INTO THE MOUNTAINS

We left the coast and headed inland to Antequera – a small town about which we knew nothing other than that it was in the hills about 50 km north of Malaga.  It turned out to be quite delightful.  The old town has survived largely unspoilt and is still an ordinary residential area.  Some of the old walls and castle have been carefully restored.

There are numerous churches of varied design but among the most interesting sights are the dolmens.  The largest of these tombs from the megalithic era is the Menga, built of enormous flat boulders the roof section being supported by three columns.

Unusually the passage into the tomb faces northeast – directly in line with a mountain which looks like the face of somebody lying on his back!

We drove a few kilometres beyond Antequera and took the opportunity to climb the 3½ km from the main road up to El Torcal de Antequera – an amazing area of glaciated limestone formations mostly resembling stacks of gigantic pancakes.  This is a very popular climbing area with lots of bolted routes - though special permission is required to climb there.

We then went to a site at one end of the Garganta del Chorro – a 5 km long, incredibly narrow and deep cleft in the rock and a favourite destination for some serious climbing (above our standard even if we had the equipment with us!)  As part of an ambitious hydro-electric scheme early in the 20^th century a precarious walkway was built, clinging to the side of the gorge.  Now in disrepair it is only accessible to climbers with local guides. 

We cycled from the site to the nearer end and then drove and walked to the far end.

A short day’s drive along some very narrow roads brought us to the town of Cabra where we stayed a night on the aire (free overnight parking for motor caravans).  From the aire we had a very enjoyable cycle ride along a disused railway line, now very popular with walkers and cyclists.

It was then only a short distance to Cordoba – one time capital of the Moorish area of Spain.  The term “Moor” refers to a mixture of Berber and Arabic peoples from North Africa, especially present day Morocco.  The area they ruled was named “al Andalus” from which Andalucia got its name.  We enjoyed a day visit (by bus from the camp site about 20 km away) to the town where we saw its most important and extraordinary building – the Mezquita (Spanish for Mosque). 

There was a Christian church on this site from the 6^th century which was demolished by the Muslim Moors in 785 and a huge mosque built on the site.  The mosque was added to over the following centuries until its area was quite enormous.  Following the re-conquest of Spain in 1236 and the expulsion of the Moors, a Cathedral was built inside the Mosque, fortunately not destroying the beautiful Muslim architecture and decoration but blending the two together.  The result is fascinating and spectacular.

Our next port of call, now an inland city on the Guadalquivir River – Seville – was once the major port of departure for the Americas and Far East until the river silted up and everything nautical moved to Cadiz.  Because of its importance at a time when Spain’s exploration of, and trade with, the rest of the world was at a height there is an abundance of palaces and grand buildings set among wide roads and parks.  However, one of the most spectacular was built for the ill-fated Spanish-American Exhibition in 1929 – the Plaza de España – now used for little other than a place to while away a sunny afternoon.

Seville also has a very large and ornate Cathedral.

It, too, was built on the site of a mosque of which little remains other than the minaret, now the bell tower, the Giralda named after the 16^th century weather vane on its pinnacle.  From it there are fine views over the city.

The near-by tobacco factory, now part of the university – was the setting for Bizet’s opera “Carmen”.

This was our second visit to Seville and there is much to see so we may well return again on another trip.  But for now our plans are to go to another town where we stayed for a couple of nights two years ago – El Rocio and the Parque Nacional de Doñana which we didn’t see last time.