What to do in Cantoria - Almeria - Interior de Almeria

The beauty of Cantoria stands out for the tradition and culture that it still maintains to this day; its music, patron saint festivals and the archaeological and architectural variety that it possesses, make it an enriching town full of life. The warmth and simplicity of its inhabitants will make you enjoy this experience to the fullest and learn first hand the stories of every corner. The most outstanding things you can find in Cantoria are: the Parish Church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, the Hermitage of San Cayetano y San Antón and the Palace of Almanzora, although there are many more interesting things in Cantoria.

If you visit this town and want to know what to see and do in it, we have selected on this page a series of suggestions to make your stay easier and more interesting.

We hope you enjoy it.

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FREE PLANS

30 WONDERS OF THE ALMANZORA (Cantoria)

DAY TRIPS

3 Reasons to visit Cantoria

Here are 3 reasons to visit Cantoria visiting three key points of the municipality: the Parish Church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen, the Hermitage of San Cayetano and San Antón and the Palace of Almanzora.

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Cantoria, the town that smells of gunpowder

If you are looking for a different destination full of history, culture and fun, you cannot miss Cantoria, a town in the province of Almería that every year celebrates one of the unique and spectacular festivals in Andalusia: the Carretillas de San Antón.

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CAR ROUTES

Marble route

We finish the route in Cantoria, a place full of tradition and historical monuments.

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Moorish Route of the Almanzora Valley

To plan a visit to the Moorish routes of the Almanzora Valley is to venture through the whole region, village by village, where, for obvious historical reasons, the Nasrid heritage is the most important of all those that make up its culture, customs, traditions, monuments and archaeological remains.

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Green Route of the Almanzora

The Almanzora region has countless possibilities for routes in contact with nature. Among them are the Gran Recorrido (long-distance) paths, the so-called GR and the Pequeño Recorrido (short-distance) paths, which cross villages and mountains, rivers and forests, and continue their route through other regions. Along the way you will find centenary forests, millenary villages, natural monuments, rivers with permanent water, and endemic species of flora and fauna.

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Route of the villages bathed by the Almanzora River

This route proposes a journey following the course of the river through all those villages that chose to settle along its course in search of the fertility of their orchards and the water that descends from the peaks of the Filabres and Estancias.

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Craftsmen’s Route

The craftsmanship of the area is basically centred on marble, above all in localities such as Fines, Olula del Río and Macael, but there are also important exponents of ceramics, such as the pottery workshop of Los Puntas, in Albox, and the wood cultivated for years by Pedro Gilabert, whose work has merited a whole museum in Arboleas. The route starts in Arboleas, a municipality which can be reached from the Autovía del Mediterráneo, at the exit towards Purchena, taking the Huércal Overa Baza road.

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TRAILS

Cantoria Trail PR-A 418

Length: 15,5 km
Town: Cantoria
Difference in altitude: 352 m

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La Jata Trail – Cantoria SL-A 270

Length: 9,7 km
Town: Cantoria
Difference in altitude: 100 m

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WALKING ROUTES

Route El Cerro Castillo – Cantoria

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MTB ROUTES

MTB Route Cantoria-Albanchez (Cantoria, Lijar, Albanchez, Chercos – Almeria)

Technical difficulty: Moderate
Time: 3 hours 13 minutes
Distance: 48,64 km
Route: Circular

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MTB Route VGD – (Macael, Olula del Rio, Cantoria – Almeria)

Technical difficulty: Moderate
Time: 7 hours 25 minutes
Distance: 94,11 km
Route: Circular

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MTB Route La Sierrecica (Macael, Arboleas, Olula del Rio, Cantoria, Zurgena – Almeria)

Technical difficulty: Moderate
Time: 7 hours 25 minutes
Distance: 94,11 km
Route: Circular

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ALMANZORA GREENWAY

Cantoria Greenway

The Almanzora Greenway, whose first steps for its transformation into a Greenway are already underway on the Guadix-Almendricos railway line (Granada-Murcia). This line was built to provide a quick outlet for the ore that was stored in the area. Its exploitation began between 1906 and 1907 by several companies of English capital, until it passed into the hands of Spanish capital at the end of the last century.

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WHAT TO SEE IN CANTORIA

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The Saavedra Theater was built in 1926, at the expense of Vicente Giménez Saavedra, according to a commemorative plaque on one of the side doors. It is located on the corner with two streets: Romero and Ermita, which connect with the center of the Villa de Cantoria; streets that, on the other hand, are fully built, which has prevented its expansion in the restoration recently carried out at the initiative of the City Council. The Saavedra Theater has a rectangular floor plan, with a gable roof and a flat tile roof. The fact that it is on the corner results in a main facade and a side facade. The main façade is smaller than the lateral façade, and there are three doors on one level and three windows on the second. On a third level there is a small circular span. All the openings have molding around in white, which makes them stand out on the wall painted in a pinkish tone. The wall of this façade is extended by ending in a higher central body, where it is situated in a circular vain, and is topped by a small cornice. The lateral façade has three small windows in the […]

