Malaga car hire spain
The Washington Irving route on a bicycle
ROUTE 6: FROM MONTEFRÍO TO GRANADA (TECHNICAL
CHART)
We should not leave Montefrío (nother bastion cutting
off the route between Granada's Vega (fertile plain) and the
Guadalquivir Valley) without taking a moment to observe on
one side the peak on which stand the fortress and Iglesia
de San Antonio. In tis way we will see how Islam and Christianity
are both worthy on the valley which, at different times, they
inhabited. We leave the city on the camino de las cruces (path
of the crosses) feeling behind up the footsteps of the Abencerrads
who supported Prince Ismail in his quest to reach the throne
of Granada.
Soon we will pass the archaeological station of Peña
de los Gitanos (Gypsies' Peak) where remains dating back to
the Neolithic period have been found. In the meantime we ascend
through the foothills of the Paparanda. We will arrive at
the city which was the right hand of the kingdom of Granada.
Illora. On the dizzy descent we will see first the olive groves
fitting the cereal crops for space, and then the sight of
the wide vega and almost interminable length of the Sierra
Nevada (snowy mountain range) beyond. We go through what were
once suburbs of the walled city of Illora and then we leave
the town behind, looking to pass underneath the impressive
Soto de Roma aqueduct. This is a living exmple of one of the
many means used in Al-Andalus , along with waterwheels, irrigation
channels, water mills, dams, sluices and other architectural
devices, in the battle to supply this fertile land with precious
water.
The geometric formations of olive groves on the western hills
gradually give way to islands of poplar trees on our way to
Escóznar, Valderrubio and Fuentevaqueros. We pass the
Fuente (fontain) de la Teja, hidden in a poplar grove, where
a young Federico García Lorca would go and whisper
into the air of the vega.
In search of this very secret we soon come across the Torre
de Roma, a splendid medieval defensive structure which would
give refuge to the inhabitants of the areas against the frecuent
Castillian incursions and which gives us a point of reference
from which to arrive at Chauchaina and its narrow streets
.where there were once farmsteads, noe there are tobacco drying
sheds and their workers' houses; where once the water carried
murmured conspiracies and offerings of myrtle down the irrigation
channels, now they are forgotten streams that silently bring
life and economic prosperity to the region.
Following the gentle course of the river, we descend through
the Vega, passing Jau and, noticing the continuous repetition
of crops and poplar groves, we arrive at the former location
of the Ojos (eyes) of Huecar, where the Monarchs of Castille
and Aragón founded the city of Santa Fe on the site of the
Goxo farmstead. We enter crossing the Puerta (Gateway) de
Loja and exit through the Puerta de Granada, which along with
those of Seville and Jaen, form the cardinal points of this
geometrically laid out the village, born out of the Royal
ambition to reconquer the last territories of the Nazrid Kingdom
and which forms an ever-lasting symbol of the surrender which
subdued forever the words of Ibn - Sära: "Men's
eye turn towards Granada because it is a garden which spreads
out its flowers an undulating cloak. One might say that October
or November are like April because its hills are covered in
roses and reeds. After the nigth clouds, whose small, dense
tears look like pearls, you will give in to the madness in
these currents of water which call to mind the breast of a
beautiful woman, her blouse opened by her own fingers."
We continue through the poplar groves of Santa Fe and, having
crossed the Puente (bridge) de los Vados, we proceed, parallel
to the Genil river, drawn on by the three hills which lift
the city up towards the heavens and by three towers (of Vela,
San Nicolás and the Cathedral) which form a golden
triangle. Penetrating this triangle will give us the sensation
that we have travelled this road before.
| Andalucia
information |
| Routes:
dolmens
caves route, door
to the East route, andalusia
prehistory to islam, iron
ages, pillars
of herakles, baetica
romans towns, warriors
iberian citadels, almeria
baroque, cordova
baroque, granada,
jaen and malaga
baroque routes, bullfight
history, bullfight
spring itinerary, bullfight
summer itinerary, almeria
craft, cadiz
craft, cordova,
granada,
huelva,
jaen,
malaga
and seville
craft, carnival
route, festivals & fairs
routes, flamenco,
pilgrimages,
processions,
vintages,
cheese,
pork
and sweetes
routes, andalusia
and wines, arid
land landscape, cazorla
landscape, marshland,
mediterranean
landscape, moutains
areas, huelva
mountains, sierra
la morena, sierra
nevada, wet
lands, almeria
masterpieces, cadiz
masterpieces, cordoba,
granada,
huelva,
jaen, malaga
and seville
masterpieces, boabdil
castles, castle
routes, columbus
castles, frontier
castle, monasterys
castle, legacy
of ferdinand, manorial
estates castle, the
atlantic castle, the
mediterranean castle, cordoba
renaissance, jaen
renaissance, seville,
palatial, architeture
renaissance, alfarnate
wines, anisettes,
brandies,
huelva
wines, Jaen
wines, laujar,
malaga
wine, montilla
wine, rum,
villaviciosa
wines, The
Washington Irving route on a bicycle: from
seville to osuna (seville-Marchena,
Marchena-Osuna),
from
Osuna to Antequera (technical
chart), from
Antequera to Loja (technical
chart), from
Loja to Montefrio (technical
chart), flying
visit to Alhama (technical
chart),
from Montefrio to Granada (technical
chart), Gardens
of Cadiz and Malaga, of
Seville and Huelva, of
Cordova and Jaen, of
Granada and Almeria; The
Western and the
Central Route of White Villages; Romantic
Andalusia: Monumental, Navigable,
Oriental, Landscapes,
Contraband and Pathways
Routes; The
Western,
Northeast and Water
Route of
Subbetic Mountains; Islamic
Andalusia: Cadiz, Cordoba,
Granada
and Almeria , Seville
and Huelva, Malaga
and Jaen;
Popular
Architecture: Caves, Ranchos,
Jaen,
Alpujarras,
Axarquia,
White
Villages, Pedroches,
Huelva
and countryside,
20th
Century Architecture: Modernism, Historicism,
Modern
& Industrial
Architectures, Expositions |
|
| Malaga |
Almeria
|
Cadiz
|
Cordova
|
Granada
|
Huelva
|
Jaen
|
Seville
|
Marbella
|
Costa
del Sol |
|
|
|
