Chercos

Chercos is a small town in La Sierra de Filabres and that belongs to the region with the same name, whose enormous interest is the inscriptions called "Piedras Labrás", dated in the second millennium B.C.

Chercos is a place name of the Mozarabic word Yerku, that means "la encina (the holm oak)", according to Oliver Asín. It is possibly due to the oak wood that was around it. We have to differentiate between Chercos Viejo, old farmhouse, and Chercos Nuevo, when the local offices moved to a more comfortable place called Las Huertas would provoke this settlement.

Between Chercos Viejo and Chercos Nuevo it is located "La Piedra Labrá" or "Piedra de los Moros" where we can observe the first human mark in the history of Chercos. It is about some cave engravings that represent the everyday life and the place should be used like altar for the open-air worship. This engraving dates from the second millennium B.C.
During Al-Andalus period, it will be part of El Estado de Tahal. This area was occupied by Berber tribes. From this period it is preserved the remains of a castle and a well.

With the conquest carried out by the Catholic Monarchs in 1488, the Estado de Tahal would be ceded in domain to Enrique Enríquez, relative of the king Fernando, in 1490. Before the War of Las Alpujarras in Chercos there were 360 Moriscos. When it was finished with the expulsion of the Moriscos the place would be deserted, although we do not have information about its repopulation because the book Apeo y Población was lost.

In 1835 the domains are abolished. In the middle of the XVIII century Madoz tells us that Chercos is part of the administrative area of Purchena and its municipal area is divided into a series of farmhouses and its economy is based in the agriculture.

Nowadays, its main fiesta is the one of San Lorenzo and it is typical the Juego de los Bolos (to play skittles) Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Monuments
Parish Church.

Archaeological Sites
Las Piedras "labrás", Second Millennium B.C.
Prehistoric Petroglifos (rock engravings) in big blocks of slate.

Remains of La Alcazaba.
Archaeological Sites of “El Cerrillo” and Cerro del Mojón

Town Planning

Chercos El Viejo and Chercos El Nuevo.

Gastronomy

In Chercos you could taste the stews of Lent with cod meatballs and for dessert fried bread rolls and the fritters with anisette.

We cannot forget the famous hornazos de San Marcos, bread roll with oil decorated with egg and according to the tradition you have to break it in the head of the most absent-minded person.

Embutidos (Sausages). Migas de harina y pan. Rice with rabbit. Olla. Puchero. Gachas Sponge cake of dates.

How to get there

You have to exit Almería, take the Road of Granada and cross Huércal de Almería. Then follow straight on, take the road N-340 towards: Huércal de Almería - Almería - E-15 - N-340 - Nijar - Murcia. In the roundabout, take the salida 1 and continue in: A-92A towards: A-92 - Benahadux - Guadix. Alleyway of Benahadux. In the roundabout, take the salida 3, continue in: A-92 towards: Guadix - Granada. Then take the exit towards: Salida 373/376 - Tabernas - Murcia - N-340a. In the roundabout, take the salida 2 and continue in: N-340A. You have to pass near Tabernas. In the roundabout, take the salida 4 and continue in: A-349. In the area around Tahal, continue in: ALP-731. In Alcudia de Monteagud follow the signs until you get Chercos.

Distances