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Grazalema

Grazalema is the highest, most mountainous municipality in Cadiz, as well as the one that registers the most rainfall in the whole Peninsula. The entire township is part of the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Reserve.

The Grazalema city centre has Roman and Muslim remains, and is one of the best examples of the so-called "white Andalusian towns". The Roman fountain, the Baroque church of Nuestra Señora de la Aurora (18th century), and the parish of Encarnación (17th-19th centuries) are a few examples of its monumental heritage.

Sierra de Grazalema is located between the Andalusian provinces of Cadiz and Malaga and it houses an important relict wooded-patch of Spanish fir, a tree that has become a symbol of these mountains. The entire territory of the Sierra de Grazalema Nature Park was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1977.

Visits to the nature park are highly restricted and should always be arranged through the Park's Office, located in: Avda. de la Diputación s/n, El Bosque (Cadiz).

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Sol recomend:

- Hotel Fuerte Grazalema: Situated in a cork tree forest in the heart of the Natural Park of Grazalema, one of the few remaining protected reserves on the European continent. Only 5 kms away from the beautiful white village of Cadiz called Grazalema

- Hotel y Apartamentos Casa de las Piedras: Hotel located in Grazalema, at 830 metres above sea level at the heart of the ´Natural Park´which bears its name. Forget your stressful life and allow yourself to be seduced by the peace and beauty of the mountains. Cadiz White Village.

- Hotel Puerta de la Villa: The hotel is located in the old quarter of Grazalema a town of attractive whitewashed façades and wooden grates and doors that are so characteristic to Andalusian charm.

An important, peculiar feature of Grazalema is that this area registers the most rainfall in the entire Iberian Peninsula, with more than 2000 mm per year. It also has many grottoes and underground systems, such as the remarkable Hundidero-Gato Complex, the biggest cave in Andalusia, and Cueva de la Pileta (Pileta Cave), with an important prehistoric legacy.

In the vicinity of Grazalema you can visit the prehistoric site of Cueva de la Pileta (Pileta Cave) in Benaoján, the dolmen of Giganta (in the Montejaque port), the Arab castle of Zahara and the Roman ruins of Omri. The surrounding towns have a great artistic, cultural and monumental significance, as well as great traditions and festivities.

Its relief reaches heights of between 600 and 1600 metres, among the surrounding valleys and depressions. It is a rugged area, with narrow valleys like Garganta Verde (Green Gorge in Zahara de la sierra), the walls of which present drops as deep as 400 metres.