SURROUNDING

Getting lost in Capileira streets

To really know the true Capileira and its people spirit we recommend to all visitors to explore the village. You will discover the magic of a unique place. Its steep and twisted streets, the white houses, the “terraos” (typical Alpujarra roofs), the “tinaos” (typical Alpujarra outside ceilings), the conversations with its inhabitants ... will make you feel a special peace.

Getting to the low part of the village (Fuente Hondera) is like taking a trip back in time, where you can experience the harmony between the human being and the geographical environment. The inhabitants of Capileira have been characterized throughout history by a scrupulous respect to the nature, where they live.

Pedro Antonio de Alarcón Ethnological Museum

It is located in the House of Culture. Farm implements, crafts, textiles, as well as some seventeenth-century carvings and a series of lithographs from the same period in which Pedro Antonio de Alarcón made his trip through these lands, are exhibited.

Visiting hours: from 11:00 to 14:30 hours, except Monday

Iglesia de Ntra. Sra. de la Cabeza

The church of the Lady of the Head It is part of the temples that the Catholic Monarchs built to convert the Moors to Christianity. The works began in 1,503 in the place occupied by the Muslim mosque, but it was demolished in favor of the church, in 1767.

In its Mudejar style building, Ambrosio de Vico intervened by the order of the archbishopric. It has a single nave and contains a seventeenth-century altarpiece in polychrome wood. The image of the Virgin of the Head was donated to the Council of Capileira by the Catholic Monarchs. It stands out for being the only old building in the village with no remodeling, and built with an inclined roof of Arab tile. The latter is made up of wooden trusses. The structure on which it rests is formed by thick load-bearing walls (around 80cm) of stone taken with mud, with several buttresses.

Visiting hours: Hours of worship

Going Down to the Poqueira River

Following the road that leads to Eras de Aldeire, and after a quarter of an hour's walk, you reach the river that gives its name to the gorge: the Poqueira. The Poqueira River is, among all the Alpujarra rivers, the best used and the most productive in electric power terms. Its water come from the glacial cirques of its head where the lagoons of Río Seco, La Caldera, Aguas Verdes, Majano and La Caldereta are located.

Poqueira Shelter

It is located at the altitude of 2,500 meters above sea level, on the southern slopes of Sierra Nevada. It is on the left bank of the Mulhacén river, above its confluence with the Seco river, in the Hoya de Peñón Negro. It is a strategic point at the foot of the valley, under the Mulhacén, with a wonderful perspective to the northwest of Veleta and Cerro de los Machos peaks, and a great void of valleys on the south that collides with the Sierra de Lújar and the Mediterranean on the background. It has telephone, bar, drink and meal services, food, free kitchen, tap water, wood stoves, etc. It also has emergency equipment (first aid kit, emergency station, relief material, etc.).

Eras de Aldeire

If we follow the path that goes down to the river, shortly after leaving the urban core, we reach Eras de Aldeire. These two stone platforms were used time ago for threshing cereal (wheat, barley) that grew in the mountain terraces. The breeze was important to help separate the cereal.

They are no longer used for this mean. Plant growing took a back seat and plantations such as wheat have completely disappeared. But what the Eras maintain for sure are their views. Being on the other side of the village from where the viewpoint is, we can see the part of the mountain range that covers the houses from there.

Capileira Viewpoint

This is one of the most privileged places of the village as far as views are concerned. From its railings, and looking south, we can see the other two villages of the Poqueira gorge: first Bubión and below it, Pampaneira. On very clear days you can even see the African mountain range. If we look in the opposite direction, towards the north, we can see part of the Veleta, the opposite slope to the ski resort of Sierra Nevada.

Public laundry

The public laundries are vestige of other times. Capileira has two: one old and another more modern. One is under the Hondera fountain and the other under the Pileta fountain. The lack of running water in the houses forced women to go to these facilities to do the laundry. It is easy to imagine the animation of the place, where the obligatory appointment propitiated chatting, exchange of impressions, and controversy about the latest news.