Related Routes

Routes from the Mozarabic Road

This part of the website is under constant construction. We will upload maps and proposals but what we are truly excited about is for you to send us (turismo@alcaracejos.es) proposals for routes that you know of or that you have done in the area. We will spread the word about them via the Mozarabic Alcaracejos networks and will add them to the website. For now, we have a basic proposal for you…

Familiarizing yourself with the Cañada Real Soriana on its way through Pedroches Valley is very simple because it is well-marked from its entry point in the Guadalbarbo Valley to its exit point towards Ciudad Real crossing the Guadalmez River. The cañada (cattle track) coincides with the Mozarabic Route between the Guadalbarbo and the area known as El Coto, past the Cuzna River ford. At that point, it heads towards Pozoblanco crossing the boundaries with Alcaracejos and Añora. It travels through pasturelands and thickets and passes nearby the Chaparro Barrenado Mines, the area where the Almadenes Treasure was found.

Once we go up the Guadalbarbo Valley along the Mozarabic Route, we can start to make out the Sierra de La Chimorra Mountain Range. When the Mozarabic Route arrives at the Peñón del Lazarillo region, instead of continuing its course, we branch off towards the road which joins Pozoblanco and Villaharta by way of the La Nava route. Once we arrive at the aforementioned road, we go up the Gargantilla stream or the actual road and we can see an original building. It is a mill with Arab traits which was used to grind wheat. Along the Guadalbarbo River there are also the remains of mills. If we take the road towards Pozoblanco, once we climb to the top of the Puerto de La Chimorra ridge, on the dividing line of the Pozoblanco and Alcaracejos borders, we can continue on the Peña Águila route along the peak of the Loma de Buenavista hill, where we can enjoy some of the best views of Pedroches Valley region and of the whole Sierra de Córdoba Mountain Range.

The Barranco de La Calera is a stop located on the downward side of the Calatraveño mountain port which the Mozarabic Route runs through. Around the port’s stream there is magnificent, lush, native vegetation which results in the microclimate that is produced in this closed valley at an altitude of 650 meters. From the Barranco de La Calera several paths emerge which can be followed to enjoy the views and the landscape, although in some cases they may be inaccessible. It is a very good idea, once we arrive at the route known as the Falda de la Sierra, to leave the Mozarabic Route to take this cattle track towards the Venta de la Maña. From this forest trail different public paths emerge to the right and to the left, and although some are inaccessible, we can enjoy some stretches with excellent views of the region and with a landscape that is a mosaic of oak, pine and mountainside olive groves and Mediterranean forest.

The whole surrounding area of Alcaracejos boasts a wide network of country paths which offer multiple possibilities. The path towards the Merendero (picnic area), the route towards Pozoblanco or the one which joins Alcaracejos with Espiel by way of the mining area, are highly appealing. Clearly, one of these routes is the Mozarabic Route, which departs towards Villanueva del Duque and Fuente la Lancha and travels through a very different kind of landscape from the one we left behind.