Silence, water and olive grove: Amor Subbético
"My grandmother always came here with her jug to fill it with fresh water and every time I come to town to spend a few days, I do the same thing," Jose tells us, as he bends down to fill this thousand-year-old vessel in the cold and crystalline spring that flows from the rocks . Nothing is heard, only the murmur of the water.
We are in the Subbética village of Zagrilla Alta (200 inhabitants), next to an old laundry still in use. So far we have come after driving a few 7 km along winding roads between olive groves, from Cordoba , listening from inside the vehicle to the birds of the field.
ZAGRILLA, TO 'CAST THE DAY' NEXT TO A SPRING
We have left on the restaurant terrace table The fountain , right here, next to a spring, the remains of a glorious plate of soaking cod . A colorful salad typical of the area, based on this fish and accompanied by orange, olive oil, homemade fig bread, pomegranates and cherries, all washed down with extra virgin olive oil from the region (one of the best in the world) and, by the way, we have also tried the typical collejas , a wild plant that is eaten in a scrambled egg and that always leaves you wanting more. All accompanied by a few Finos from Montilla-Moriles.
Zagrilla
But seeing Jose filling the jug a few meters away, at the spring, we woke up curious, glass of wine in hand, a little wanting to start a conversation with him and a little to see what people are up to among those rocks. He is not the first nor the last neighbor who comes to take some water from the spring that ** gushes cold, frozen **, and that goes down, according to Jose, from the Sierra del Alcaide . Some countrymen arrive in their Land Rovers to fill dozens of bottles. They greet and leave. And in this harsh environment, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by olive trees , the coming and going of these discontinued vehicles almost all over the world draw a picturesque picture, like a kind of Iberian safari. I love this land.
By the spring, in the old laundry where a grandfather now cools off, and in the crystal-clear pond where ducks frolic and fish frolic, the children play safely, away from the road in an environment as of bygone times.
It will be about 30ºC , but here you hardly notice it. The only thing your body asks of you is to ask for another wine , and sit down to take it in the terrace of the restaurant La Fuente , al fresco, to end up coming to life with a very cold coffee, testing what the restaurant says in its menu: “ We have the best cheesecake in the world ”. Any better plan? Honestly, none.
Zagrilla
At sunset, when we are about to leave, we cast one last look at the laundry room , and the grandfather who is still there, with his radio, gives the children some cupcakes and tells us that he built this laundry room, in 1935 , the first president of the Second Spanish Republic, who died poor and in exile, Don Niceto Alcalá Zamora : “Do you know that Niceto was a Priegense? His house can be visited ”, he tells us. And between data and curiosities, he tells us in the shade of those trees the tragic odyssey of this man's journey through Europe and the rest of the world (Paris, Hamburg, Oran, Casablanca, Dakar, Veracruz, Havana, Rio... before arriving at Buenos Aires) and that would become his definitive exile, an adventure that the former president left written in his book 441 days. He never returned to Spain.
PRIEGO DE CÓRDOBA, INEXHAUSTIBLE
The house of former president Nieto Alcalá-Zamora is one of those unexpected visits to the town that plunges you into an underworld, the of the Spain of another time , about which we know almost nothing.
But in addition, the town is full of picturesque squares – few as beautiful as San Antonio –; fountains and springs –none like the spectacular King's Fountain –; wonderful baroque churches, open to the public, – few tabernacles like the one in the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption – and above all, wonderful viewpoints to lose sight of the horizon: the Balcony Adarve is full stop.
The mythical photo takes place in the Adarve, next to the statue of Joselito , the little nightingale, that it was shot in Priego, back in 1957 The Nightingale's Arrow . Next to Joselito-child-statue there are sometimes queues to take "the photo" (no, not even a millennial). But much more interesting are the sculptures that dot the Paseo de Colombia, popularly known as Paseo de las Rosas, next to the Adarve, under its enormous shade plane trees, horse chestnut trees, acacias, cedars and maples.
