This town is located in a valley to the north of the Granada province. The disposition of its town centre is given by a series of ravines on which the different neighbourhoods are based. It conserves an important historical patrimony: from numerous houses excavated in caves, passing by an Almohad tower, to the rests of a fortress of the XIV century. It is one of the districts with greater density of inhabited caves of all the northeast of Granada. The house of the Tinajas Uncle, a cave with cupola that could have been an Arab bath and that it was as well a prison, stands out. The last weekend of April they celebrate the festivity of the Virgen de la Cabeza, patron of the town, and they organize one of the most spectacular parade and celebrations of Moors and Christians of Spain. On the Saturday they perform the sacramental play titled “Captivity and rescues of Nuestra Señora de la Cabeza”, and on the Sunday there is a romería. These celebrations congregate every year people of all the corners of Granada.
The zone where the town of Benamaurel is located has served as human settlement since the Argaric period (carved and polished stones, arrows and raederas have been found). There are also archaeological vestiges that demonstrate that it was inhabited during the Iberian, Roman and Visigoth period. It is mentioned for the first time in writings of an Arab writer of the XII century. During the XIII century a castle was built to defend the territory of the harassment of the Fernando III troops. In the XIV century it change of hands several times in successive conquests, until it falls into the hands of the Christians definitively in 1488.
A year later, the Moorish rebelled against the count of Tendilla and the Crown, and later they were expelled, being Benamaurel left almost vacated. In 1531, an earthquake knocked down the fortress and the town, which passed to depend on the near Baza. In 1628 it became independent and, due to the increasing debts, its inhabitants decided to sell their properties to the Duke of Alba, Don Antonio Alvarez de Toledo, in 1633. During the Napoleonic invasion its citizens had a main role because they went to aid the general O’Donnell who was surrounded in a nearby place and because they deny the powder of their factories (Benamaurel was rich in sulphur and saltpetre) to the French. .
Fresh products of the orchard of the fertile plain as the olive oil, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and wheat. The wild capers, good to complement the salads, in the pipirrana or in sauces, stand out. The good cured inlays are abundant in caves. The typical recipes are the gurupinas (with mushrooms and cod), the gachas and the migas with remojón. The traditional desserts are the fried crespillos of cañamones, cakes of chicharrones and twisted rolls.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
