Zuheros

Zuheros occupies a rock spur in the Sierra Subbetica with a ninth-century Moorish castle on the point above it and olive country spreading below, and its whitewashed lanes drop steeply from the castle to the edge of the village in a few hundred metres. Above it, reached by a winding road, is the Cueva de los Murcielagos, the bat cave, a system with formations and, more importantly, evidence of Neolithic occupation including wall paintings and one of the oldest known textile fragments in Europe. Guided tours run into the cave. The village sits within the Sierras Subbeticas geopark, and the Via Verde del Aceite, a rail trail on a disused olive-oil railway, passes below.

History

The castle is thought to have been built under Muslim rule in the 9th century; an Islamic cistern survives from al-Andalus, and the Almohads added a square tower and the walled enclosure. Ferdinand III took it for Castile in 1240 and gave it to his wife, Joan of Ponthieu, who passed it to the Order of Calatrava in 1252; Sancho IV handed it to the council of Córdoba in 1293, and in the 15th century it went to the house of the Donceles, whose men fought at Lucena and in the conquest of Granada. In the 16th century Hernán Ruiz the Younger built a Renaissance palace for the lords of Zuheros within it, but they seldom lived there; it fell into neglect, was used as a quarry for new houses in the 18th century, and its keep became a clock tower in 1760, restored in 1960 (Spanish Wikipedia, Castillo de Zuheros). The Linares-Puente Genil railway reached the area at the end of the 19th century, and when this "olive oil train" closed in 1985 its line became today's Vía Verde del Aceite (Spanish Wikipedia, Zuheros).

What to look for

• The Moorish castle - a ninth-century fortress on the rock above the village.
• The bat cave - a cave system with Neolithic remains and wall paintings.
• The white lanes - steep streets dropping from the castle.
• The Via Verde - a rail trail on a disused line through the olive hills.

When to go

Spring and autumn; the Subbetica hills are green in spring and hot in summer. Cave tours are guided at set times and must be booked, particularly at weekends and holidays.

Good to know

The cave requires booking and the road up is narrow with tight bends. The village is small and seen in two hours. Parking is very limited and the streets are too narrow for most cars.

Nearby

Priego de Cordoba lies southeast; the Subbetica geopark and Cabra are close.

Key facts