudéjar style church dating back to the end of the th century, it will be noted in particular its main altarpiece, one of the most beautiful examples of Sevillian Gothic, whose tables and sculptures were carried out by Taormina and Jorge Fernández, also authors of the main altarpiece of Seville Cathedral. The chore contains a series of baroque paintings by the painter Zurbarán.

Completed by the guided tour of Puente Genil's cuarteles (3 €). Information at the Tourist Office.

Founded by a papal bull in 1460, it was one of the very first convents in the city. With elements built from the 15th to the 18th century, the complex has a wide range of architectural styles. Of particular note are the cloisters, with their delightful atmosphere, and the church, emblematic of Andalusian Mudejar art, the latter exhibiting several paintings by Valdés Leal and a collection of women's portraits. You can also enjoy the beautiful view from the mirador tower overlooking the church tower and the sweets made by the sisters.

Puente Genil is a charming town in the province of Cordoba. The town offers an interesting mix of historical heritage, culture and natural beauty, making it an attractive destination for tourists.