Los Guajares

Map of Los Guajares

Upcoming events in Los Guajares

In 12 weeks (Friday, Aug. 1st 2008)
Fiesta Guájar Fondón/
In 13 weeks (Saturday, Aug. 9th 2008)
Fiesta Guájar Faragüit/
In 14 weeks (Thursday, Aug. 14th 2008)
Fiesta Guájar Alto/

An area comprising of three small villages; Guájar Alto, Guájar Fondón and perhaps the most well known of the three Guájar Faragüit. The name Guájar derives from the Arab word Wa-run, which means steep, of difficult access. In recent years however the difficulty reaching the villages has become a bonus as the valley and villages of Los Guájares have retained the natural beauty and charm of traditional Spanish villages lost by more commercial towns. Through out the Los Guájares valley the ancient Muslim irrigation systems are still in use and used to cultivate the bananas, avocados and cherimoyas (custard apples) grown there today.

History

The three villages share one town hall (Ayuntamiento), which is situated in Guájar Faragüit. This is usually considered the most important of the three villages, and in addition to the town hall and council has an old fortified town that is still well preserved. Known as El Castillejo the walled town is at the top of the hill near Guájar Faragüit, and is thought to have been built between the end of the XIII century and the beginning of the XIV, by the Almohads during Moorish rule of Spain. It was the same Almohads – a Muslim dynasty and religious group that ruled the Iberian Peninsula in the 12th Century – who were the first to settle in the valley, building farmhouses and cultivating the land. When Spain was retaken from the Moors by the Catholic Kings, the Guájares were divided up as spoils by some of the main lieutenants. Guájar Faragüit went to Luis de Portocarrero while Guájar Fondón was given to Don Juan de Ulloa. In later years, following further explusion of the Moors, the farmhouses established in the valley by the Almohads were reduced to the three Guájares which remain today.

Attractions

In addition to a bakery and fresh fish vans on a daily basis each of the villages has several bars and restaurants including one in Guájar Fondón which serves very good pizzas! Especially popular are the homemade sausages, sun-dried tomato salads, apricots and choto al ajillo (baby goat in garlic sauce) - one of most famous dishes made in the region.

Written by: Costa Tropical Internet