Town to town

The Santa Cruz that rises in Albox appears in the mid-eighteenth century as a symbol of the Christian presence that had reconquered the territories occupied by the Mohammedans. From that transcendental moment, the image of this cross has decorated the highest hill of these places and regions.

Los Puntas Pottery-Museum Located on Calle San Leonardo, with Arab ovens with 300 years of history, it is named by the Ministry of Tourism as “Andalusian Artisanal Point of Interest”. Antonio Alfonso Fernández with his brother Juan Alfonso Fernández, potters, with a whole life dedicated to the elaboration and diffusion of the Almeria pottery in his workshop called “Los Puntas”, have managed to keep alive the whole process of traditional pottery, working in the lathe located at a lower level than the floor, a unique feature of the Albox pottery, and cooking in an Arab oven dating from the 18th century, declared a Historic Artistic Heritage. In 1975 the two were awarded the “Master Craftsman” certification, granted by the Trade Union Craft Organization, and on January 17, 2012, the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Sport of the Andalusian Government granted them the Letter of Master Craftsman Their excellent works have made them achieve different prizes at a national level. Representative pieces of this workshop are found in numerous museums around the world, such as the National Oleary Pottery Museum (La Coruña), the Chinchilla Popular Pottery Museum (Albacete), the Museum of Culture of Havana (Cuba) or the Ethnographic Museum of Hamburg […]

Placing ourselves in the Plaza de San Francisco we find the Parish Church of La Concepción that appeared in the eighteenth century, inside there were several chapels. But this one was presumably ruined by what was necessary the construction of a new temple and that at present it lasts. The Parish Church of La Concepción was built thanks to popular donations. In it there are some paintings by the artist Andrés Ibáñez that is inside the temple and we can also see the image of its patron Saint Francis. One of the Albojense Christmas traditions that are still preserved, such as the joy masses are celebrated every December and from 7 in the morning in the Parish Church of La Concepción. This custom dates back to the 18th century and masses are celebrated accompanied by Christmas carols, tambourine music, zambombas, cowbells and guitars.

Walking through the Marble Region The Guadix-Almendricos line (Granada-Murcia) was built to give quick access to the mineral that housed the area. Its explotation 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. Disused since 1985, now it will become an itinerary of great accessibility and safety for all types of users, with no age limit or physical capacity. The Almanzora Greenway runs along part of the disused Guadix-Almendricos railway line, in the section that runs between the provincial limit of Granada-Almería and the municipal district of Huércal-Overa. The final length of this section of Vía Verde del Almanzora will be approximately 35 km. 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 is intended to complete a large greenway in the Almanzora valley, with the idea of ​​creating a road suitable for cycling and walking, suitable for all types of users, including those with reduced mobility. The stretch of ends is an urban route, which highlights the […]

The Parish Church San Ramón Nonato is an excellent work of great neoclassical purity and remarkable balance of volumes that stands out among the traditional hamlet of the rest of the town. It was built in the second half of the 17th century, working on the construction of the architect Antonio Munar, although the name of the architect who designed it was unknown. The main façade of the San Ramón Nonato Parish Church has a double pediment, complete with a domed bell tower among igneous rockets. The interior features a vaulted Latin cross plan with vaulted dome above the cruiser

Of the castle of the locality Almería of Laroya only remains, at present, some vestiges. This fortress, whose construction and origin have not been studied, stands in a beautiful mountain village of very asymmetrical and steep streets, in which we can also admire the parish church, built in the sixteenth century.

The viewpoints are those balconies, like the Mirador de Lúcar, in which today we lean out to realize how big and beautiful the power of nature is, to delight us with such beautiful and impressive images, like those we can see from any viewpoint of the Almanzora Valley; these high places that we know today as lookouts are nothing more than the vestige of other times.

