Setenil de las Bodegas

Setenil de Las Bodegas

For many thousands of years Setenil de las Bodegas has been occupied, possibly for as long as people have been using the Cueva de Pileta, though it wasn´t until the age of the Phoenicians and then Romans that the village was first mentioned in texts.

Hotel El Almendral in Setenil de las Bodegas
Hotel Tugasa El Almendral - Setenil
Hotel Tugasa El Almendral – Setenil. See prices and availability at booking.com

Always eclipsed by nearby Acinipo, Setenil was, at first, a warehouse for storing goods that were traded with other parts of Iberia or the rest of the Empire. It was during this time that archeologists believe the caves were first closed off with brick walls to prevent thieves from stealing goods produced in the area.

After the fall of Acinipo (and the Roman Empire) in 495AD, Setenil´s fortunes changed as the village was forced to convert the warehouses into homes.

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For many hundreds of years Setenil was a quiet, almost ignored village. A mosque was built after the Islamic invasion of Iberia in 711AD, and it wasn´t until the 1200s when Christian advances had taken Cordoba and Sevilla that Setenil finally became an important frontier post.

Setenil de las Bodegas
Setenil de las Bodegas

So critical was its position that 7 separate attempts were made to capture the town, however the castle was built to be impregnable. It stands at the highest point of the village and one of the two towers remains along with the well.

Next to the ruined castle stands the largest church in the village, Our Lady of the Incarnation, built in the last years of the 16th century and completed around 20 years later. It includes a gothic vaulted ceiling and ribbed vaults.

Within the church there is a chasuble, a vestment worn during Mass which was presented to the people of Setenil by the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to commemorate the first Mass in the village after it fell to their armies.

Setenil de las Bodegas
Setenil de las Bodegas

The rest of the castle was demolished by cannon on the 21st September 1484, a momentous occasion in the Christian reconquest of Andalucia, which directly led to the fall of Ronda one year later, and then Granada in 1492.

Also not to be missed in Setenil, and of course the main reason people visit, are the homes, shops, and bars that occupy the caves. Unlike other cave villages, most of Setenil has not been enlarged, the caves have simply been closed in.

Visitors often wonder how safe the people of Setenil feel living under the rock. But, villagers will tell you the village has existed for many years so it must be safe! (Though the truth is they prefer not to think about it.) :)

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