Purullena: Cave Culture, Archaeology and the Camino Mozárabe

Many families in Purullena still live in cave houses today, combining tradition and modernity as bioclimatic homes. This form of housing is a present-day part of the town, not merely a historical reference.

Culture and History

The Cueva-Museo La Inmaculada is a museum carved into the earth, featuring an ethnographic exhibition. In a cave of the Cueva-Museo La Inmaculada that is currently under construction, visitors can try for themselves, if they wish, what it is like to carve out a cave. The highest cave of the Cueva-Museo La Inmaculada offers a viewpoint overlooking Purullena’s other cave houses, the Valle de Alhama-Fardes and the Sierra Nevada. The museum, cave carving and viewpoint offer different perspectives on the form of housing, craftsmanship and views of the landscape.

The Cuevas de Almagruz in Purullena are artificially created caves with medieval remains. Cuesta del Negro is a Bronze Age settlement within the municipality of Purullena. The Argaric phase of Cuesta del Negro has been dated by radiocarbon dating to 1850–1600 BC. The defensive area of Cuesta del Negro includes a fort built on a hill 1,010 m high and a masonry wall. Visitors who wish to place the historical traces in their chronological context can consider the settlement, dating and defensive area separately.

The parish church of San Martín was built in the 16th century and preserves a coffered ceiling in the Mudéjar style. Purullena’s pottery tradition includes ceramics decorated with cobalt blue in polychrome lustreware technique. The church and ceramics represent different forms of expression.

Routes and Landscape

The first section of the Camino Mozárabe de Granada from Guadix to Purullena is 7.5 km long and has an ascent and descent of 100 m. The third stage of the Camino Mozárabe de Granada from Guadix to La Peza follows the Raya Hita route to Purullena. The section of the Camino Mozárabe de Granada to Purullena passes through a landscape with cárcavas and through a gorge. For personal planning, the routes can be compared by distance, elevation profile, course and landform. The combination of culture and routes allows the focus to be adjusted according to the rhythm of the day. The route and landform can also be considered separately. The three descriptions use different reference points: the section from Guadix is defined by distance and elevation change, the stage by its course, and the landscape by its landforms. This keeps distance, route and terrain clearly distinguishable from one another.

For holiday apartments in Purullena, travel dates, room category and cancellation conditions provide different points of comparison for making your own choice. This information is presented alongside the described caves, historical traces and routes, without changing their character or significance.

Other Places

In addition, El Bejarín can be discovered as another place to visit.

Other places in the regional selection: Zafarraya, Albolote, Deifontes, Cúllar, Cuevas Del Campo, Huéneja, Ugíjar

For the overview of the wider travel region: Granada.