Alomartes: Trails, Springs and Rural History

Alomartes lies at the foot of the Sierra de Parapanda and combines mountain landscapes with traces of rural history and traditional culture. The provincial route “La última frontera” passes through the town.

Nature

The Área Recreativa de Alomartes–Cerro de los Santos route begins at the recreation area, leads to Cueva del Agua at the highest point of the route, and then continues to the Cuesta de Cambril viewpoint on the slope of the Sierra de Parapanda. The Área Recreativa de Alomartes is located at the exit of the town towards Íllora, about 1 kilometre from the town and accessible via an unpaved road.

The route passes through a reforested pine forest with individual almond trees, as well as torvisco, aulaga and aromatic plants such as thyme, rosemary and lavender. Cañá Honda is a particularly damp area with abundant moss, lichens and ferns. Cueva del Agua is considered a geological formation reached on the descent from Cerro de los Santos.

The Cuesta de Cambril viewpoint is located on the southern slope of the Sierra de Parapanda at the edge of a pine forest surrounding Alomartes town centre. From a viewpoint along the route, there are views of Alomartes, the town’s agricultural land and the surrounding mountain ranges. Signals were sent from this area of Cerro de los Santos to the visible fortress of Íllora. When planning your own visit, the various stops can be viewed as a sequence of forest, geological formation, viewpoint and landscape.

Culture

On Cerro de los Santos is the “Hoyo de la Bandera”, carved into the rock and possibly used to insert a flagpole. Fuente de Alomartes is a natural spring from the Sierra de Parapanda, around which a park was created. Its water was channelled via an acequia to the Molino de la Torre.

Fuente de Los Caños is located on the cemetery road from Alomartes, next to the Finca del Molino del Rey in the pedanía of Alomartes. As a public fountain, it has two metal outlets with irregular water flow and a small basin.

In Alomartes, the festival in honour of Ntra. Señora de los Dolores is celebrated around the second weekend of August. The Jota de Alomartes belongs to the group of “robaos” or “cortijeros”, a variation of the fandangos characteristic of this area. Its performance at annual festivals and celebrations has been documented since the 19th century.

History

Alomartes originated as a rural settlement in the 14th century; the settlement is mentioned as an alquería (qarya) called Allūmartiš. A mill of Arab origin is well preserved. The surviving elements include the water channel, the cárcavos, the socaz and the interior.

The former owner of the mill assembled an ethnographic collection of folk objects from everyday life in the past. A neoclassical work was designed in 1781 by Domingo Lois de Monteagudo; construction was supervised by the architect Francisco Aguado. The painting “Adoración de los Pastores” by Juan Melgarejo is dated 1703.

To the main travel overview: Illora.