Quesada - Images of Andalucia

QUESADA, is located on Lagarin Peak, just outside of CAZORLA NATIONAL PARK, QUESADA is a very pretty hill town and lies beneath Mt Cabans, at 2,028 mts the highest point in the Carzola. To the South is the santuary of OUR LADY OF TISCAR, the Patron Saint of the town, and this was once the site of a Moorish fortress. QUESADA is an inspiring sight sitting as it does on rocks and an olive grove, and beyond the santuary there is a rocky track leading to the Cabans and the source of the RIVER GUADALQUIVIR, which the Moors named Guad-al-Quivir - the great river. It is marked here by an inscription and beyond this point it turns into a swiftly flowing river through a stunning forested valley in the National Park.

QUESADA is a small town of 6000 inhabitants and is situated 20 kms South of CARZOLA and is reached by a winding mountain road. In the CARZOLA NATIONAL PARK there are numerous pre historic caves with paintings dating from the first human occupation in the year III. A visit to the Roman Villa Brunel will show a magnificent testimony to the architecture of the period. There are a number of fiestas in the town with the one that begins on December 25th dating back to the XIX century recalling the retreat of NAPOLEONIC troops in the War of Independence. The fiesta of San Anton on 16th January sees fires in the streets and squares, sausages and bacon roasted and lots of festivities.

The AUGUST fiestas are remarkable and involve farewell to the Saint whose image is returned to the santuary that bears her name until the first Saturday in May of the following year.

In September a pilgimage takes place with thousands of people traveling to the hermitage some 14 kms from the town dedicated to the Virgin Mary. According to tradition the statue of the Virgen Mary was brought by SAN ISIDRO and was hidden in the Cave of Water during the Christian pursuit of the Romans, and from 1560 her reputation of miracles has led to great fervor with many people making the journey to the hermitage.

TISCAR CASTLE, the Tower of the Infante Don Enrique and the churches are some of the places worth visiting in this charming, quaint little town.