Hinojares

Hinojares is a little town located to the south-east of the province, in the foothills of Sierra del Pozo. Part of its municipal district belongs to the Parque Natural de las Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas, the bigger nature reserve in Spain: an orographical labyrinth of valleys, limestone quarries, cuts, mountains and high plateaus with a great hydrologic importance (because of the huge quantity of rivers and streams that flow from it); botanical (European Black Pine, Aleppo Pine and many endemic species); the wealth of the fauna, hunting and the landscape. From it we can observe that it is one of the most visited open spaces in the country.

Inside its small city centre we can find the Church of S. Marcos, the only interesting monument. It also has the interesting Necropolis de Castellones de Ceal.

If we want to know the Prehistory and Ancient History of Hinojares we have to mention Los Castellones de Ceal, one of the most important Iberian settlements, located in the surrounding areas. We can find the origin of this settlement in the control of the commercial route that from the East inserted the Greek manufactured products in the Valle del Guadalquivir. It is located in a spur with a circular plateau, where we can find many remains of walls and buildings. In the study of the Iberian phase in the necropolis we can find rich trousseaus in which appear weapons and Greek ceramics what points out the presence in this settlement of important aristocratic celebrities. The first phase of occupation took place at the end of VII or VI centuries B.C, later it was abandoned until it was built the Iberian settlement in IV century B.C that remained until the republican Roman Phase.

The origin of the current Hinojares is uncertain, because it is not quoted in the medieval documents of the conquest Sierra de Quesada-Cazorla, although the territory where it is located belonged to Quesada after the conquest. However, we can find in its municipal district villages and country houses whose names appear in the chronicles of the Castilian conquest. In this period it was carried out a removal from the mountain to the valley. Cuenca is one of these examples, that, in 1257 it was turned into a village of Quesada. It was located in the summit of a hill, defended by the rough of the hill and by a wall with at least four towers. Chillar had a similar layout, that in 1245 was still a castle and in 1257 it was given to Quesada like a village.

Hinojares should be a farmhouse or a new foundation in the valley after the Castilian conquest. Until 1648 it was dependent on Quesada, being village of Pozo Alcón.

In 1690 it obtained the title of villa and the independence of Pozo Alcón. This title was similar to its awarding of temporary lordship to Íñigo Rodulfo Fernández de Angulo y Sandoval, who requested the monarch to award the denomination of Hinojares. This lordship later passed to the nobiliary house of the Conde de Arenales, who requested the king that the title of Hinojares, was left to the first-borns of his house. At the end of XVIII century the marquis of Guadalcázar and Hinojares, was honorary lord of Hinojares. 

Monuments

Church of San Marcos.

Archaeological Sites

Aldea Cuenca. There were found remains of Roman and Arab settlements. 
 
Castellones de Ceal. Remains of Iberian settlements.

Town Planning

Casas-cueva. 
 
Barrios. Barrio Alto, Barrio Bajo, Cuevas Nuevas and Cuevas Viejas.

Gastronomy

Sausages. Fresh pork fat with ham. Ajillo (Chopped garlic). Oatmeal porridges with stock of red peepers. Fried breadcrumbs. Maimones. Noodles with rabbit. 
 
Sweets: Crumbs bread rolls. Papajotes. Matalahúva flat cakes.

How to get there

• Through the Motorway A-92: you have to take the exit Pozo Alcón, Cuevas del Campo, and continue via the Motorway A-315 until Hinojares
• From the N-IV: you have to take the exit Bailén via the N-322 until Torreperogil. There you have to take the Motorway A-315 until you get Hinojares

Distances

To Jaén 103 km  
To Villacarrillo 70 km 
To Cazorla 45 km 
To Quesada 27 km  
To Úbeda 69 km  
To Pozo Alcón 7 km 
To Granada 119 km