Cáñar
Cañar is one the villages we can find from the Western entrance of the Alpujarra in Granada, it has the main characteristic which define the image of the villages in Alpujarra: a peculiar architecture in its houses, which are perfectly adapted to the rough land and to the climate of the area, where we can find narrow streets where lasts the memory of its Moorish past.
Cáñar borders with Soportújar, Carataunas, Órgiva and Lanjarón
As for its history, the origins of Cáñar go back to the first years of Moslem occupation in the Iberian Peninsula. From this time (centuries from VIII to XI) dates the farmhouse annex to ‘El Fex’ and the canalizations and irrigation ditches. Around the middle of the XIV century, with the administrative division of La Alpujarra, Cáñar is included within the Taha de Órgiva. In 1492, with the conquest of Granada, Cáñar fell into the hands of the Catholic Monarchs. It was then when the village was in a gradual way submitted to a pressure that was intolerable, and in 1568 a wealthy landowner from this area, Hernando de Válor who was himself named Abén Humeya, was revolted against Felipe II. This uprising leaded to a general revolt between the Moorish from the entire kingdom in Granada. In its municipal area, in the farmhouse of El Fex, Abén Farag was taken prisoner, one of the deputies of Abéen Humeya and he, in revenge, destroyed completely the small village.
The internal disagreements between the Moorish themselves, who, in 1569, killed Abén Humeya, allowed that Juan de Austria put an end to the uprising. The Moorish would be once and for all expelled in 1609 and Cáñar was being repopulated with colonists who came from another Spanish kingdoms. Barja, a village annex to Cáñar, was destroyed because of the floods in 1816 and disappeared.
Monuments
Parish Church of Santa Ana (XVIII century).
Hermitage of Santísima Trinidad.
Town Planning
A mountain urban area, with no mark of modern buildings.
Mills Ramblero, de María Gallardo y Alto.
Gastronomy
Ajo blanco (a kind of gazpacho). Almonds soup. Stew. Vegetable stew of cigüelos (beans). Fried breadcrumbs. Gitana stew (vegetables and legumes). Stew of cabbages. Rice with rabbit. Cutlets with mushrooms. Pickled partridge. Roast suckling pig. Rabbit with snails. Chicken with sauce of Easter.
Sweets: Figs and raspberry oatmeal porridges. Pancakes of dry figs. Empedrao (Rice). Almonds creme caramel. Leche frita (milk thickened flour, coated with egg and fried).
Wines of the place.
How to get there
You have to exit Granada. In the roundabout, take the exit 4 and continue in: E-902 / A-44 towards Armilla - Motril. Then take the exit towards: Exit 164 - Béznar - A-348 - Lanjarón - La Alpujarra. In the roundabout, take the exit 1and continue in: A-348 towards A-348 - Lanjarón. Alleyways of Lanjarón and Órgiva. Continue in: A-4132 and follow the signs until Cáñar.
Distances
To Granada 61 km
To Béznar 25 km
To Vélez de Benahudalla 25 km
To Dúrcal 32 km
To Cádiar 46 km
To Capileira 22 km
To Trevélez 37 km
To Padul 40 km |
