Cádiz, Spain
Coordinates: 36.838333, -5.390000
Zahara de la Sierra is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the hills of Andalusia, southern Spain.
It is perched on a mountain, overlooking a valley and a man-made lake formed by the dam that must be driven over to access the town.
It is considered to be one of the pueblos blancos or “white towns” because the overwhelming majority of the buildings are white.
The town were founded by Berber tribes who settled in the area duringthe eight centuries.
It was originally a Muslims moors outpost, overlooking the valley.
Due to its position between Ronda and Seville, it was a perfect site for a castle to be built to serve as a fortress in case of attack.
The remains of the Moorish castle still exist.
It was ruled by Arabs until 1407.
It was captured by the Emirate of Granada in 1481.
This capture gave a pretext to Castile’s war against Granada. It was captured by Castilian troops under command of Rodrigo Ponce de León, Duke of Cádiz in 1483.
The village overlooks a newly built reservoir with stunning aqua blue water and the village is itself over looked over by a 13c Moorish Castle which you can walk up to visit.
Other than the castle and the Church of Santa Maria de la Meza there is little to see.
But the beauty about Zahara is the place itself. Just wandering round the narrow streets and taking in the elegant simple white houses and watching the locals go about their business.
There is nothing really to do other than enjoy the views. The walk above the village to the tower (Torre del Homenaje) is the best thing about Zahara.
The paths up the mountain side scattered with little wild flowers is magical.
Know this
Zahara de la Sierra is a bit out of the way. You would realise how remote it is once your bus had drop you off and drove off. You are left completely on your own.
No shop, taxi, no houses, simply not a soul around. You could almost hear a pin drop.
