Alcaucin Andalucia Spain

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Alcaucin

The most direct road to the town is by the main road from Vélez. From this road we turn off onto the la Viñuela road and continue on until we reach Puente Don Manuel, an important cross-roads in the Axarquía, where we find the road that brings us directly to Alcaucín. As soon as we enter the town we can see the clear Morisco influence, with low houses, whitewashed facades and above all, the narrow, winding streets. Everything centres on the town square, the former Plaza de San Sebastian that has now been re-named the Plaza de la Constitución, where the church and the Town Hall building stands. Most of the old buildings and houses of the town date from the 17th and 18th centuries, when the palatial mansions on calle Arcos and calle Nueva were built, each with its coat of arms. The town¹s name is Arab in origin, deriving from Al Cautin, meaning The Arches. Some historians have suggested the reason for this being the existence of an aqueduct in the area, while others believe the name refers to the abundance of yew trees, the wood of which was used to make bows (arco translates as either arch or bow) for warfare and hunting.

Fuente de Alcaucín

Surrounded by hills planted with olive groves, vines and pines, Alcaucín presents the typical features of the white villages of the Axarquía. In the middle of the town centre there is a small square in which the church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario stands, built in the 17th century and restored. In the highest part is the cemetery and the hermitage of Jesus del Calvario from the 18th century, from where there is a magnificent panorama of the town and the estates scattered around. There are places of great wild beauty, such as the Farallones del Tajo de la Cueva (1,300m.), the Morón de la Cuña ( 1.222m.), the Loma de las Monjas (850m), and Las Majadas, which used to be sulphurous and ferrous baths.

Apart from the variety of soups and home-made porridge, the genuine local dishes are veal and pork loin with garlic, fish cakes with honey, Easter stew, fritters and oil cakes.

The Fiestas which stand out the most are the ones of San Sebastian on the 20th of January, Corpus Christi and Easter with the staging of the "jews", neighbours who dress up with masks and who hound their neighbours during two days. In San Isidro on the 15th of May is the pilgrimage to Alcázar; on the first days of September, the tradition calls farmers to the estates and farmhouses for the Candlemas, bonfires where they burn cereal stubble, wood, and old clothes which light up the nights while they eat and drink wine. In August, there is the annual fair and a flamenco festival, and in October they celebrate the Virgen del Rosario, patron saint of the village.

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