Caves, Dolmens, Cities: Cádiz, Málaga

Cave paintings of prehistoric cultures are frequent in Andalusia.

For a start, we can visit the pictorial group of El Bacinete at Los Barrios and the well known Tajo de las Figuras by Benalup, with a series of schematic paintings said to be from the Bronze Age (3rd millemum BC). The La Pileta Cave at Benaoján, not far from Ronda, is the most important example of cave paintings in Andalusia, with a wide repertory of animals and abstract and schematic representations. A visit there means diving into the bowels of the earth for over an hour to see kilometres of paintings. There are some dolmens at Benaoján (megalithic funerary constructions) called El Gigante and La Giganta (male and female giant) that according to popular tradition, are the only beings capable of moving enormous stones for burials.

With a big jump in time we come to the Romans, still near Ronda - known as Arunda at that time - where Acinipo, called Ronda la Vieja, is of special interest. It is a magnificently placed city with impressive remains of a theatre. Some way away, by Ardales, we come to the ruins of Bobastro, a Mozarabic settlement of the 9th and 10th centuries.

Antequera, in the midst of rich farming land, is in the heart of an area with various remains from the beginning of the agrarian cultures in the 3rd millennium BC. There is a group of dolmens, consisting of the collective sepulchres of Menga, Viera and Romeral that are really spectacular and in a state of excellent preservation, to be compared only with those of Valencina de la Concepción in the province of Seville (La Pastora and Matarrubilla). In Antequera itself, besides its old walls, the remains of the Roman baths beside the church of Santa Maria la Mayor are interesting, and so is the museum, where there are really good items such as the Roman bronze Ephebe.

On the road from Antequera towards the railway station of Bobadilla, the city of Singilia Barba. At Mollina and Cortijo de Santillán, the remains of the Roman military fort can be visited. This tour can end in Alameda, where some Roman baths can be seen.