La Calahorra – Aldeire Trail – PR-A 247

The La Calahorra – Aldeire Trail – PR-A 247 starts in the municipal district of La Calahorra from the main road towards the mining village of Alquife. The route takes us through agricultural fields, where we can see the different traditional irrigation systems, and passes by several water cisterns.

Once on the outskirts of the town of Aldeire, the route continues to the Rosandrá Recreational Area, where we can enjoy the beautiful riverside scenery surrounded by age-old chestnut trees. We can return along the Aldeire-La Calahorra asphalt road.

The Marquesado del Zenete is the district in Guadix which has the strongest geographical and historical identity. It comprises ten municipal districts, all at an altitude of over 1,100 m, which occupy a large area on the northern face of the Sierra Nevada and the sedimentary plain that opens between here and the Sierra de Baza mountains.

The Calahorra is home to the artistic treasure of the area, the first Renaissance castle in Spain, built in 1513 by the first Marquis del Zenete, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar y Mendoza, who was the eldest son of the Grand Cardinal Mendoza. But the importance of this monument does not overshadow that of the other Medieval remains (spas, towers and castles) and the 16th century Mudejar churches distributed amongst the villages.

In this area we also find Aldeire, a small town in the mountains situated next to a track that was traditionally used to climb from the Marquesado area to the Puerto de la Ragua. It has a town centre of Medieval and Moorish origin, and most importantly, the area is dotted with mills and narrow terraced fields.