At the eastern end of the Betic System, in the province of Almería and in the Alto Almanzora region, is the Sierra de Lúcar, where the Piedra Lobera Natural Monument rises to a height of 1,722 meters. It is a spectacular limestone formation of steep walls that stands out remarkably in the landscape, constituting a geographic landmark of great interest and spectacular landscapes. Its legendary name comes from the oral tradition, which tells that it was in this place where the last specimens of wolves that existed in these mountains were exterminated. In addition to its scenic beauty, this natural monument houses an important endemic flora adapted to the harsh conditions that occur in this environment: shortage of rain, strong winds, long periods of insolation, frequent frosts and stony soils. Thus, exclusive species such as the sandstone tomentosa, which grows between the rocks and has a bearing in the form of a pad to counteract the whips of the wind. It is covered with small hairs to reflect the incessant solar rays. Other examples of interest are the honeysuckle from the Pyrenees, which lives in the shelter of fissures and limestone rocks; and the exotic peony, called rose bush, which […]

The marble mortar is a very popular object that has become our tourist icon. Inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records, it is a tribute to the artisans of Macael marble. Prior to the installation of handicraft workshops in the town, at the end of the 19th century, its complete elaboration (from the drawing on a piece of white marble until its carving with pointers and grinding) determined the end of the stage in which the Young people acted as apprentices, to become considered as stonemasons. More recently, it has gained a notoriety thanks to its use by famous chefs in their appearances in gastronomic television programs. Installing in the roundabout of the Avenida de Almería with the Avenida de Ronda is, of course, done in Marble of Macael. The mortar (base) has dimensions of 3.29 mts. Of height, 3,07 mts. Diameter of the mouth and 30.9 tons of weight; While the hand is 4.73 mts. Of height, 0.85 mts. Of diameter and a weight of 5,820 Kg.

The route along the path-viewpoint offers a panoramic view of the central core of the Macael quarries. In this deposit are the main marble reserves of all the Spanish State, followed at a considerable distance by those of Huelva. Marble is a metamorphic rock, the result of a recrystallization process, in which conchiferous fossil remains are present. As a result of this process, calcite and dolomite are generated, from the original limestones and dolomites. This metamorphism, in which mechanical, thermal and geochemical factors are present, is generated in underground environments. Its laminar disposition and its mining accessibility are the results of tectonic forces and the dynamics of the creeping mantles of the Betic mountain ranges. All this complex process concludes with the offer of marble, noble material, appreciated and constant presence in the monumental architecture and outstanding since antiquity. It can be observed the difficulty of exploitation, and the technical sophistication and machinery necessary for extraction.

New public space for leisure and family fun with a surface area of ​​more than 11,000 m2, dominated by the monumental sculpture “Pachamama”, with abundant trees, dozens of attractions, play areas, a kiosk with a terrace, picnic areas, barbecues and parking. An infrastructure with which we intend to attract the family public so that they come to discover the Land of Marble, showing the smallest the values ​​of this identity culture of the province of Almería, while they can have fun in one of the playgrounds largest and best equipped in Andalusia.

The Center of Interpretation of Marble is conceived as a cultural space where history, tradition, innovation and future coexist harmoniously to offer us a vision on the culture of Macael marble. It fulfills a triple function as a reception center for visitors, a tourist information point and an interpretive space that enables a contextualization of the Macael marble culture. In its interior we find 22 panels, with information in Spanish and English, that help to interpret the Culture of the Marble of Macael. Beginning with its traditions and history, continuing through different geological aspects and situation of the areas where the quarries are located, by the methods and utensils that were traditionally used both in their extraction and in their transformation, the evolution in the transport of the material, the Physical characteristics of marble blocks, the modern extraction process, the ecological-landscape restoration of quarries and tailings, the methods used in the different typologies that are distinguished in the subsector of the transformation currently: elaborate factories, the mill Stone and crafts workshops, the presence of Macael marble in celebrated buildings throughout history and around the world, and ending with a look to the future with innovation in the stone industry, and […]

The sculptural work that the artist Antonio López has designed to preside over the City of Culture in Olula del Río, the sculpture ‘Mujer del Almanzora’ is located next to the Casa Ibáñez museum and the ‘Pérez Siquier’ museum of photography. Draws attention to its powerful dimensions with an approximate height of eight meters. This work by López will be the complement of the ‘City of Culture’, welcoming with its powerful presence to the entire cultural space. The Center ‘Pérez Siquier’, is a new building that will have a double function; conservation, custody, digitization and management of all the funds that make up the archive (original negatives and slides, author copies, documents and publications) and permanent museum dedicated to the work of the distinguished photographer, which will cover his production of more than sixty years, from the black and white images of the second half of the fifties, where La Chanca has an undoubted prominence, going through the findings of color in the seventies and eighties, which have given the author the qualification of “pioneer” in the scene of the international photographic avant-garde, up to its most recent series.

