Güejar Sierra

Güejar Sierra – Sierra Nevada

The municipality of Güejar Sierra is part of the Natural Park of Sierra Nevada and is located to the north-west, at an altitude of 1,084 metres, and enjoys the proximity of both the magnificent landscapes of the Parque Natural de Sierra Nevada, and also the city of the Alhambra, which is only 17 kilometres away.

Güejar Sierra limits with the neighboring municipalities of La Peza, Lugros, Jérez del Marquesado, Trevélez, Capileira, Dílar, Monachil, Pinos Genil, Dúdar and Quéntar

The first settlement dates from the time of the Visigoths, also there are traces of the existence of irrigation channels and methods of cultivation as used by the Roman civilization. The current population has its origins in the time of the Arabs, its name being derived from the Arabic ‘Qaryat Waly’. The town had three well-defined neighbourhoods, and its main industry is the manufacturing of silk and thread.

The conquest of the Moors by the Christians was led by Don Juan of Austria, the Granadian authorities devised a strategy so that he did not have to face the rebels directly, although this tactic had to be dropped in the face of the cunning of the Moors, who evacuated the women and children and dressed men in suits and coats like the women.

When the Christians attacked these helpless women they discovered they had the protection of the men with them. This period finally finished with the victory of the Christians and the expulsion of the Moors from the region.

After being almost deserted for a time, in 1572 the process of repopulation was begun by Philip II, to be finished by Don Pedro de Leza in 1575. In this same year, the Junta Communal de Guejar Sierra was created, under which common lands were allowed to be used by residents for farming or pasture for livestock in exchange for the payment of a fee to the Junta Administriva de los Montes Comunales.

The Duke of San Pedro Galatino instituted several important works during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, among which was the promotion of the Tranvia de la Sierra, (the Sierra Tramway), which contributed greatly to the end of the relative isolation of the town.

Güejar Sierra Monuments

Old Tram Station
Mountain Museum
Ethnographic Museum
Iglesia Parroquial del Virgen del Rosario y San Roque, 1639. (Parish church)

Canales Dam

Gastronomy

The gastronomy in Sierra Güejar is dominated by pork products such as chorizo, longaniza, salchicha, (types of sausage) morcilla, (blood pudding) and serrano ham. Also noteworthy are tasty preparations such as chorizo with potatoes, kid with garlic, potatoes ‘a lo pobre’ ( poor mans potatoes), garlic chicken, trout, migas, casseroles, salad with dried apricots, fried mushrooms, oil cakes, and delicious desserts such as anise donuts or ‘leche frito’ with honey, all dishes to delight the palate.

Directions

Leaving Granada. Turn left: Carretera de la Sierra. Lancha del Genil. Lancha de Cenes. Pass through Cenes de la Vega and continue: A-4026.Pass Pinos Genil and follow signs to Güejar Sierra.

Distances

Granada 17 km
Dudar 13 km
Quéntar 16 km
Monachil 22km
Pinos Genil A 8 km
Cenes de la Vega 11 km
Beas de Granada 20 km
Huétor Santillán 34 km