We decided to take a short drive to Cuevas del Almanzora today to have a wander around the town.
Cuevas del Almanzora is one of the oldest towns in the province. In the early 19th century Silver was discovered in the nearby area, and Cuevas del Almanzora became home to many a fortune hunter.....the town got its name from the many artificial caves in the nearby hills once inhabited by the miners. This was the start of an age of splendour for the town.....
The impressive legacy of this silver rush can still be seen all around, especially in the elegant family houses of the mining barons, the grand avenues, churches and statues.
Many of these houses still remain, and it is well worth a meander through the narrow streets to gaze at the impressive bourgeois architecture, many of which are still inhabited today...
This one instantly caught my eye because of the incredible mosaic outer...completely covered on all floors!
Some of the buildings date back to the middle of the 1800's...
They must have been very, very grand in their day..
In the Plaza de la Constitution there is the Heroe de la Caridad (Hero of Charity) statue.
This is a dedication to a humanitarian benefactor who helped the area during the terrible floods of 1879..
Carrying on through the back streets we arrived at the Castillo. It is a palace/fortress built in the 16th century in the Gothic style and sits high up in the town..
Within the extensive grounds there is a keep, the Marquis Palace, a well and a Tercia. This was built in 1773 as a granary..
Great little nooks and crannies everywhere to peep out of!...
Exiting out of the main gate we were back into the plaza and took a right hand turn...
Just off the square we spied a cute little hostelry and peeked inside to see what it was all about...
El Castillo, is a really excellent tapas bar. Extremely friendly and great ambience. We weren't really certain what some of the dishes were, however, we were more than happy to taste 5 of the dishes on offer! Totally authentic atmosphere and the Spanish customers that were already there warmly welcomed us in and instantly shared a freshly cooked plate of whitebait with us!
By the way the dish on the far right that looks like liver is in fact Sangre which turns out to be congealed blood!!!! Yikes... Can't believe I ate that...
Of course hubby had to have the snails too...The total bill came to €9...bargain!
We would both highly recommend a visit here if you enjoy tapas and you are looking for the "real deal"...
All in all a very, very pleasant Saturday was spent meandering around, never knowing what was around the next corner, plus the weather was warm and the sun was shining!!
Until next time... Mojacar Carnival tomorrow so may list some pics of that for you...
Adios...xx
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