Accommodation
The region of mountain villages known as Las Alpujarras
clings to the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada,
cloven by deep, sheltered valleys and gorges which run down towards
the Mediterranean. The Alpujarra, as it is popularly known, in the
singular, is famous throughout Spain because of its unique mini-ecology.
Its terraced farmlands are constantly watered by the melting snow
from above, constituting a high-altitude oasis of greenery which
stands in dramatic contrast to the arid foothills below. This is
ideal hiking terrain for adventurous travellers, provided you take
along a tent and well-padded sleeping bags - the average altitude
is 4,000 feet above sea level.
The cultural interest of the region lies in its
fifty-odd villages, which were the last stronghold of the Spanish
Muslims, or Moors. Soon after the Castillians took Granada in 1492,
all the city´s Moors were forced to convert to Christianity.
Those who refused took to the hills, settling in this remote, inaccessible
area. Constant pressure from the Christians led to a bloody uprising,
the Morisco Rebellion of 1568, which was ruthlessly crushed out,
with the public execution of the leader, Ben Humeya, in the main
square of Granada. Soon followed a royal decree expelling from the
Kingdom of Granada all people of Arab descent, since the "new
Christians", as the converts were called, were all suspected
of being ¨crypto-Muslims¨ in secret...
The villages of the Alpujarra were resettled with
some 12,000 Christian families brought by King Philip II from Galicia
and Asturias in north-western Spain. However, these unique hamlets
have retained their traditional Berber architecture - terraced clusters
of grey-white box-shaped houses with flat clay roofs - which is
still common in the Rif and Atlas mountains of Morocco. Perhaps
the most picturesque villages are the famous trio which cling, one
close above the other, to the slopes of the Poqueira Valley,
where red peppers and tomatoes are still set out to dry on the flat
clay roofs, among the tall round chimney pots. Pampaneira,
at the bottom, bustles with crafts shops and restaurants, as does
Bubión,
half way up the slope, with its massive square church tower standing
on a plaza of rough paving stones. But to savour the authentic Alpujarra,
go to Capileira
at the top of the valley - the name is an Arabic derivation of the
Latin word for head or top - and walk down from the road into the
lower streets of the village, where the rocky streets, overhanging
passageways and sagging, stone houses have still not been remodelled
and prettified for contemporary living...
If you stray from the beaten path, you will be sure
to catch sight of the region´s abundant wild life, such as
the Cabra Hispanica, a mountain goat which roams the mountains in
herds and is often seen standing on pinnacles, silhouetted against
the sky. But as soon as it flairs the scent of man it will bound
up the steepest slopes with amazing speed... The Alpujarra is also
famous for its excellent birdwatching - the colourful Hoopoe with
its stark, haunting cry, is a common sight. The capital of the region
is Órgiva, on the lowlands, and the village of Trevélez -
famous throughout Spain for its superb mountain hams, or jamón
serrano - is, at over 4,840 feet above sea level, the highest village
in Europe, overhanging a fast-flowing river and plunging mountain
valley.
One of the many great travel books written about
Spain is devoted to the Alpujarra - Gerald Brenan´s
"South From Granada", which recounts
the adventures of a young Britisher who, after serving in World
War I, walked through Andalucia in search of a cheap place to live
and write. He discovered the tiny village of Yégen,
where he rebuilt a ruined house (now marked with a plaque in his
memory) and lodged some of his friends of the famous Bloomsbury
group of London. In his book - written in retrospect, long after
he became a well-known journalist - Brenan describes the difficulties
of getting such highly-strung aesthetes as Virginia Woolf and Lytton
Strachey up the river gorges on mule back, as well as his bucolic
existence among the local peasants.
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| Andalucia Natural
A careful selection of rural holiday homes between Las Alpujarras and Costa Tropical Andalucia.
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