Montefrío · Andalusia · Spain
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الأدلة
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Andalusia travel guides

التاريخ
Guides
History & Heritage
I
Granada & the Alhambra
Everything you need to know about Granada and the Alhambra — history, what to see, surprising facts and how to book tickets, 45–60 minutes from Cortijo Bujio.
II
Moorish Andalusia
Nearly 800 years in one read: the rise and fall of Al-Andalus, from the 711 conquest to Granada 1492 — the history behind Andalusia's palaces and white villages.
III
El Cid & history
The sweep of Andalusian history through its greatest frontier warrior, El Cid — from Rome and Al-Andalus to the Battle of Cabra, Valencia and the fall of Granada.
IV
Frontier & languages
The ring of frontier castles that guarded Granada, the Syrians of Damascus who settled the region, and the many languages of Al-Andalus — a deep history from Montefrío.
V
1492
1492 - the fall of Granada, Columbus's voyage and the expulsion of the Jews all converged on the plain below Cortijo Bujio. The year the medieval world ended.
VI
Jewish Granada
Granada of the Jews - Samuel HaNagid the poet-vizier, the golden age and the 1066 tragedy, Maimonides and the Sephardic diaspora of 1492.
VII
Scholars of Al-Andalus
Averroes, al-Zahrawi, Ibn Tufayl of Guadix, the women of Al-Andalus and the agronomists of the Vega - the scholars of Andalusia, and how their science reached Europe.
VIII
Convivencia: myth & reality
Was Al-Andalus a paradise of tolerance or a clash of civilisations? Neither. The honest, evidence-based story of Muslims, Christians and Jews in medieval Spain.
IX
The Reconquista
The Reconquista was less a 770-year holy war than a later myth laid over a messy, pragmatic frontier of shifting alliances - the reality on the border by Montefrio.
X
Medina Elvira
The vanished Islamic city of Madinat Ilbira, buried under olive groves near Atarfe - the mother-city from which Granada was born around 1013.
XI
Cordoba's golden age
A fugitive prince from Damascus who founded Al-Andalus - and the dazzling Caliphate of Cordoba, the most advanced city in 10th-century Europe.
XII
Almoravids & Almohads
The two Berber empires that reunited Al-Andalus by force, the persecution that drove out Maimonides, and Las Navas de Tolosa 1212 - the turning point toward 1492.
I
Boabdil, the last sultan
The tragic last king of Al-Andalus - a kingdom at civil war, his capture at Lucena, the surrender of 1492 and the Moor's last sigh, an hour from the villa.
الزيتون
Guides
Olives & Olive Oil
I
Olive oil
History, varieties, production, tasting, prices and where to visit mills — a complete guide to the olive oil of Montefrío and the DOP Poniente de Granada.
II
Olive oil: the complete guide
The complete guide to olives and olive oil — history, varieties, tasting, the DOP oils of Andalusia, health and how to buy the best, from the olive country around Cortijo Bujio.
III
History of the olive
How the olive was domesticated and carried to Andalusia by Phoenicians and Romans, and the Moorish and linguistic legacy of aceituna and aceite.
IV
Olive varieties
The great Spanish olive varieties — Picual, Hojiblanca, Arbequina, Picudo and more — their regions, flavours and which oil to choose.
V
How olive oil is made
From harvest to bottle: how extra virgin olive oil is made, and what the grades — extra virgin, virgin, refined — really mean.
VI
Tasting olive oil
How to taste olive oil like a professional — fruity, bitter and pungent, the common defects, and how to read a label.
VII
DOP olive oils of Andalusia
Andalusia's twelve olive-oil DOPs — Baena, Priego de Córdoba, Sierra Mágina, Poniente de Granada and more — their varieties and character.
VIII
Table olives
Spain's great eating olives — Manzanilla, Gordal and Aloreña de Málaga — how they are cured, and how to enjoy them.
IX
Olive oil & health
The evidence on olive oil and health — polyphenols, oleocanthal, the Mediterranean diet and the PREDIMED trial — measured and sourced.
X
The sea of olives
Jaén's mar de olivos, the world's largest olive forest and capital of olive oil, and the Renaissance towns of Úbeda and Baeza.
