Creative Arts Learning Vacations in Southern Spain

Priego de Cordoba's exceptional setting was valued by the Iberians and Romans, as confirmed by the ruins here from those periods of history.

Priego's historic quarter is in the highest part of the town. This is where the defensive system of the Castle was built, of which some curtain walls and three towers are preserved. Horseshoe arches and Mudejar capitals tell of this site's important legacy from Moslem Andalus. A pitched roof crowns the Keep.

Beside it lies the La Villa district, a set of cobbled streets with peaceful squares, whitewashed facades and narrow alleys. The layout is bounded by the walls and towers where the broken relief did not offer enough protection against possible attackers.

The tour of Priego's Baroque art can begin at the Mayor de la Asuncian parish church, where the exterior Gothic-Mudejar features become Baroque wood and plasterwork inside. One of its artistic gems is the Sagrario chapel, where building work started in the 17th century. Another good example is the church La Aurora, designed by Juan de Dios Santaella on the site of an earlier 15th century.

A wonderful way of going deeper into the culture of the area is to taste some of the culinary preparations, in which olive oil with the Priego de Cordoba Denomination of Origin is clearly the main feature.