Holiday apartment in El Villar – Festivals, Mill Route and History

El Villar combines churches, festival traditions, rural paths and traces of history. The village can be discovered through specific buildings, dates, routes and archaeological evidence.

Culture

An important cultural landmark is the church of El Villar. It was built in the early 2000s with a circular floor plan and contains frescoes by Kiko Argüello and his team. The Iglesia de San Isidro Labrador is also one of the sights of El Villar.

Festivals and traditions

The Romería de San Isidro del Villar began in 1952, after the image of the patron saint had been purchased with the proceeds from a raffle. The Romería de El Villar originated in the 1950s in honour of San Isidro Labrador. It includes a communal meal of the brotherhood along the route.

The Romería de San Isidro Labrador takes place on 15 May or the nearest weekend. Several dozen decorated carts and hundreds of pilgrims travel from El Villar to the Paraje de Los Arroyones. Other festive dates are the Feria de El Villar in mid-June and the Festival of Cristo del Perdón in October.

Settlement and history

The houses of El Villar are arranged in a scattered layout and preserve the original settlement structure of the Nuevas Poblaciones. Many homes were formerly built on agricultural plots so that the colonists could cultivate their fields immediately adjacent to them.

The area around El Villar was once home to Muslim alquerías, which had previously been Roman villas. Oil was produced in the Roman villas for export from Astigi to Rome. Archaeological remains in the area point to this; a thorough investigation is still pending.

Landscape and paths

Mill Route II runs between Cañada del Rabadán, El Villar, La Ventilla and Fuente Palmera. It is approximately 17 kilometres long and is classified as easy. Along its course, it passes through a more distinctly rural landscape with dry farming and irrigated agriculture, olive groves and old rural huts away from the settlement centres.

Mill Route II leads to Molino de la Palma, a former 17th-century estate that was converted into a country house and restored while preserving its original elements. The route also leads to Molino Sotomelero, a historic mill dating from the 16th century. It has been restored and repurposed for various celebrations; it includes gardens, accommodation and event halls.

Location

Parque de El Villar is located on the road between Fuente Palmera and Écija.

Accommodation

When comparing holiday apartments in El Villar, check the exact location, accommodation type and occupancy on the respective listing page, as well as the included services and individual price components. Before booking, the booking and cancellation conditions should also be clearly visible.

More destinations: Doña Rama, Dos Torres, Zambra, Añora, El Carpio, Iznajar, La Jara, Fuente Obejuna.

To the higher-level travel overview: Cordoba.