XI
Cooking with olive oil
How to buy, store and cook with extra virgin olive oil — and why the myth that you should not fry with it is wrong.
المائدة
Guides
Food & Wine
I
Food & drink
Free tapas, liquid-gold olive oil, cured Montefrío pork and dishes worth travelling for — a guide to eating and drinking around Cortijo Bujio and Granada.
II
Fine dining
Where to eat well near Montefrío: Casa Piolas, the organic caviar of Riofrío and Granada's Michelin-starred kitchens — with distances and booking tips.
III
Montefrío cheese
Montefrío's award-winning goat cheese — a World Cheese Awards gold winner made from Murciano-Granadina goats: the varieties, the story and where to buy it.
IV
Granada wine
Granada makes some of continental Europe's highest-altitude wines — the DO Granada, native Vijiriega grapes and the natural-wine bodegas of the Alpujarra, from Montefrío.
V
Free tapas of Granada
Granada is one of the last cities in Spain where a drink still comes with a free tapa - what to expect, how it works and the best places to graze.
VI
Jamon & Iberico ham
Iberico, bellota and the mountain ham of Trevelez - how to understand, serve and buy the greatest cured meat, near Cortijo Bujio.
VII
Sweet Andalusia
Honey, almonds and orange blossom - the Moorish sweets of Andalusia, the convent pastries, the piononos of Santa Fe and the fruit that named Granada.
المناظر
Guides
Landscapes & Places
I
Montefrío
The definitive guide to Montefrío - the world-best view, the Nasrid castle, the round church, the dog who changed church law, dolmens older than the pyramids and a world-champion cheese.
II
Day trips
From the Alhambra to Córdoba's Mezquita, Sierra Nevada skiing and tropical beaches — the best day trips from Cortijo Bujio near Montefrío, with drive times.
III
Sierra Nevada & Alpujarras
Mainland Spain's highest peaks, Europe's southernmost ski resort, and the white villages of the Alpujarras with their thousand-year-old Moorish water channels.
IV
Costa Tropical
Granada's own coastline - Almunecar, Salobrena and a subtropical microclimate where mango and avocado grow. Beaches, Moorish castles and ski-and-swim days.
V
Pena de los Gitanos
A prehistoric site 5 km from Montefrio with nearly a hundred megalithic dolmens - some older than the pyramids - inhabited for 7,000 years.
VI
Illora
The frontier castle-village of Illora - the best-preserved Nasrid fortress after the Alhambra, the church by Diego de Siloe, and the house of the Great Captain.
VII
Moclin
Moclin's mountaintop Nasrid castle, the miraculous Cristo del Pano and its 5 October pilgrimage - the fertility rite that inspired Lorca's Yerma.
VIII
Loja
The Moorish key to Granada - its Alcazaba, the roaring waterfalls of Los Infiernos, the palace of General Narvaez and the caviar of Riofrio nearby.
الرقص
Guides
Culture & Dance
I
Flamenco & Sacromonte
Flamenco and the zambra of Granada's Sacromonte caves — what it is, where it came from and how to experience a real cave performance, 45–60 minutes from the villa.
II
Lorca's Granada
Following Andalusia's greatest poet through Granada: his birthplace, summer home, work and tragic death — the essential Lorca pilgrimage near the villa.
III
Festivals & fiestas
The great festivals of the region - Semana Santa, the flower crosses of Dia de la Cruz, the dragon-led Corpus fair, and Montefrio's own fiestas.
IV
Granada crafts
Granada's living Nasrid crafts - blue-and-green Fajalauza pottery and taracea marquetry - where they come from and where to buy the real thing.
V
Washington Irving
How an American writer who lived in the ruined Alhambra in 1829 wrote the book that made it world-famous - and helped save it.
VI
The Andalusian garden
The Moorish art of the garden - paradise, water and the Generalife - and the hidden carmenes of the Albaicin, near Cortijo Bujio.
VII
The hammam
El Banuelo, the oldest Arab bath in Granada, the culture of the Moorish hammam and where to bathe like a sultan today.
VIII
The Spanish guitar
How Andalusia shaped both flamenco guitar and, through Andres Segovia, the modern classical guitar - the sound of the Spanish south.
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