Day 17: Cazorla - the town

Disclaimer: All voyages in this blog are being taken safely in the comfort of our imaginations - based on our plans and intentions for travel in 2020. What is reality after all? 

We're in Cazorla for the weekend, and will spend some time today (Saturday) in the town and tomorrow (Sunday) in the Sierra. We'll tell you about these in separate blog posts.

Evening of arrival

In our previous post, we left you on the patio above our accommodation, a cortijo run by a British couple, Roger and Diana. But eventually, we decided we needed to eat, so drove the short distance (about 10 minutes) into Cazorla and eventually, through narrow and zig-zag streets, arrived at the Plaza de la Constitúcion. We were immediately greeted by a familiar and exciting sight:

This is a MUST for tomorrow.

We parked at the Municipal Market's parking garage just off the square and wandered back to the Plaza, where we found a range of restaurants for tapas:

and then home to our apartment in the country via a supermarket to top up our provisions.

Around Cazorla

Next morning, after breakfast in the apartment, we were excited to head off to explore a town we'd only briefly visited about ... what ... 25+ years ago.

Of course, our first stop was back to last night's Plaza, ready to be trained around the town - because this is where it leaves from, and that is what we do:

That gave us a useful overview of what was, and what was where.

It appeared that we were just actually on the edge of the old town, and there was value in pushing further into there, so we walked along narrow streets (you can also apparently drive these, but please ... better not to!) to the next lovely Plaza de la Corredera:

No, we didn't get arrested - just got a lovely shot of it through a window.  There seem to be a string of the plazas.

And then further along ... more narrow streets, and we emerged onto a balcony (Balcon de Zabaleta) overlooking the real old town:

We could see the Castello de la Yedra on its peak:

but also, intriguingly, what appeared to be a ruined church, a little to the left:

We decided to head in that direction.  It was again only a few minutes' walk to get to the Plaza de Santa Maria - the location of a Tourist Office:

and also the ruins of the Santa Maria Church.

This church takes its name from the old cathedral which, damaged by floods in the seventeenth century, was later burnt by French troops. It is now in ruin.

You enter it from the side:

and can wander round and peer up at the still-standing apse:

But you can also get up on the roof of what must have been a tower, and look over the ruins and the city and up into the hills:

The real surprise however was, for a very reasonable price:

that you can be introduced to the Santa Maria Church's underground secret. There is a 'boveda' or a stone vault running under the church and plaza through which the Cerezuelo river is channelled down to Guadalquivir. It is only accessible on a guided tour, and the guide spoke very good English and was extremely knowledgeable and helpful:

So that was the morning. There were plenty of places in the Plaza for some lunch to sustain us for a bit of a walk in the afternoon:

On the advice of the Tourist Office, we pushed on past the church ruins, with a sign giving us options of climbing up to the Castle and its Museum, or heading to a waterfall:

We decided to head to the waterfall on Camino Angel - about a 30 minute walk through lanes and concrete tracks, and an increasingly rural landscape, along the river valley. On the way, we went past the Ermita San Miguel, which looked as if it might still be in operation (its gates were locked and there was a large vegetable garden):

and did a little side diversion up a hill to the Ermita San Sebastian, which definitely wasn't:

But back on the main track and then off it, we eventually arrived at the spectacular Cascada de la Malen, where the river tumbles down from the high rocky areas so close to town:

This all took some time (and energy), so we retraced our steps back into the town, with a great view emerging looking back into the old town (with the Castillo on the left):

picked up the car from the car park and, as the afternoon dwindled into evening, headed out. 

On the way, we decided we'd better eat again - of course - so stopped almost on the edge of town (towards our farmhouse) at the Meson Restaurant Alberto, which had a terrace:

and again, since it was way too early for a full meal, some tapas:

Inside, they were preparing for a large celebration that evening:

but, while we hinted, we weren't invited, so headed back to the cortijo to sit in our garden and on our patio once more.

Tomorrow, we'll listen to the Global Village, and ponder that strange existential sensation of being in two places at once, but then we'll also drive into the Sierra for more walking. 

Come back and join us when we tell you about it.