There are many occasions in which the hand of man ends up changing the landscape. It may not have been his natural form, but over the years, the human himself and nature end up shaking hands until melting and show that everything was always like that.
This is what happens with the town of Iznájar, in the heart of the Subbética Cordobesa region, from where it greets with its almost 5,000 inhabitants in what in other times was a much more populated town and that he recommends as a visit in May since National Geographic.
in one of the hearts of the Andalusian olive groveIznájar is not only winding through hills dyed olive green, but also perched on a hill that has earned it a privileged position since time immemorial.
As a climax —or as a first stop—, Iznájar greets the indigos and blues that surround the hill thanks to the reservoir that dominates the panoramic view. However, although it is now one more charm of the town, the reality is that the Iznájar reservoir is a construction of the Franco era which, among many other things, flooded hundreds of hectares of crops, as well as houses and factories.
That decision meant the acceleration of the rural exodus from Iznájar in the mid-60s, but nevertheless it has ended up giving the town an extra charm that was not well received at that time, since it multiplied the flight of Iznajar residents.
A town attached to a castle
In the heart of Iznájar, in its highest part, the castle of Hisn-ashar dominates the mountainous skyline of this town. The name of the castle, which has Arabic origin, is would translate as happy castle.
However, his story is not exactly a paragon of happiness. Located in a borderland between the Christian and Muslim kingdomsthe castle would pass through different hands throughout the Reconquest, finally being taken by Christian troops in the year 1434.
Since then, he formed part of several noble legacies that, in addition, they implemented new walls and conditioning to make it more habitable and less military. In noble hands it would remain until the end of the 20th century, when the town council acquired it and enabled it as a tourist attraction in 2007.
The beach Cordoba
No one would expect Cordoba could have a beach. However, at the foot of the town there is a small Reservoir Interpretation Center, which serves as an introduction to learn about Iznájar’s past and its present and future, already marked by water.
In addition, it also has a small sandbank Created in the reservoir itself, baptized Valdearenas Beach, and which serves to take well-deserved dips in the heart of Cordoba’s Subbética without any remorse.
Of poets, caves and viewpoints
Raphael Alberti, as almost everyone remembers from school, was from El Puerto de Santa María. However, that does not mean that he did not fall in love with Iznájar, whom he remembers in several of his poems. In addition to the poet from Cádiz, Iznájar also has urban charms that did not need a foreign gloss.
This is the case of the Patio de las Comedias or the Mirador de la Villa. First surprises in whites, blues and flowers in one of the most charming squares of the town. The other, from the heights and in the historic center, uncovers the horizon of the Sierra de las Ventanas.
He too run from the Priego streama tributary of the reservoir, and that in times when it is not at full capacity allows you to discover vestiges of the flooded Iznájar such as Puente Molinillo, the old road or industrial chimneys.
Images | iStock / Iznájar Tourism
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