 | This route, full of contrasts, threads its way between fishing and farming communities, between the waters of the Mediterranean and the fields of Campo de Vera.
Garrucha is an Eastern Almería fishing village par excellence. It is moreover a growing tourist centre combining character with an excellent Blue-Flag beach, excellent local cuisine based on fish from the area and all of the facilities, including a Yachting Marina, to make your holiday perfect.
During the 19th Century Garrucha was an industrial area, the former foundry chimney a silent witness to its mining history.
Everything here has a maritime flavour: from the former Andalusi salt warehouse, or Afolí which is now the Town Hall, to the Castillo de Jesús Nazareno or Escobetas castle, looking out over the Mediterranean and built during the reign of Charles III to defend the coast. Next to the town Hall is Plaza del Ancla, thus called because of the older anchor recovered from the sea bed which now presides the square. Our Lady Virgen del Carmen, whose shrine can be visited, is patron both of fishermen and the town. Also worth a visit is the church of San Joaquín in front of which is the image of Our Lady, la Inmaculada, looking out to sea.
We can also stop and watch the fishermen repairing their nets and carrying out other tasks or indeed to to a fish auction in the Lonja or port auction hall while the Malecón, or jetty, is the ideal place to enjoy the sunset. The Paseo Marítimo is home to the Monumento al Pescador, celebrating the fishermen who founded Garrucha.
Inland, Los Gallardos is to be found in Campo de Vera, between the coast and the Sierra. Los Gallardos came into being thanks to mining activity in Sierra Bédar and we can still see remains of the overhead cable mineral ore loader which ran between El Pinar and Garrucha.
Among the archaelogical remains in Los Gallardos, the most important is the Cadima site with the remains of a Roman villa and the Moorish baths of Alfaíx. El Molino de la Cueva mil, la fábrica de harina (flour mill) and the wood-fired oven all remind of the area's strong agricultural presence.
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A bit further north is Antas, with its 16th-Century church and early 20th-Century Acueducto del Real (aqueduct). To mention Antas is to mention El Argar, on of the province's largest archaelogical sites and one of the Iberian peninsula's largest Bronce Age sites.
Vera, surrounded by fertile farmland, has a long history and rich heritage. Its name comes form the Phonecian factory of Baria (Villaricos).
In Moorish times, the population moved inland form the coast to the area known as Vera la Vieja, on Cero del Espíritu Santo hill, finally being handed over to the Christians in 1488.
In 1518 the city was flattered by a disastrous earthquake and it was rebuilt on its present site. At the same time, the fortified church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación, was built.Outside its lines are quite severe while its interior is in the Gothic-Mudejar style.
Other works undertaken at the same time were building of the church of San Agustín, the shrine to Virgen the las Huertas and the Plaza Mayor at the very heart of the city.
Vera's heritage was further enriched over the following centuries with the building of other churches and religious builidings such as the shrine to San Ramón, dating from the 16th Century and of the Virgen de las Angustias, home to Vera's proctector. Civil buildings include the 17th-Century Fuente de los Cuatro Caños fountain.
The 19th Century contributed recreational areas such as la Glorieta and the Plaza de Toros (bullring) as well as the Town Hall, boasting one of the best Historical Archieves in Andalucía and the Ethnographical and Archaelogical Museum.
Apart from its cultural offer, Vera also posseses some magnficant beaches, a golf course and wide range of active tourism to make the most of the thousands of hours of annual sunshine. | |