Subbetica
El Laderón
El Laderón is the most significant archaeological site in the municipality of Doña Mencía; it was occupied almost continuously from the Bronze Age until it was abandoned in the Middle Ages – 3,000 years of history that make it one of the most important archaeological sites in Córdoba and Andalusia. El Laderón is a plateau-shaped hill rising from the northern slopes of the Sierra Abrevia in the Subbética region of Córdoba; it has become a landmark in terms of landscape, society and heritage for the present-day town of Doña Mencía, from which it is just over a kilometre and a half away.
It stands at an altitude of 820 metres above sea level and, from its plateau of just over one hectare, overlooks the entire southern part of Córdoba, as far as the Sierra Morena, as well as the provinces of Jaén and Seville. This visual and territorial control lies at the heart of why it was chosen as a settlement that has endured over time.