Still Discovering Spain...

This strange sight looks like something straight out of Tolkien’s Rivendell. What resembles an ancient, mythical village is carved into the rock, complete with elegant arches that lead into ornate corridors.
Perhaps disappointingly, this random roadside scene is not at all related to the fictional Elven realm. In reality, it’s the work of a 20th-century Spanish priest.

Don Aurelio, the priest of nearby Valderrebollo, Spain, constructed this curious hamlet in the 1960s. Almost every day after mass, he and local volunteers would carve their way through the soft karst. They created elaborate doors and banisters and a network of tunnels that wind through a labyrinth of hidden chambers. Supposedly, one of the lower caves even held a bar frequented by local fishermen.

Now, the intriguing hamlet is abandoned. Some of the inner walls have collapsed, and plants are slowly beginning to blanket parts of the space. But amazingly, a little fountain nestled amid the structures still gurgles with life. Fed from a natural spring, the crystal-clear water cascades out of small set of brass spigots and pools within a trough, waiting to quench the thirst of any animals that happen to wander by.

Olvera Castle, locally known as Castillo de Olvera, lies on a rocky cliff in the centre of the town with the same name in the province of Cádiz. It is one of the most characteristic towns in the mountains of Cadiz, lying between the Sierra de Líjar and the Sierra de las Harinas mountains. Olvera is an excellent entry point from the north to the mountains of Cadiz and is set among woody hills and olive fields.

The first fortress at this site was built by the Moors, probably during the 12th century to defend the border of the Nasrid Emirate of Granada against the Kingdom of Castile. Around it, the medieval town of Olvera grew up.

In 1327 Olvera Castle was taken by the King of Castile, Alfonso XI. The Christians then completely rebuilt the old Moorish fortress into the castle we see today. The castle has an irregular plan, adapted to the shape of the cliff, resembling an elongated triangle. The rectangular keep has two storeys covered by barrel vaulted ceiling. The castle is also equipped with a gateway protected by a barbican, curtain walls with a parapet walkway and turrets, a subterranean enclosure and two cisterns.

In 1492 the War of Granada ended in a victory for the Kingdom of Castile and Olvera Castle lost its military value.

Olvera Castle can be visited for a small fee. Other sites of undoubted interest are the convent of Caños Santos, the sanctuary of Los Remedios and the Casa de la Cilla building, the current site of the “La Frontera y Los Castillos" Museum of Olvera.