Typical street with flowers in the neighborhood of Villa de Priego de Córdoba, one of the most beautiful towns in the Subbética Cordobesa.
you have to go around the neighborhood of the village , full of pots on the balconies and in the alleys, which are cared for by its neighbors, and if you can, sleep in one of the hundreds of options of rural houses and apartments that you find right here. It can be uploaded to Hermitage of Calvary , with its esplanade strewn with huge crosses. or give you a walk through the royal butchers and enter the awesome local castle . In short, Priego is perfect for a getaway to the Subbética and from here organize occasional excursions during the day to the neighboring villages and the small towns of the Subbética . Of course, it all depends on the disconnection needs that you bring. If you come doing tourism of silence, more and more extended, then, find yourself a rural house or a small hotel in any of these villages and set up your base of operations in it.
ALMENIDILLA, THE PERFECT BASE OF OPERATIONS
Zagrilla, Almedinilla … the suffix -illa calls me. It has that affective value typical of the speech of this area. But we are not going to travel the 10 km that separate the towns of Priego and Almedinilla just because it ends in that suffix. Nope. Almedinilla is another of the jewels of that Subbético Love that I share today. Not only because of the site of the Roman villa, the Iberian settlement, the route of the Horsetail Jump with waterfall included, the historical-archaeological museum... but above all, because it has one of the quietest and most comfortable accommodations to savor the Subbética in all senses: the The Era Guest House.
In Almedinilla, the accommodation to live better the Subbética
Raul and Davinia they have made their breakfasts international based on homemade jams and other organic and homemade delicacies; they pamper the silence that the environment gives them –children are not allowed in their 7 rooms– and they elaborate a cuisine that they call “conscious” based km 0 and ecological products of the Ecological Subbética association only for guests of your hotel. “Our cod soaking with the oranges that we have -we already have the last ones of the season left- or the salmorejo with seasonal tomatoes are unique… You will not taste anything like it”, comments Raúl Córdoba, chef and owner of the inn.
at the foot of the Sierra de Albayate and with the river Caicena watering their orchards, the little more than 2,000 souls that populate this town inhabit a territory that has been inhabited since the Iberians. In the Hill of the Cross , just in an area above the town itself, this is one of the few towns in Late Iberian Period (2nd-3rd centuries BC) excavated in Andalusia . A place that was completely destroyed with the arrival of the Roman Empire, of which many vestiges also remain in the Roman villa El Ruedo , at the entrance to the town, both spaces declared Sites of Cultural Interest.
LAST TWO SUBBETIC ESCAPES TO DREAM OF: ZUHEROS AND CABRA
If you still have time left, and the daylight hours here are already enough, you cannot leave the area without working your legs doing a bike route and then walking up the steep streets of Zuheros , one of the most beautiful villages in the entire region.
The town itself winds through the streets quickly and it doesn't take long to reach the castle, where you'll find a small square with a terrace to regain your strength. Round off the plan by doing, first thing in the morning, the section by bike of the Vía Verde de la Subbética that goes from Doña Mencia to Zuheros, less than 2 km with views, suitable for children, and then you can go up to the castle and go down to have lunch again on the Vía Verde, at the inn next to the Subbetica Cycle Tourist Center, the Meson La Cantina . There, in Dona Mencia , at the Cycling Center you can rent bikes for the whole family.
The beauty of the town is a common effort
But also, in the area, you can walk the paths of the Bailón River from Zuheros , on a linear route of 15 km that takes you to the Chorreras, small waterfalls, which you can also reach from the nearby town of goat . A highly recommended visit, to understand the geological value of these landscapes, is to Santa Rita Visitor Center , already in the town of Cabra, where they will offer you information on all these routes and they will tell you about the phenomena that gave rise to this particular limestone mountain range.
And since you are in the area of Cabra, other interesting hiking routes will take you to the hermitage from the town , located in the highest part of the Picacho (1,216 meters), and which is known as the Andalusian balcony . From here, you will distinguish Sierra Morena, the Cordovan Countryside and the Betic Cordillera . And after the walk, a super hamburger or a beef tenderloin from the restaurant cowgirl , close to the hermitage, will be the best reward, enjoying it without haste, on its terrace with views of the mountains . The restaurant family has spent years raising their own organic beef, feeding it on grass and acorns, and they have become the unbeatable option to eat if you are in the area.
The best goat meat