Discover Venta Micena – Archaeology, Natural History and Fuencaliente

Venta Micena draws attention to an archaeological site where a fragment of the skull known as the “Man of Orce” was found. Its chronology dates back around 1.5 million years; the site and the remains discovered there are considered to be very well preserved.

Archaeology and History

The Cuenca de Orce is listed in the Andalusian Heritage Catalogue as an archaeological zone within the municipality of Orce and includes, among others, Venta Micena, Barranco León and Fuente Nueva 3. The Alcazaba de Orce, also known as the Alcazaba de las Siete Torres, is a Muslim military fortress with origins in the 11th century; its Nasrid keep dates from the 14th century. The Cerro de la Virgen archaeological site in Orce is protected as an archaeological zone and a Bien de Interés Cultural, and its origins date back to the end of the pre-Bell Beaker period around 2000 BC or to the Copper Age; settlement continued until the end of the Argaric culture.

Museums and Sightseeing

The guided tours offered daily in Orce by prior reservation include the 17th-century Palacio de los Segura. The Museo Primeros Pobladores de Europa – Centro Josep Gibert offers guided tours for tourist groups and school groups and draws on material and scientific information from the geological sites of Venta Micena, Barranco León-5 and Fuente Nueva-3. Outside the Cerro de la Virgen centre, you can walk along the wall that surrounded the settlement. A centre housed in a cave dwelling is dedicated to the life and work of the German archaeologist Wilhelm Schülle.

Other Places

For further travel planning, you can also visit the destination pages for Ítrabo, Tózar, Benalúa De Las Villas, Yátor, La Ermita, Laroles, Cenes De La Vega and Melegís.

Natural History

Excavations at Venta Micena uncovered, among other things, elephants, rhinoceroses, deer, buffalo, bears, sabre-toothed tigers, wolves, badgers and lynxes. Venta Micena contains a large bone accumulation left by short-faced hyenas of the species Pachycrocuta brevirostris in a cave and feeding site on the dried-up shore of a lake without vegetation. Fossil remains of a duck, a crane and a raven were identified at the Venta Micena palaeontological site; they contribute to the reconstruction of the Pleistocene wetland in the Baza Basin.

Fuencaliente and the Medieval Market

Fuencaliente is a thermal spring in the floodplain of the Río Orce; its water emerges all year round at a constant temperature of 21°C. The Fuencaliente thermal spring in Orce was developed into a public swimming pool with gardens and a lawn for sunbathing. Fuencaliente is open all year round; admission is free.

Since 1999, Orce’s Medieval Market has been held every year on the first Sunday in August. At Orce’s Medieval Market, participating craftspeople present traditional handicrafts; there is also traditional music, street performers, jugglers and actors in historical costumes.

For the overarching travel overview: Granada.