Tag Archives: Zanahoria Morá

Cuevas Bajas, Malaga

Cuevas Bajas, Malaga

Looking back on Cuevas Bajas from the Camino Mozarabe.
Looking back on Cuevas Bajas from the Camino Mozarabe.

A Library, an albergue and a purple carrot.

Cuevas Bajas is on the Camino Mozarabe to Santiago and so many people will be learning about the purple carrot which comes from here.  I expect the Caminos in Andalucia will become popular because they have a good infrastructure of albergues and markers. The village has a fine albergue with air-conditioning, although the night I stayed I used it as heating until there was a power cut.

Export as KML for Google Earth/Google MapsOpen standalone map in fullscreen modeCreate QR code image for standalone map in fullscreen modeExport as GeoJSONExport as GeoRSSExport as ARML for Wikitude Augmented-Reality browser
Cuevas Bajas, Malaga, Spain.

loading map - please wait...

: 37.234499, -4.487058
marker icon
Get directions Open standalone map in fullscreen mode Export as KML for Google Earth/Google Maps

Cuevas Bajas
Cuevas Bajas, Spain

 

It was in the Library, run by a charming local man, Jesus, that I learned about the carrot.  As a child he didn’t know other, yellowy orange, indeed carrot-coloured carrots, existed.

I bought one out of curiosity.

Zanahoria Morá
Zanahoria Morá

In the end I neither tasted it nor took it with me since I didn’t want to carry extra weight on a very long leg of this Camino.  It is, however, impressive and there is an annual carrot festival held on the first Sunday of December.

There are local archaeological sites where there is evidence of a population 40,000 years ago, but the village has a modern enough feel and an elegant statue of a girl in the middle of a fountain.

A girl sits contentedly in a fountain, even in winter.
A girl sits contentedly in a fountain, even in winter.

Rivers are important to Cuevas Bajas not only for taking away the occasionally torrential rain waters but also because they mark the boundaries, established since Roman times between Provinces.  The major river is the Rio Genil which I followed down its twisting valley for much of the day.

P1110445
Rio Genil which wraps itself around Cuevas Bajas (in the distance).

Leaving the village at daybreak, children were on their way to school and the older ones had already left on a 7 am bus for Antequera, the local big City.

Dawn, Cuevea Bajas, Malaga.
Dawn, Cuevea Bajas, Malaga.

Ahead of me was 27km of mountain and olive groves.  I was well insulated with gloves, a scarf and five layers of shirts and jerseys which I would soon be pulling off because of the climbs and also because the sun, once it reached mid-morning, was fairly hot.

Main road into Cuevas Bajas.
Main road into Cuevas Bajas.

This is probably not a place many will be passing by, unless on the Camino.  Maybe though some may be drawn, on the first Sunday of December, to make the journey and find the fiesta of the purple carrot.

They'll be in Sainsburys soon.
They’ll be in Sainsburys soon.
FacebookTwitterGoogle+RedditLinkedInStumbleUponPinterestShare