When we reached the north of Huelva, we visited two interesting towns: Aracena and Almonaster la Real in the beautiful hills of the Sierra Morena.
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| isn’t it cute ? |
Again, the landscape is dominated by hills covered in oak trees and pastures. Here we managed to capture some of the famous pigs with our camera.
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| munching acorns |
When we reached Aracena, the weather had changed and after a long period of sun we finally got some days with grey sky and rain. But it wasn’t so bad, just an excuse to do nothing for a while.
Of course it didn’t stop us from visiting Aracena. This town in the north of Huelva is famous for the Gruta de las Maravillas but also has a castle on a hill and a nice town around it. The restaurants not only offer everything from the pork but also dishes with mushrooms and we had a nice lunch on the main square.
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| delicious tomato as a starter |
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| Iglesia Prioral del Castillo de Aracena |
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| Belfry of the castle church |
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| Iglesia Nuestra Señora de la Asunción |
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| luckily we hadn’t booked a hotel room |
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| a beautiful wash house in Aracena |
Through the cork oaks and the pigs we made our way to Almonaster la Real. There is a big parking opposite of the small village and it was a short walk into the village and up to the Mezquita which is one of the few surviving rural mosques in Spain.
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| Mezquita de Almonaster la Real |
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| Almonaster la Real |
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| Main square of Almonaster la Real |
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| reaching the Mezquita |
The mezquita has 5 naves with arches and a Mihrab niche which has lost its paint, and looks quite archaic, only the brick and stone is visible. At the entrance stands a water basin which was used for the ritual washing before entering the mosque.
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| former minaret converted into a belfry |
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| Plaza de Toros |
We read that this is just one of three plaza de toros this little town has. But this one for sure is the most spectacular one, with its position on the hill next to the old mosque.
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| old oak trees and pastures |
We shared the parking with a 4×4 caravan, the home of Dani and Kevin who travel already for 20 years and know our friends from Turtle Expedition. Dani recommended us a walk on an old path through the pastures, which was a pleasure with the intense green and many flowers accompanied by the grunts of pigs.
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| Flower of the day |
