The town is located over a small hill, between two corridors that descent from the Periate Mountain range, in the mouth of a ravine. In Orce are one of the most important paleonthological sites of Europe and Asia. In them have been found proves that testified the existence of human presence one million four hundred thousand years ago. Closer in time are the sites of the Cerro de la Virgen, a settlement dated in two thousand years b. C. where three phases of layers of the Neolithic period, followed for other Romans, Visigoths and Arabs have been found. Among its monuments the Fortress of the Seven Towers, built in the XI century and declared National Monument in 1973; the church of Santa Maria; the Palace of the Belmonte or Palace of the Segura, that at the moment it houses an archaeological museum, stand out. Two kilometres away from the town centre is the natural spring of Fuencaliente, from which water with a temperature between 18 and 20 degrees flows throughout the year. In the Cerro de la Virgen, three kilometres away from the town, there is a fortified town, with its corresponding burials, that dates from the year 2,500 a.C. to mid XVII century.
The archaeological sites indicate the presence of human settlements since one million four hundred thousand years ago. The foundation of Orce goes back to an old Roman camp raised in the penetration route that linked the town of Cástulo with Levante. Orce belonged at Arab time, since the VII century, to the Tudmir cora and, under the name of Urs, it had a great military presence. In 1320 it was part of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and in the middle of the XV century it was conquered by Rodrigo Manrique. Ten years later it was re-conquered by Muhammad X, until in 1488 it went under the dominion of the Catholic Kings who gave it as estate to Enrique Enríquez.
Its more traditional dishes are elaborated with native products from the pig slaughter. Its homemade inlays like jam, embuchado back, garlic sausage, filling, morcón or the black pudding stands out. Besides, they have an exquisite meat of segureño lamb. The desserts of oil, almonds and flour are also typical.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
