Valle de Zalabi

Since 1973, the municipality has included the towns of Alcudia de Guadix, Exfiliana and Charches, and part of the Natural Park of Sierra de Baza, a true "island climate" due to the humidity and abundant vegetation, with altitudes as high as 2,000 metres, contrasting sharply with the surrounding environment.

The administrative head of the municipality, where you can find the town hall and municipal services, is in Alcudia de Guadix.

As with the whole of this area north of the province of Granada, the history goes back to prehistoric times, shown by the remains of the necropolis, (Bronze age), at Pago del Zalabí. The Roman presence was significant, given the proximity of the Via Augusta, which saw a constant flow of people and goods. Arab rule in these lands had moments of splendor, until its end during the Nazarite kingdom, when it was conquered by the armies of the Catholic Kings. The subsequent Christianization of the region led to the expulsion of the Moors and to the end of the coexistence of three cultures, Muslim, Catholic and Jewish, which had been a historical constant in Al-Andalus for eight centuries.

Monuments

Parish Church of Alcudia.

Archaeological Sites

Pago del Zalabí (necropolis of bronze age).

Town planning

Aljibe arabe de Esfiliana Arabe. (an Arab well)
Caseron de los Mayorazgos (a large house or farm).

Gastronomy

The cuisine of Vale de Zalabí has a high reputation for the variety of dishes offered, which is a natural consequence of the merger of the three peoples of old, and is very gastronomic. Prominent among the dishes: soup with potatoes, soup with local bread rolls, muffins, fried rabbit, tarbinas, noodles, garlic rabbit, kid, pork, rice with rabbit, chicken fricassee, “harvesters stew” (a local recipe with onions). There is also a wide selection of candy fritters, pancakes, fried donuts, borrachillos, and blancmange. The town is one of the few in Granada which continues to produce bread in a wood oven.

Directions

Leave Granada and take the A-92 towards Guadix-Almeria-Murcia. Pass near Lopera and take the exit 288 - Purullena-Cortes and Graena-Beas de Guadix. Pass Purullana and Guadix. Continue: N-324. Pass Esfiliana and following directions to Valle de Zalabi.

Distances