Velez Blanco en Maria - November 19-20, 2020

 A two day adventure to visit a famous Castillo in Velez Blanco was full of surprises. The first was when we arrived at Castillo Velez Blanco and walked up to the castle expecting only to see the outside and take photos from the path looking out over the white village. 







To our great surprise, there was a car parked up above and a lady stepped out and told us we could go inside with her! We were the only ones there and she opened the Castle up for us to wander around inside. We could not believe our good fortune. The key to the castle door was bigger than my hand!

This castle was originally constructed between 1505 to 1513 on an existing Moorish foundation. It was both a fortress and a palace. In the 1700's parts of the castle were repurposed into other items, for instance, the bronze cannons were melted down to make bells for the church. If you want to read more about the history of this unique place, follow this link: Castillo Velez Blanco











The original patio has been in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY since the early 1900's!

From the castle, we returned to SAM (our camper) and had a picnic lunch while watching 6 men stabilizing the dolomite cliffs above the road. I wish I could have recorded their singing as they hung from ropes on climbing gear and literally sewed what looked like chain link fencing on rolls with metal thread. 

The afternoon was a 20 kilometer mountain bike ride with a 400 meters of climbing. The descent into the village of Maria was really fun! 
Looking back at the castle during the ride.



We spent the night at a hermitage called Maria de Velez and went for a 90 minute hike through the botanical gardens in the morning. The first picture is the view we woke up to!

Insect hotels!




It was chilly enough for hats, coats and gloves!

View from the highest point of the garden. The distant white town is Maria
Painted tiles outside the church.

On our way back to the house, we stopped for lunch in Velez Blanco and took a walk around the white town terraced below the castle. We ate tuna empanadas in the sun sitting in front of a church, drank water from the source or "fuenta" and visited a small museum in the Office of Tourism (which was actually open).


Chili peppers and squash on a balcony











Comments

  1. Diana SheridanNovember 21, 2020 at 11:33 AM

    You depicted an amazing trip with so many images that reflect intriguing history, stories of singing flowing out of the hills above, colors of chili peppers and church tiles, two very fit bicycle riders and grand vistas. Keep sending your blog g our way. --Diana Sheridan

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