Alcudia de Monteagud

ALCUDIA DE MONTEAGUD

Alcudia de Monteagud offers a postcard view over its whitewashed houses and the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario. The remains of buildings like the Torre de los Casares and La Torrecilla, located in the outskirts of the village centre, are a reminder of the village’s Arab past. It has about 150 inhabitants.

HISTORY

The medieval history of the area is quite unusual. It was belatedly populated by tribal groups, supposedly of Berber origin, who created all the population centres that still exist, as well as those that were suddenly abandoned forever in 1570. These family lineages and clans, formed by people who considered themselves descendants of a common ancestor, real or mythical, used their family name to dominate the villages and populate them with small fortifications, generally towers, with which they marked and defended the clan’s territory.

Those inhabitants who remained secretly Muslim, despite having been forcibly baptised after the conquest of the Kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, were swept from the mountains in 1570. Until that moment, the Inquisition persecuted them and condemned them for “crimes”. It was then, to replace the expelled Moors, that inhabitants came to settle from the Sierra de Segura (Jaén), Castilla la Nueva and Basque-French region.

It was in the early twentieth century that agrarian expansion, accompanied by strong population growth, reached its maximum potential. This went some way to remedying the rapid and brutal deforestation that had so devastated the great mountain ranges of Almería.

THINGS TO SEE

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario
The church dates from the seventeenth century, is Mudejar in style and has Saint Roque as its patron. The paintings of the church are recent, since the previous ones were destroyed during the Civil War. The reconstruction work of these paintings was carried out by Father Bartolomé Marín Fernandez. The last major reform dates back to 1950, when the most damaged beams were replaced with new ones, and those that were preserved were shortened to remove the most deteriorated parts. This resulted in the rebuilt church being narrower than the original. Located on Calle Olmos.

La Era
At the top of Alcudia de Monteagud, we find the largest cobblestone plain in the province, which has an impressive panoramic view over the entire valley and almost the entire Sierra de los Filabres. It is a radial era, with a diameter of 40m and an average surface of 1400m2. It was built in 1894 with the main function of threshing cereals (separating the grain from the straw). Located on Calle Era.

THINGS TO SEE OUTSIDE THE VILLAGE

Torre de Alhabia
The Alhabia tower dates from the Nasrid period and was built between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. It was a farmhouse tower that served as a surveillance point and refuge for the surrounding population in case of danger. It has a square stone plan measuring about 10m in height and is thought to have originally been divided into six floors. On the first floor was the door; the second was completely closed; the third had only one window in the shape of an arrow, with defensive functions; the fourth floor had four windows; the fifth floor had three and on the last there were two. The floors would have been connected by hatches, since there are no remains of stairs. The state of conservation of the tower of Alhabia is poor since many of its stones have been used to construct other buildings. The tower was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1993. Located 2km from the town.

COUNTRYSIDE WALKS

GR-244
This route is a total of 109km, passing through the towns of Alcudia de Monteagud, Benitagla, Benizalón, Castro de Filabres, Lucainena de las Torres, Senés, Tabernas, Tahal, Uleila del Campo and Velefique. However, different stages of the route can be enjoyed by themselves, such as the 10km route in the Alcudia de Monteagud area.

GASTRONOMY

When visiting Alcudia de Monteagud, why not try some of their local dishes such as migas (fried breadcrumbs served with pork or sardines), olla de invierno (meat stew), trigo y acelgas (semolina pudding with smoked paprika and chard), potaje de bacalao (cod stew) and conejo al ajillo (rabbit cooked in garlic). Sweets include mantecados (lard cakes), spolillos (meringues), roscas de miel (honey pastries), roscos (aniseed doughnuts) and arroz con leche (rice pudding).

FESTIVALS

Popular festivals in Alcudia de Monteagud are Semana Santa, Fiesta de San Roque and Fiesta de Santa Lucía. More>

NEARBY PLACES

The neighbouring villages to Alcudia de Monteagud are Tahal, Benitagla and Chercos Viejo.

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