Saavedra Theater

What to Visit

The Palacio del Almanzora is a most outstanding neoclassical building in the province of Almería. It had its origin in the 18th century when, in the marquisate of Los Vélez, it was decided to divide its geographical area into three administrative zones. They built the building in Almanzora and had granaries for collecting cereals, oil mills, housing areas and administrative areas, later taking advantage of the main building, as an ancestral home for the families of the Marquis of Villafranca and the Marquis of La Romana. In the middle of the 19th century, the Palacio del Almanzora was acquired by Don Antonio Abellán Pañuelas, from Cuevas de Almanzora. In 1872 he was named Marquis becoming the first Marqués del Almanzora. This ordered to considerably expand the main building adding new dependencies and turning it into a palace, giving it the neoclassical air that was fashionable in the constructions of the time. The Palace of the Almanzora consists of a main pavilion with two wings in square, that leave in the center a patio in honor. Both the main pavilion and the left wing, house the different rooms used for housing while the wing on the right is occupied by the […]

Palace of Almanzora

What to Visit

The Greenway of the Almanzora, whose first steps for its transformation into the Greenway are already underway on the Guadix-Almendricos railway line (Granada-Murcia), this line was built to give a quick outlet to the ore that housed the area. Its exploitation began between 1906 and 1907 by several companies with English capital, until at the end of the last century it passed into the hands of the Spanish capital. In its day it was called Ferrocarril del Almanzora the railroad that linked the cities of Murcia and Granada. It was inaugurated in 1885. The main goods transported were esparto, iron ore and marble from the nearby Macael quarries. The transport of the ore from the mines to the railroad was done by laying overhead cables that transported the iron ore to the Los Zoilos and Los Canos loading bays. On January 1, 1985, traffic was closed between the town of Guadix in Granada and the Murcia de Almendricos (Lorca), while the rest of the line continued in use. The municipalities of Serón, Fines, Cantoria and Olula del Río have carried out refurbishment projects in the sections of this same line that runs through their municipal boundaries. In this way, it […]

Greenway of the Almanzora – Cantoria

What to Visit

The Hermitage is located on top of a hill, permanent witness of the future of the town of Cantoria, Almería, crosses indolently the passing of the years. Old structure, sometimes renewed, that contains the old flavor of the trace of time. The Hermitage is a magical church, symbol of Cantoria, that warns on the horizon of the proximity of the town. Its tower, reflecting those of the church, intones with them a secular song in the bowels of the valley, flooding the landscape with its mystic influence. In its simple architecture it condenses a magical universe of the place where it sits; solar of the different inhabitants that in the centuries have been there it sleeps turned into place of cult, under the invocation of San Antón and San Cayetano, saints who mark changes of equinoxes. Magical and eternal hermitage, Cantoria’s signature.

The Hermitage

What to Visit

The Our Lady of Carmen Church was built in the nineteenth century, between 1816 and 1870. Architecturally it is closer to being a cathedral. It has neoclassical features: a Latin cross plan, two lateral naves, covered by a dome with a dome on the transept. The foundations are of stone of masonry on which walls of masonry of stone alternated with courses of solid brick are raised. Outside the Our Lady of Carmen Church there are three entrance doors, two lateral and the main at the foot of the temple, which constitute the facade. To the feet are two towers, between which a portico is formed, with arches of half a point, on pillars of attached columns and delimited by some gates that were placed in the Church of San Francisco the Great of Madrid. The two towers are prismatic with a square base of three sections with circular arched windows and 22 meters high. In the interior they emphasize a series of paintings coming from the Museum of the Prado, as they are the imposition of the Chasuble to San Ildefonso, of Antonio Lanchares, disciple of Zurbarán, picture of Santa Teresa of the Sevillian School and a picture of San […]

Our Lady of Carmen Church

What to Visit

Our visits tend to focus on urban areas and some external element, so we ignore 95% of the space. For this reason, we propose that we focus on panoramic viewpoints, such as the Mirador Valle de Almanzora, in which today we look out to realize how great and beautiful is the power of nature. In all the towns of our Valley we can find many hidden places between the two mountain ranges, offering us the possibility of observing nature and navigating in its wonderful landscapes.

Viewpoint Valle del Almanzora

What to Visit

Navigation

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ACTIVITIES FOR HIRE

LEISURE

City Escape Room

The Secret of Los Alejandros is an entertaining street escape (variation of the escape room that takes place outdoors) that proposes you to walk through the streets of the town of Cantoria (Almería) while overcoming various tests to finally discover the secret of Los Alejandros. The game mixes fun fictional plots and historical facts of the town.

Mountain Biking Spain

Welcome to Mountain Biking Spain, you have just discovered one of Spain’s best kept secrets. The Almanzora Valley in the Sierra de los Filabres is a little known place that offers an endless supply of Big Mountain XC and Enduro style riding. This is proper mountain biking using flowing, hard-to-find, off-map singletrack that is riddled with technical sections, fast descents and testing climbs.

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WHERE TO EAT

Our cuisine includes tradition and innovation. Our flavours will not leave you indifferent. Come and try them! Phone for reservations: 642 00 40 96 Opening hours: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 8:00h-17:00h. Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 8:00h-17:00h and from 20:30h-1:00h Sunday from 9:00h-17:00h Monday closed

Yedra Restaurant

Where to eat

Restaurants in Cantoría (Almería): Restaurant-Bar Los Albardines, daily and special menus, assorted tapas, toasts, sandwiches, grilled meat. Events: birthdays, communions, weddings, christenings, company dinners .. Menus: Daily menus of several first courses and several courses of second, dessert and coffee. Special menu Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Varied lids: More than 30 tapas varied every day. Sausages to the wine Meat in sauce Russian salad Homemade anchovies Chicken wings Etc… Events: Birthday Communions Wedding Baptisms Business dinners … Great service. Friendly and close treatment.