The Guadix-Almendricos railway line (Granada-Murcia) was built to give a rapid 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. Disused since 1985, now it will become an itinerary of great accessibility and safety for all types of users, with no age limit or physical capacity. The Almanzora Greenway runs along part of the disused Guadix-Almendricos railway line, in the section that runs between the provincial limit of Granada-Almería and the municipal district of Huércal-Overa. The final length of this section of Vía Verde del Almanzora will be approximately 35 km. 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 is intended to complete a large greenway in the Almanzora Valley, with the idea of ​​creating an ideal road for cycling and walking, suitable for all types of users, including those with reduced mobility.  

The idea of ​​the project to increase the presence of existing ruins, using only a few elements and clean the place (hide undesirable elements), is a way to clarify the meaning of the landscape. The project does not try to recreate old walls, but tries to recover the memory and meaning of these places. So, we created a small route to guide visitors and show them the hidden remains and meanings of the place. The main idea of ​​the design inside the castle was to emphasize its defensive use. To do this, we recreate the path of the patrol, eliminating the plants and placing an anti-root membrane under the new route. We let the plants grow in the middle to hide the large antennae and contrast with the path. Therefore, the central part became a park simply by placing some banks here and there. Finally, we placed two elevated wooden platforms, in the same place where the old towers used to be, to point to other defensive buildings.

The Basilica of Our Lady of the Mercedes, of Oria adopts a solution similar to the Velezian temple, although with smaller size and the more simplified decoration. The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercedes, is a fairly late example of the Baroque, since it takes place in the second half of the eighteenth century. This church is located in the center of a large urban space that surrounds it and that constitutes a kind of atrium in which the front of the feet acts as a point of attraction for the facade. On this cover contrasts the decoration of small reliefs that fill the spandrels, with the sobriety of pilasters, entablatures and pediments. This sobriety of decorative elements is broken by the plastic game achieved by the different materials used in the construction. The brick of dimensions shorter and wider than the one commonly used, gives the walls a special texture, underlined by the alternation of drawers of plastered and whitewashed masonry. All this links with the Mudejar tradition, which, for its economy, simplicity and beauty, survived for a long time in the province of Almería. The Basilica of Our Lady of Mercy is a temple, with a cruciform plan, […]

Located in the shade of Sierra de Filabres in the municipality of Purchena, the main mountain massif of Almeria and one of the largest in Andalusia, which extends from East to West with an approximate area of ​​150,000 hectares and an average height of 1,500 m, with its highest point in Calar Alto (2,168 m). Geologically it is framed within the internal zone of the Bética Mountain Ranges, forming the main dividing barrier that separates the two most important hydrographic basins of the province: that of the Andarax and Almanzora rivers. From this viewpoint there are ample views of the Almanzora valley, located between the Sierras de Filabres, Estancias and Lúcar. This valley has always been a frontier zone and the oldest known route that linked the Mediterranean with the Guadalquivir valley and as a result of that border situation are today divided by the region, remains of walls, cisterns and watchtowers, silent witnesses of the different civilizations that occupied these lands throughout history.

The Church of San Ginés, is located in the street Church s/n. It was erected in the place where the old Muslim mosque was and came to replace another consecrated one from 1505, to Our Lady of the Incarnation, which probably could have been located in the hill of the Castle. Its construction began around 1550 by the architect Juan de Orea, and did not end until the immediate dates of the rebellion of the Moors. Its style is Renaissance with notorious influences of the Mudejar Granada. It consists of three naves separated by two arcades that are supported by stone columns of oval section. The Church of San Ginés, has three chapels of the eighteenth century, one dedicated to the Virgin of Carmen, another to the Dolores and another to the Rosario. Externally it is built of regular ashlars and has a square tower. The roof is a pair and knuckle armor, with double braces decorated with eight-pointed stars and alfardones, which is repeated in the guards of the two friezes and in the almizabe, which creates octagonal polygons to which are added pineapples. It has three coats of arms, the oldest is that of Fray Diego Fernández de […]

In the scene of this viewpoint, the town of Serón stands out on the left; all its fertile plain, which occupies the fluvial deposits of the Almanzora valley, and a set of heritage elements, among which stands out the mineral loading of Los Canos, towards which one of the aerial cables that descended from the Bacares preserve -The Menas (cable Cabarga), some of whose supports are observed under the viewpoint. The connection between the mining preserve and the valley, through which the railway line that went to the pier of El Hornillo (Águilas, Murcia), was resolved by a set of aerial cables.

