Discover some beautiful small cities with all the charm and history Spain has to offer!

Pampeneira

In Pampaneira, the cultural heritage left by Moorish people in the region of Alpujarra, Granada, is preserved intact, with its narrow streets and alleys, its inviting squares, and its traditional houses. It is one of three mountain villages of the Barranco de Poqueira in the Alpujarra region. The other two villages, Bubión and Capileira, are located higher in the Poqueira gorge. The Poqueira gorge starts below the mountain peak of Mulhacén, where the river Rio Poqueira rises.

Squeezed between the steep sides of the Sierra Nevada, and the Mediterranean coast, the beauty and the charm of Pampaneira made this town the winner of different awards, like the First Provincial Embellishment Award (1976), and, for two consecutive years 1977 and 1978, the National Tourism Award for the Embellishment and Improvement of Spanish Towns. The small village, with a population of around 300, centers on its pretty square dominated by a 16^th century Mudéjar church, the Iglesia de Santa Cruz, with a wooden coffer ceiling and a couple of gilded altarpieces dating from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The church is flanked by several bars and handicraft shops. Less than 2km outside Pampaneira is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery, Osel Ling, meaning “clear light”. Its stupa offers spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada, the coast and Órgiva.

There are many opportunities for hiking in the area. One of the highest all year-round lived-in mountain village in Spain, Trevélez is located nearby in the mountains to the east of the three villages.

Vejer de la Frontera

Declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1976, and winner of the First National Embellishment Award in 1978, Vejer de la Frontera’s most stunning feature is the Arab-Andalusian popular architecture. The town is located on a hill, a few kilometers away from the coast from where the visitor can have a magnificent panoramic view. The walled enclosure and the historic quarter, with its narrow, winding streets and whitewashed houses, are a gorgeous sight. Highlights are the medieval castle, from the 11^th century, the Jewish quarter, and the arch of Segur. Also noteworthy are the church of Divino Salvador and the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Oliva, in whose altar they worship a 16^th-century image.

Parish Church of El Divino Salvador was built on the site of an old mosque. This church has a basilica layout, with a rectangular apse and three naves. The central is taller than the two lateral naves, which have three chapels. The architectural ensemble has two different parts, corresponding to two different construction phases. It has a Gothic-Mudéjar apsidal from the 15^th century, and a later enlargement of the Late Gothic style built in the turn of the 16^th century.

The Castle dates back to the 10^th and 11^th centuries, the period of Abd al-Rahman I and his heirs. It is located on the highest part of the hill, which is probably the oldest inhabited area of Vejer, and on the location of a previous Arab castle.

Moreover, Plaza de España is a square built in the 16^th century, when the town grew beyond its walls. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries, it was devoted to the celebration of bullfighting events due to the initiatives led by the most relevant noblemen and knights of Vejer. In 1957, a fountain was built in the center of the square, made of Sevillian tiles. Since then, this square is popularly known as “Plaza de los Pescaítos”. The Town Hall is located in this square, and to mention are also the houses 12 and 13, the location of the Justice of the Peace Court.

Finally the silhouette of the windmills is one of the most representative symbols of Vejer. All the 19^th-century flour windmills in Vejer worked with water. Among all of them, the most famous ones are those of the Duke of Medina Sidonia located in the quarter of Santa Lucía.

 Frigiliana

Just 7km north of Nerja is the typical pueblo blanco (white village) Frigiliana situated high on a mountain ridge overlooking the sea with spectacular panoramic views. The village is a tangle of narrow cobbled streets lined by whitewashed houses, their wrought-iron balconies filled with planters of brilliant red geraniums. Small plazas provide shady seating while the village bars are popular with visitors who come here to taste the locally produced wine. There are also several excellent shops selling pottery and ceramics, including decorative plates with their distinctive Arab design.

The village is comprised of two sections: the old part of the town, which is of Moorish origin, and the newer part of the town which is built in the traditional style of a white Andalucian village. The importance of the Moorish history to the village is evident in the ceramic mosaics that are dotted around the old part of town. These mosaics, designed by Pilar Garcia Millan, narrate the story of the Moorish uprising in the area.

Voted as the “prettiest village in Andalucía” by the Spanish tourism authority, Frigiliana is also important from an historical viewpoint. El Fuerte, the hill that climbs above the village, was the scene of the final bloody defeat of the Moors of La Axarquía in their 1569 rebellion. The hill is topped by scanty remains of a ruined fort from which some of the Moors reputedly threw themselves rather than be killed or captured by the Spanish. It is said that bones and rusted weapons dating from this encounter still lie among the scrub on El Fuerte.

Don’t miss our next post with more picturesque places to discover in Spain!