Zuheros

The municipality of Zuheros is situated in the south-east of the province of Córdoba, on the northern boundary of the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park, at an ...

It has a population of 641 (December 2000). Eighty per cent of its municipal area lies within the boundaries of the protected area, accounting for 11 per cent of its total surface area, and there is a marked contrast between its southern part, which is mountainous and rugged, and the northern part, which is flat and largely covered in olive groves. It borders the municipalities of Baena, Luque, Doña Mencía, Cabra and Carcabuey. Human presence in this area dates back to the Neolithic period (between 4300 and 3900 BC), as evidenced by the cave paintings and other finds in the Cueva de los Murciélagos. Although there are Iberian and Roman sites, Zuheros’s heyday coincided with its foundation in the late 9th century by the Muslims of the “Banu Himsí” tribe, who chose to fortify themselves on the high crags where the village now stands. Today, the main economic activity in Zuheros is olive cultivation, under the ““Aceite de Baena”, which covers 20 per cent of the municipality’s area, with the remainder comprising mountainous terrain that once produced pulses, cereals and good pastureland. Its patron saint is the Virgin of Los Remedios, in whose honour the patron saint’s festivities are held on 15 August, although the town’s inhabitants also maintain an age-old devotion to the Virgin of the Sierra de Cabra. The distinctive character of the town centre is typical of a town built for defensive purposes, with narrow streets and lime-plastered houses that have been preserved over time thanks to the care of its inhabitants. Its beauty has clearly contributed to the rise in tourism, with visitors also drawn to interesting attractions such as the Cueva de los Murciélagos (Bat Cave), the Vía Verde (Greenway), the ‘Juan Fernández Cruz’ Museum of Customs and Folk Arts, its Historical Museum and the splendid natural surroundings in which it is set, amongst others. The fact is that Zuheros is a unique place; undoubtedly one of the best-preserved villages in Andalusia, which led to its designation as a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in the category of Historic-Artistic Site in 2003 and its inclusion in the select group of Spain’s most beautiful villages in January 2016.