Located over the Tajo de la Hoz, Iznalloz was a villa of clear military sign since the Romans used it as strategic place to defend the route that linked Tarraco with the Eastern Andalusians coasts.
The modern core resides around the Constitution Square, where the City council and an old pillar are. The entire district is mainly dedicated to agriculture, to the cultivation of the olive grove, from whose olives is made one of the best oils of Spain, recognized with the Montes Orientales Trade Mark.
The Dehesas Viejas are an anejo of Iznalloz, which lost its old district independence in 1973 to be added to the present district, and Domingo Perez, one of the youngest towns of the region, which is based on the southern slope of the Rayo Mountain range, where lithic industries polished by the primitive settlers of the area have been found.
The main tourist attraction of Iznalloz is the Cave of the Water. It is a huge cavity that has numerous galleries of the Jurassic period, lakes of diverse depth, the channel of a river inside, as well as cave paintings. This cave is object of continuous scientific researches and many speleological expeditions. There is a project for its conditioning and opening to the tourist visit.
Near the town, between pine groves and aromatic plants, in the heat of the Arana Mountain range is located the recreational area of El Sotillo. Formerly, aromatic plants like espliego and lavender were collected and distilled in this place to obtain essential oils. At the moment it has a tourist complex that includes several restaurants and a Mycological Museum. It is suitable for the practice of adventure sports (climbing and rappel) in rocks, hills, and cliffs that surround it.
Numerous prehistoric vestiges have appeared in its district, mainly in the caves that sprinkle it. Nevertheless its Roman precedent is very well testified. The Acatucci city, mentioned in the itineraries of the Empire, was founded by the Romans, as well as a bridge that cross a river on the foot of the settlement, connection of the roads that communicated the High Guadalquivir with the fertile plain and the Granada’s coast. Recently it, a Roman sculpture of the III century - the so called Magistrate of Periate – exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Granada was discovered, on the side of a road in the border with the Píñar district. It will be at andalusi time when the place adopts its definitive name, Hisn al-Lawza, or what it is the same, the Castle of the Almond trees that was located where today is Iznalloz and of which, unfortunately, only some rests are left. It was one of the main defensive bastions of the Granada’s capital in the border area of Montes Orientales.
The town was part of the line of defence between the Christian and the Arab kingdoms. In the XIV and XV centuries, Iznalloz is involved in border skirmishes, until its fall in 1486, dragged by the loss of Cambril. After the conquest of Granada it became a great commercial, agricultural and cattle centre. The stroll through Iznalloz reveals the diversity of cultures that have been superposed in this town.
The migas, gachas, roasts, onion stews, rabbits and fried flour twisted rolls do not lack in the table of Iznalloz . Its gastronomy is well-known by the restaurants that border the Madrid highway, and among the most common speciality they have the partridges marinated in vinegar. Sunflowers, cereals and olive trees are also cultivated in this district as well as its tempting almonds.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
