Torvizcón is located next to the left margin of the boulevard that takes its name and looking west from the slope of the Cerro del Cercado, to the left of the Cerro Salchicha.
Among its traditions stands out one that does not leave the foreigners indifferent. It is the breed of the so called pig of San Antón, which walks loose around the streets with a red bow tied to the neck. The neighbours have to contribute to its feeding to, later on, draw it in the town square at the end of the celebrations.
The name of the town could come, as the Hispanist Gerald Brenan propose, from the bush known as torvisco, abundant in the area and used formerly, according to tradition, to cure “ the bad luck”. Named by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón like the “the sun’s favourite town”, it was considered formerly the capital of La Contraviesa, since most of this mountain range is included in its district. Torvizcón conserves one of the best kept urban sets of the region.
Some historians consider that there was already a human settlement in this territory at the time of the Roman Empire, with the name of Turidianum. Later, during the Arab domination Torvizcón reached a remarkable splendour thanks to its fruitful agriculture, because the Moorish installed in the area new wells and irrigation systems. At that time it produced silk of great quality and it cultivated vineyards to export raisins.
With the Christian Reconquista and the later revolt and expulsion of the Moorish it suffered an important depopulation process. It recovered little by little, receiving in the XVII century the title of villa. In the XIX century it grouped great amount of cortijos and now it is the target of a starting rural tourism.
Besides having the common cuisine of the region (fennel stew, migas, fritadilla of rabbit, choto as colorín...), in Torvizcón the desserts elaborated with dry figs, as the fig bread, have fame.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
