Cueva de la Tía Micaela

The Cave of Tía Micaela is a group of man-made cave dwellings. These refuge-like dwellings were dug out of the rock at the end of the 10th or early 11th century by North African people, although they were later transformed for other uses. This cave was occupied by Almohad and Nasrid people, and finally abandoned in the 16th century.

The Cave of Tía Micaela site is situated in the municipality of Cortes y Graena, and is made up of various rooms on three levels and connected by corridors, staircases and shafts – a genuine and exciting fortress dug out of the clay. The cave had a single entrance protected by a shaft, a machicolation and a millstone that blocked the entrance.

The rooms on the first floor are different sizes and still have troughs, elements to tie up livestock, oil lamp holders, silos... and even a cat flap! To get to the second floor you have to go up a steep L-shaped staircase shaped out of the clay, which must have been protected by several mobile locking systems. The machicolation is here, and there is a tunnel that leads to the last redoubt, protected by a garret.

The view from any of the windows at Tía Micaela is simply stunning.