Fuenteheridos

Roast Chestnuts, hazelnuts, squash and pumpkins. An autumn scene in the village of Fuenteheridos ©Michelle Chaplow
Roast Chestnuts, hazelnuts, squash and pumpkins. An autumn scene in the village of Fuenteheridos ( Click to enlarge images).

Fuenteheridos


By Jo Williams

Fuenteheridos is a pretty village just off the main N-433. A tiny village of some 700 people, Fuenteheridos can get overrun with visitors, mainly from Seville, at weekends and holidays. With about six bars around the paseo, there's a great choice of places to stop and sample some of the Sierra's setas (wild mushrooms) in autumn.

Painted tiles - Fuenteheridos ©Michelle Chaplow
Painted tiles - Fuenteheridos

Things to See

Like many serrano villages it has plentiful springwater, which flows continuously from the Fuente de Doce Caños (Fountain of 12 jets) in the attractive shady paseo (square). Also here is a 18th-century cross, made from marble extracted from the village quarry nearby. Many houses have preserved their original features, including rustic wooden balconies now adorned with geranium plants tumbling over the wrought iron railings and solanas (literally, suntraps), covered top-floor terraces often with arches used for storage and drying clothes. You can see these in the main square, where the bar La Posada has a huge solana.

On the northern edge beyond the large typical Serrano church, the 18th-century Iglesia del Espíritu Santo, is the old village threshing circle, the Era Comunal. From are great views across the village and the wooded valley west towards Galaroza.

There is a short, pleasant stroll along the path from the aparcamientos (car park) alongside a small water channel and you can read some extracts from poems, including one about Fuenteheridos, on ceramic plaques mounted on the wall. If you follow this out of the village and walk past the Villa Turística Fuenteheridos, you come to some beautiful botanical gardens at Villa Onuba. Dating from the end of the 19th century, the gardens are now part of the residence of the Maristas Order.

Hotels

There is the small Hostal Carballos in the village. The Villa Turística Fuenteheridos is on the outskirts This is a purpose-built tourist complex made up of self-catering cottages, with a pool and restaurant. One kilometre from Fuenteheridos on the road to Castaño del Robledo is the leafy Camping El Madroñal, set in chestnut woodland, with a pool and bar.

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countryside Walks

South from Calle Reina de los Angeles is a 7km linear walk along the GR-47 to the Peña and Alájar. A few kilometres out of Fuenteheridos along this path is a right turn to the village of Castaño.

West out of the village from the cemetery is a linear 5km walk, which takes about an hour, along the fertile valley between Fuenteheridos and Galaroza following the GR-41.3, passing fruit orchards, chestnut groves and cork oaks. From Galaroza you can return via Castaño, making a circular walk Fuenteheridos-Galaroza-Castaño-Fuenteheridos of a total three to four hours. You can either take the Rivera de Jabugo footpath from Galaroza (starting near the Hostal Venecia on the N-433 in Galaroza), a beautiful walk along the verdant valley of the Jabugo river, to Castaño Bajo. Or the PR A-38 between Galaroza and Castaño, with good views over to Jabugo. The path back to Fuenteheridos from Castaño leaves from the east side of the village and goes round the northern side of the Cerro Castaño.

 

 

 

 

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