La Viñuela
The town of La Viñuela is
situated at the crossroads between two of the most important roads in the
province: that of Alhama and Casabermeja. The landscape is low hills, covered
mostly in olive and cereal plantations, and conditioned almost always by the
presence of the reservoir. From the reservoir one can see right across to the
Sierra Tejeda and the Boquete de Zafarraya mountains, and below it flows the
river Guaro. As one moves closer to the Axarquía mountains, the landscape
gets rougher, with hills covered in oak trees, olives and the occasional
vineyard.
Apart from the nickname "Viñoleros", the people of La Viñuela are
also known locally as "Polacos", meaning Poles, due to a dispute
between this and a neighbouring town in the past. The town itself, sometimes
referred to as "The oasis of the Axarquía," dates from the 16th
century, growing around an inn on what was then the royal road between Vélez
and Granada. The venta, or inn, is still in existence on the main street of
the town, and it stood in a small vineyard known as "La Viñuela".
In spite of being one of the newest towns in the Axarquía, we know, from
archaeological remains found here, that people have lived in this area from
middle palaeolithic times, at least, up to the time of the Roman settlement.
The principal remains were at the Río Guaro area, these being adobe and cane
cabins with ovens for making bronze, along with olive oil mills and Roman pots
for the transportation of olive oil. The Romans left most evidence of the
their presence at the Pantano de la Viñuela area, where the local people
still live by agriculture.
Places
to be visited
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Church
of San José
This church dates from the 16th century, built to a
simple rectangular ground plan and with a decorated timber ceiling.
It was restored in the 18th century, when a small steeple
was added.
Shrine to the Virgen de las Angustias
This is situated on the outskirts of the town on the carretera
comarcal 335, ordered to be built by the Granada man responsible for
the building of the road at the end of the 19th century.
It appears that a small cave used for devotion to the Virgen de Las
Angustias had to be destroyed to make way for the road, and in
compensation, the builder replaced it with the shrine.
Torre (Tower) de la Atalaya
This tower dates from Moorish times, and according to local legend
was built overnight with materials from the surrounding area and the
riverbed. Its purpose was to communicate with the vigilance towers
on the coast and the Castle of Zalia.
Pantano (Reservoir) de la Viñuela
Just a few metres from the town is the reservoir of the same name,
the principal source of water for the eastern part of the Costa el
Sol. It is fed by water from the River Guaro and its tributaries,
the Sabar, the Benamargosa, the Salía, the Bermuza, the Almáchar
and the Rubite. It was built on the bed of the Guaro at La Viñuela,
which was left on its right bank, with the Barriada de los Romanes
on the left. Covering 700 hectares of the municipality, it holds 170
million cubic metres of water, and apart from providing fresh water
for the Axarquía, it allows the irrigation of more than 2,700
hectares of land.
Information courtesy of SUR in
English - click HERE
to visit the site
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