In the Heart of the Mountains

A visit to Aracena, Alájar and La Nava (known as the heart of the mountains).
First stop Aracena -120km north of Punta Umbría.  It is the largest of the towns in the Natural Park Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche.

Here we visited the Museo del Jamon (The Ham Museum), which was opened to provide information about the Iberian pig and how it is grown in the region of Aracena.  The small film and information given by the tour guide is all in Spanish but with the help of an information leaflet in English and plenty of pictures you get the gist of it!

Outside the Museo del Jamon

Aracena is also famous for its spectacular limestone caves – the Gruta de Las Maravillas (the Cave of Marvels).  Opened in 1914, the circular 1km tour of the underground streams and caverns takes about 45 minutes.  It is well worth a visit!

Inside Gruta de Las Maravillas

Aracena is dominated on a hilltop by a ruined castle and church.  A walk up to the castle provided a great view of the town and the beautiful surrounding mountain scenery. 

View from the castle

The Castle was built in 13^th century on the base of a Moorish fortress and the church nearby has been converted from a mosque. Unfortunately, all the commentary was in Spanish and although Adam did a bit of translating there is not a great deal to see of this ruined castle.

The Castle and Church, Aracena

With lunch time approaching we headed to the next village – Alájar.  A pretty village overlooked by Peña de Arias Montano.  

Peña de Arias Montana

We had lunch in Meson El Corcho - a restaurant decked out in medieval style, with ornate cork ceilings and a large open fire.  Underneath our table was a small fire pot to keep you warm - after all we were in the mountains and it was a bit chilly!

Me, Mel, Adam and Melissa enjoying lunch at Meson El Corcho

Meson El Corcho

We then went slightly north to La Nava, a small village with only a couple of hundred inhabitants but it is known as the heart of the mountains.

La Nava

The village only has one shop and a bar/café, and was deserted apart from us and some Iberico Pigs - mum, dad and babies!  Seen in the short video below.

Sally x