Zagrilla Alta: Mushroom World, Rock Paintings and Sierra Alcaide

Nature

The Jardín Micológico La Trufa is located between the villages of Zagrilla Baja and Zagrilla Alta in the Sierras Subbéticas Natural Park. The Jardín Micológico La Trufa comprises two interpretation rooms and a gallery. The interpretation rooms focus on the ways fungi live and their importance for ecosystems. The gallery explores the relationship between fungi and people, as well as good foraging practices. At the Jardín Micológico La Trufa, visitors can learn about the region's flora, vegetation and fungi. The site therefore encompasses both the natural interrelationships of fungi and their connection to human use and the region's plant life.

Other destinations include La Poyata, Lagunillas Las and Castil De Campos.

Trails

The Sierra Alcaide is located near Zagrilla Alta and offers hiking trails. The Sierra Alcaide provides panoramic views of the surrounding area. It is also home to native flora and fauna. Water emerges directly from the limestone in a small walled area connected to a pond. Thus, the Sierra Alcaide combines trails and viewpoints with specific landscape features such as the limestone, the spring, the walled area and the pond.

The Sendero Zagrilla-Esparragal-Fuente de las Majadas hiking trail leads to the Fuente de las Majadas in the neighboring village of El Esparragal. It is just over three kilometers long one way. A large part of the route follows a pedestrian path parallel to the road that is suitable for people with reduced mobility. The route thus connects Zagrilla with a destination in El Esparragal and includes not only the route itself but also the path conditions described above.

Culture

The rock paintings of the Abrigo del Tajo de Zagrilla are located north of Zagrilla Alta, on the southern foothills of the Sierra Alcaide. The Abrigo del Tajo de Zagrilla is a rock shelter with schematic rock paintings. The Cueva de los Cholones is located on the southern slope of the Sierra Alcaide near Zagrilla Alta. The Cueva-Sima de Cholones was used as a burial cave between the 5th and 4th millennia and contains rock art attributed to the Paleolithic, the later prehistoric period and the Late Middle Ages. The rock-art sites mentioned are therefore located in different areas of the Sierra Alcaide and each preserve their own forms of cave and rock art.

Zagrilla Alta was established in the Middle Ages, around the 10th century, around a spring as an Islamic hamlet. The washhouse in Zagrilla Alta was funded by Niceto Alcalá-Zamora in 1935. The washhouse remains a meeting place for local residents. The festival honoring the Virgen del Carmen in Zagrilla Alta is celebrated in July. The village's history therefore includes both its medieval origins around the spring and the 20th-century washhouse, which continues to serve as a meeting place today.

To the main travel overview: Priego De Córdoba.