Guadix information
Both contrast with the red and twisted landscape of the region of Guadix and the green prairies of the Marquesado. Plain marked by the white of the houses in the area. The character of the old monumental city of Guadix and the enjoyable small rural villages that join together with the areas under the rule of the powerful Marquis of the Zenete, giving the name to the region. Their similarities can also be seeing. A splendid cathedral of convoluted history presides over Guadix and that was initially a Visigoth church until the Arabs built their large Mosque. After the conquest, a new church was built; now ascend to the category of Cathedral. The work took three centuries and therefore enabled the mixture of Gothic Renaissance and Baroque styles. The important thing, however, is that it is a magnificent work of art.
The Marquesado also has its architectural eminence. It is not a Christian temple but a powerful palace- castle from the XVI Century, wonderfully preserved, and whose presence orientates and dominates the modest towers of the village’s churches. It tells the story of the basement dungeons where the “morisco” prisoners would spend several days before being taken to the tribunal of the Granada inquisition.
It is necessary to walk through Guadix slowly. Stately houses and palaces mar its oldest streets that open onto the galleried square of “Las Palomas” of historical Castilian beauty. A little further on, is the section of the caves where the special quality and properties of the land enable the excavation of troglodyte dwellings. This is considered the largest in the world and a third of the “Bastatetanos” still live there. Onto a cave museum where it is possible to see what the cave dwellings are. In the Marquesado, it is necessary to stop and look- around. An idyllic peace floods the countryside lying before the spectacular “wall” of the Sierra Nevada, whose cold waters run down from the high peaks to the green countryside below. Tranquil towns, relaxed people, fresh air and many paths that cross the plains or climb up to the snowy mountains.
Guadix was a strategic point for the Romans.
They called it Acci and left a multitude of reminders there. Later,
the Arabs being more poetic gave it we know today. The Christians
did not change the name, but created the tradition of the Cascamorras,
that has become a yearly celebration shared with neighbouring
Baza. Whilst you eat one of the most exquisite “tocinos
del cielo” (sweet made with egg yolks and syrup) sold in
a cake shop in “Las Palomas” square, as for the Cascamorras.
Granada guide