Nazarí era dates from the thirteenth century. It played an important role in the Muslim era due to its defensive nature and served as a refuge in the uprising of the Moors. The situation of this castle is majestic and its proportions are generous, especially in its base, as these are reduced as it ascends, being in the upper part a small esplanade, where a neo-style tower was built at the beginning of the 20th century -Mudéjar that houses the mechanism of a clock. The tower is square, raised on a masonry plinth. The bust is made of stone and the brick is used to frame the holes and reinforce the corners. The tower is divided into two floors with two-part windows in each of its fronts, these present in the auction a semicircular arch made of brick. Of the original fortress there is only one wall and some wall paintings scattered throughout the construction. Its plant is rectangular, formed by trapezoidal cubes with wide bases where towers are built, built with masonry joined with mortar, using brick for corners, doors and windows. In them it is possible to distinguish with precision the ancient walls and those that later have […]

Neoclassical construction of the 19th century, with a rectangular floor plan and a single nave. It has a very sober exterior and an interior that stands out for its simplicity and beauty. Located next to the square that bears his name, its ornamentation is articulated by means of a succession of pilasters of Ionic order joined by blind arches of half a point and supporting entablatures, on which the barrel vault is flung with lunettes finished in oculi. After the main arch opens the main chapel, where is the image of the patron, the “Virgen de los Remedios”, which is covered with a dome beautifully decorated with the pigeon of the Holy Spirit and angels, painted by the artist from Almeria Miralles.

The City Council of Sierro has improved the accessibility to the castle of the town by its southern part, conditioning an area in disuse, little passable and dangerous, and creating a lookout-picnic with which it is intended “to give a better service to those who visit the castle”.

Church of the mid-eighteenth century, having its own archive and books from 1769, working from that date as a branch church of Velez Rubio, being served, depending on the periods by one or two priests, who acted as coadjutors of the church of Vélez Rubio, but it would not be until June 1, 1900 when it becomes its own Parish. The territorial scope that the bishopric of Almeria assigned to it when the parish of Taberno was constituted, did not coincide exactly with the municipal term, serving as an example that of the district of Santopetar that belonged to the parish of Santa María de Nieva. This church was built by the residents of Taberno with dedication to San José, the deceased being buried inside the same church, until the old cemetery was created, located in the current street of Pablo Picasso and later, in the current one.

Church built with devotion to the Virgin of Carmen, if this church stands out for something, it is for the singularity of its procession, since it does not have a route or an approximate duration, because it is a procession to bid (auction). It is a normal procession, with the difference of the existence of some mayordomos, who change every year and who welcome the position with love and devotion, are in charge of directing the procession. These mayordomos take a bid (bet) who will take the virgin from the church 30 euros to take the virgin !! Any companion of the virgin can shout, I go up to 40 euros !! After a few meters traveled with the Virgin is returned to auction with the same system. We also bid for the Virgin to go through a street or another, the one who pays the most will decide the journey of the procession, even if someone wants to stop at your door you must pay and in addition, pay again to continue. That money goes to pay for repairs to the church, improvements in the image, etc.

The viewpoint of Cerrá will not leave you indifferent. The view towards the bottom of the Cerrá ravine is vertigo, the views of the valley are impressive. If you move 20 meters towards the edge of the mountain you will have another incredible view of the valley, reviewing the villages with the look: Serón, Tíjola, Purchena, Suflí, Macael, Olula del Rio, Fines and Cantoria, without forgetting the Cosentino polygon, the Quarries of Macael and the Tetica de Bacares. The colors when the night falls are very special, will make this trip an unforgettable day.

One of the places that most impress those who take a walk through the Almanzora Valley in the north of Almería, is “El Estrecho” located in the municipality of Urrácal. This narrow gorge is located on the Salada ravine at the foot of the hill “El Castillico”. For decades it has not been possible to pass due to the great amount of vegetation that there was in the rambla. Formerly, with the rise of the channel, it was cleaned naturally but the construction of dams for the prevention of large floods and floods has made over the years that appear large numbers of oleanders, tarays, blackberries and false rushes that prevented the access. Thanks to the cleaning work that has been carried out, today, we can enjoy a walk that surprises us by its particular geological formations of great beauty. The passage of water, which will accompany us in the course of this gorge, and the action of the wind, have shaped these spectacular geological formations for years, and their walls reach several meters in height. It consists of two separate formations whose length reaches about half a kilometer where our senses will begin to enjoy the spectacle offered by […]