The Gójar district is part of the Sierra Nevada Natural Park, and it is located in the area known as the Granada’s Bell, the area of the Fertile plain where the bell of the Vela tower of the Alhambra could be heard. It has an extensive natural patrimony, with plenty of routes where to practice trekking and to get to know its colourful places, with peculiar names as the Boca de la Pesca, the Collado del Fraile, the Fuente del Artillero, the Molinos de Ampuero, the Cerro del Bufon and the Molino del Buquete. To these natural resources it is added as well an interesting set of old buildings, scattered in the interior of the in the town centre as much as in the outskirts of the town. In a rustic atmosphere, Gójar offers to the tourists a core that has known how to stay away of the modern constructions and to conserve its rural aspect and its flavour of history.
Henríquez de Jorquera, in his “Annals of the Kingdom of Granada”, locates the foundation of this town at Muslim time, in the Arabic-Andalusian period. However, it does not accurate its antiquity. During this period, the population was dedicated to the agricultural and cattle tasks, taking advantage of the forest lands of the area. Later it would be conquered by the Catholic Kings on their way towards Granada. With the rebellion of the Moorish, these were expelled from the town and in the second half of the XVI century Felipe II repopulated its urban core with settlers from other kingdoms. According to the dictionary of Tomás Lopez and other documents, since this repopulation until the beginning of the XIX century the town was known with the name of Gójar de la Vega.
The most typical products of its agriculture of irrigated land and dry land are present in its dishes, as is the case of the oil and the almond. The oven baked lamb chops stands out among its numerous and flavourful recipes. Next to this type of meat, the rabbit or the calf can also be tasted. Other recipes with tradition in Gójar are the different soups and stews and the partridges with cabbage.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
