Cúllar: History, Fountains and Geopark Landscape

A prominent historical landmark in Cúllar is Torre Alabí, also known as Torre del Alabí or Torre del Cerro de la Ermita. It was built in the 11th century and formed part of a former Muslim alquería.

History

The Iglesia de Santa María de la Anunciación is a second noteworthy building, erected in 1535 on the site of an earlier mosque. This Renaissance building has three sections and a bell tower. Cúllar therefore brings together different historical layers: Torre Alabí leads back to the medieval past, while the church makes the town’s later architectural history visible.

Access to the interior of Torre Alabí requires an appointment to be arranged in advance with the town hall. The outside area is accessible to wheelchair users, while the interior has not been adapted for accessibility. When planning a visit to the tower, keeping the two areas separate is essential: the outside area and the interior should not be treated in the same way. This makes it possible to plan the visit according to the desired focus without conflating the different conditions of the building.

Fountains and Local Life

At the exit of Cúllar, Fuente de la Kaicuta is signposted by a roadside sign. Historically, the spring supplied the inhabitants of Cúllar with drinking water. At the same time, Fuente de la Kaicuta serves as a local meeting place and recreational area. With its six outlets, the fountain is regarded as a structure dating back to the Muslim period.

The spring complements the historic buildings by providing a link to the town’s former everyday life. Its function as a drinking-water supply, its six outlets and its present-day role as a meeting place offer different perspectives on the same structure. This allows cultural history and local life to be considered separately without reducing the fountain to its architecture.

Nature and Geology

The Cúllar Historical and Geological Route is officially approved as PR-A 382, passes through Cúllar and is characterised by a desert landscape. It includes the Mirador Estelar de Cúllar, a viewpoint in the Granada highlands equipped for observing the night sky. The route also presents the Sismitas de Cúllar: sediment layers deformed by earlier earthquakes and preserved in the rock formations of the Granada Geopark.

The route thus brings together several distinct themes without presenting them as a single attraction. The desert landscape describes the outward character of the trail, the mirador directs attention to the night sky, and the Sismitas reveal geological changes. The desert landscape, night sky and geological traces remain recognisable as separate themes.

The Sismitas de Cúllar also preserve sediments from a former lake in which several earthquakes have been fossilised. This additional context means that the rock layers are not only visible traces of earlier tremors but also place them within an older landscape history. Together with the Granada Geopark, this creates a focus on natural history alongside the historic buildings and the fountain.

Other places: Gorafe, La Calahorra, Orce, Albolote, Los Tablones, Guájar-Fondón, Polopos and Montefrío.

For the overarching travel overview: Granada.