Vélez Blanco

Designated a natural park in 1987, the Sierra María-Los Vélez occupies the eastern end of the Cordillera Subbética in the north of Almeria province. It covers 22,670ha, a landscape of impressive contrasts, with its arid, moon-like plains overlooked by the Sierra's rocky summits, which are white with snow in winter, and the dry, barren south-facing slopes compared to its densely wooded north-facing ones.

This cave is one of the most important painted shelters in the south of the peninsula, discovered in 1861. Its dimensions are 25m wide, about 6m deep and a height that ranges in the central area between 8 and 10 meters.

This site is considered one of the most important for the study of the Upper Paleolithic era of the Iberian Peninsula. It is a large rocky shelter on a vertical wall more than 100m high. It was excavated for the first time in 1911 and features a Paleolithic, Epipaleolithic and Neolithic cultural sequence.

Declared a National Monument in 1931, the imposing castle dominates the town’s skyline. Its construction began in 1506 by order of Pedro Fajardo, named Marquis of Los Vélez by the Catholic Monarchs

The Town Hall is a perfect showcase of Restoration architecture; the façade of the traditional three-story scheme features five vertical axes of holes. The central hole is finished off with a cornice supported by corbels, and flaunts the the Vélez shield.

The Convent was built by the second Marquis de los Vélez, Don Luis, and was completed, along with its accompanying church, in 1572. The façade of the church is made of ashlar stone and has a doorway between two oculi, a niche over the access door and the Vélez shield on its sides.

A small sixteenth-century chapel built on the initiative of Francisca and Mencía Fajardo, sisters of the Marquis de los Vélez, which became the funeral chapel for part of the family. It was built between 1573 and 1577 by Gabriel Ruiz Tahuste, together with the carpenters Gabriel Halcón, Juan Alonso Quevedo and Francisco Martínez.

This small sixteenth-century chapel was built on the initiative of Francisca and Mencía Fajardo, sisters of the Marquis de los Vélez, and became the funeral chapel for part of the family. It was built between 1573 and 1577 by Gabriel Ruiz Tahuste, together with the carpenters Gabriel Halcón, Juan Alonso Quevedo and Francisco Martínez.

Construction of this church began under the first Marquis de los Vélez, Don Pedro Fajardo y Chacón, as soon as works on the castle concluded in 1512.

The chapel of San Agustín is documented from the sixteenth century until its confiscation in the nineteenth century. It was restored in 1599 and 1693. The second altarpiece was built by the Lorca carpenter Melchor García in 1623, with three main paintings.

The Colmenas shelter was located in the western area of the southern slope of the Maimón Chico, less than 2km from Vélez-Blanco. It consists of three caves, of which only the largest contains cave paintings, distributed in two areas of it, one to the right of its wall and another towards the center of it, reaching a total of ten representations. Under the name of Abrigos del Maimón, there are nine painted shelters; Yedra, Letreros, Letreros Inferior, Molinos I, Molinos II, Panal, Hoyos I, Hoyos II and Covachas, of diverse figurative content, which respond to the so-called schematic art cycle.

The Tourist Office of Vélez Blanco is located in the Oficina Municipal de Turismo, Almacén del Trigo, Avenida Marqués de los Vélez.

Festivals in Vélez Blanco: Cabalgata Reyes Magos, Las Máscaras, La Candelaria, Día de San Blas, Día de Andalucía, Semana Santa, Día de San Isidro, Feria Medieval, Día de San Ignacio and more.

The first local traces of the Iberian people date from the sixth and seventeenth centuries B.C. The Roman era was characterized by the proliferation of these villas through the whole area. Their occupation lasted from the first century to the fifth. In the Al-Andalus period, Vélez Blanco began to grow in importance due to its strategic position, with the name Velad al-Abyadh./p>

They are in a still better state of preservation, but you may only visit them with a guide. However, if you're interested, the tourist information office at Vélez Rubio, or the town hall at Vélez Blanco can advise on a guide who will provide you with a rope and ladder to get you up the sheer rock face; which is one of the reasons of course, why they have survived more or less intact.

Vélez Blanco nestles at the foot of a rocky outcrop forming part of the Sierra de María-Los Velez Natural Park and the Ruta de los Castillos (route of castles) through Andalusia. It is as a popular destination for lovers of both rural tourism and sports, as well as culture and history enthusiasts. It has about 1900 inhabitants.