Alcaracejos

Alcaracejos, Valle de los Pedroches Town

Alcaracejos municipality is situated in the Valle de los Pedroches, to the north of the capital of the province and in the foothills of Sierra Morena, at the foot of a hill that separates the waters of the Guadiana and Guadalquivir.

It is a municipality under the jurisdiction of the province of Cordoba and the judicial district of Pozoblanco, and is 72 kms from the provincial capital.

With respect to the meridian of Madrid, it is located in a west longitude 1 ° 16 ’46 “and on the Greenwich meridian, west longitude 4 ° 58”. Its north latitude is 38 ° 23 ’11 “. Its height above sea level in Alicante is 608 metres.

Ancient life can be told of in the municipality of Alcaracejos from Neolithic times through the remains found in el camino de Muzgañol. Because of the scarcity of archaeological studies carried out in the region through to the present, it is difficult to establish certain milestones to ensure the linking of Alcaracejos in the context of the main Betic Peninsula and Andalusian cultures.

The Roman presence in Alcaracejos is best documented in relation to the mining of copper, lead and silver, minerals abundant in this area which have set a benchmark for its history, since because of these mines many population centres grew up.

Remains have been found of small towns in the Arab period, one of which was close to the arroyo of los Tejares and in the region of la Granjera. Along the river Cuzna are several mills powered by water through the drop tower on the arroyo de la Gargantilla.

With the Muslim invasion, the valley was occupied by the Berbers of caliph Kazna or Kuzna who named the river and settled in this area as it so resembled their own country. They lived next to the ancient inhabitants of Kuzna focused mainly around the convents of the Visigoths.

From the thirteenth century through the Christian incursions, the area was very deserted though some authors say Kuzna was still very important.

On June 29, 1236 it passed into the hands of Ferdinand III. Over the years the town suffered many and substantial changes: there was a Muslim depopulation and a slow repopulation from Castile and Leon with few alternatives. The administration was religious.

In 1540, Alcaracekos, together with Pedroche, Pozoblanco, Torremilano and Torrecampo were under the administration of Córdoba to whose municipality they paid taxes and whose elected officials administered justice in the first instance with a second recourse to Royal justice.

Several opinions have been given for the origin of the name, Ramirez de las Casas Deza says it derives from the Arabic word “Al Caria” (village). This is consistent with the already built certain ventas along the side of the road from Cordoba to Almaden in Roman times because it applied to the diminutive plural and the word Alcaria or farmhouse and also explains the similarity that the nickname “Mojino” given to these people, because Mojinos are birds that live in small groups in areas of oaks in the same manner in which the population was spread out, forming small groups or ventas constituting a small closely spread group or village.

After the Reconquest, and with its present name, it was an annex of Pedroche. About 1488 it acquired the title of “villa” becoming part of the Seven Villas.

In 1660 with the rest of the Villas of Pedroches the town was sold by Philip IV to the Marquis del Carpio, reverting back to the Crown in 1747.

Therefore Alcaracejos is traditional mining town that has undergone many fluctuations in population throughout its history. During the Civil War its architectural heritage was destroyed almost entirely.

Monuments

Parish church of St. Andrew

Chapel of the Magdalena)

Molino de la Gargantilla

Chapel of San Sebastian

Alcaracejos Gastronomy

They are highly praised for their pork, black pudding, achorizada, black pudding “de lustre”, chorizo, and marinated pork loin. Among the most popular dishes are migas, toastadas or canas, chicharrillas, tortillas and garlic. Home-made desserts are represented by hojuelas, borrachuelos and obispos.

Directions

From Córdoba: N-432 to the intersection of Espiel and N-502 to Alcaracejos

From Badajoz: A-420 from Cabeza del Buey and through Belalcazar, Hinojosa del Duque, Fuente la Lancha and Villanueva del Duque. CO-450 from  Monterrubio de la Serena and Belalcazar and A-420.

From Ciudad Real: N-502 through Santa Eufemia and El Viso

Distances

Cordoba 72 km
Espiel 28 km
El Viso 11km
Chimorra 26 km
Pozoblanco 11km
La Granjuela 46 km
Hinojosa del Duque 21km
Villanueva del Duque 3 km
Peñarroya – Pueblonuevo 32 km