One of our adventure days at the first farm we were at near Orgiva
, we visited three towns high
up in the hills of Las Alpujarras known to be THE last towns
where the moors lived until the Morisco rebellion in
1568.
The towns are 14-20 km from Orgiva on the Barranco de Poqueira Gorge. There are walking trails among all of them and in the surrounding
areas- a hikers paradise!
They are known for their distinctive architecture- white brick flat roof
structure with funny looking chimneys that look like worms with
sombreros- which I guess is reminiscent of the Berber architecture in
Morroco because the Berbers actually lived in these towns in the tenth
century and developed the silkworm industry.
These towns also have lots of natural springs and fountains throughout
their cobblestone streets as well as communal clothes washing areas
leftover from the moors. They are called "tinaos" and it seems to me the
logic was to create these communal area where there was a natural
spring.
We grabbed a bus on Orgiva to take us to the farthest village Capeleira. From there we could hike down to the second village Bubion and from
there we arrived to the last and largest Pampaneira.
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| One of my favorite shots of the day- shot from Pampeneira looking up at all three villages. |
CAPELEIRA
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| Looking down at Bubion and Pampeneira. |
BUBION
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| A communal washing area in Bubion. |
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| One of many natural springs around these towns with fresh cold water. |
PAMPANEIRA
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| This spring has a poem about how if you drink from it you will soon get a boyfriend/girlfriend. |
In Pampaneira we found a quaint restaurant on the side of the church we
we enjoyed the typical meal of the region - Plato alpujjareno. We also
got to see a weaving workshop and some of the local crafts of the region
including carpets made from recycled threads.
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| A popular Spanish appetizer which consists of melon with ham- a great combo! |
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| Plato alpujarreno with a bunch of hams and sausages, french fries and a fried egg. |
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| We found a great sweet shop with this fig bar with chocolate. |
You are right about lavaderos being over a spring. France had them, too (lavoirs). This would have been cleaner than washing clothes on rocks by a river, I would think. And kind of fun too, to make this a communal activity. Intentional community! :-) I like how white the buildings are, and I like all the clay flower pots.
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