Fuente de Cantos: Culture and Landscape along the Vía de la Plata

Fuente de Cantos is a distinctive point on the Vía de la Plata route on the way to Seville. Locally, the landscape alternates between vineyards and olive groves, as well as dehesa, wheat fields and fallow land.

When choosing a holiday apartment in Fuente de Cantos, you can compare travel dates, room categories and cancellation policies on accommodation listing pages; for your personal travel planning, culture, archaeology, nature and festival traditions can be weighed together as different focal points.

Culture and History

The parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada has origins dating back to the 15th century and is Gothic in style. The church and cloister are preserved from the original structure. Particularly noteworthy is a Proto-Gothic representation of the Virgin after whom the church is named.

The Casa-Museo de Zurbarán is located in the painter’s birthplace. The Centro de interpretación del Pintor Zurbarán presents the painter’s life, his historical and artistic environment, the essential aspects of his work and his links to Fuente de Cantos. The centre is housed in the church of the Franciscan convent of San Diego. It uses object replicas, reconstructed scenes, audiovisual media, carefully selected audio recordings and interactive panels.

The Museo del Flamenco Yerga Lancharro is dedicated to flamenco researcher Manuel Yerga Lancharro. At the Museo del Flamenco Yerga Lancharro, visitors can access audio recordings, documents and studies on various facets of flamenco.

Castillejos I consists of round huts and dates from the Chalcolithic; its circular wall is approximately 2.5 metres thick. Castillejos II is a walled urban settlement from pre-Roman times and has a pentagonal defensive wall dating from the 4th to the 2nd century BC. The Yacimiento Arqueológico de los Castillejos has a visitor and interpretation centre; the site has interpretive signage. Their chronology and presentation formats offer different ways of incorporating the archaeological sites into your own plans.

Landscape and Nature

Historic buildings in Fuente de Cantos are home to significant colonies of lesser kestrels. The Colonias de Cernícalo Primilla de Fuente de Cantos protected area is a ZEPA site within the town of Fuente de Cantos.

Festivals and Traditions

La Chanfaina is a gastronomic festival recognised as a festival of regional tourist interest. La Chanfaina includes a competition to prepare the best lamb chanfaina dish. Thousands of visitors come to Fuente de Cantos to sample a traditional lamb dish.

On 15 May, San Isidro Labrador is celebrated in Fuente de Cantos with a pilgrimage. During the pilgrimage, participants travel on foot, on horseback or in decorated carts to a meadow near the hermitage. The pilgrimage mass is followed by a procession between the festival stalls near the hermitage.

The same broader area also includes Los Santos De Maimona, Entrerríos, Villar Del Rey, Esparragosa De Lares, Valdelacalzada, Valdecaballeros, Don Alvaro and Fuente Del Maestre.

For the broader travel overview: Badajoz.