Gastronomy
in Nerja
Nerja
has its own traditional cuisine with many
delicious, attractive dishes: fish and noodle
broths, fried pumpkin with sardines, rice with
consommé and cockles, avocado salad, kid in
tomato sauce, octopus in tomato sauce, salt cod
cakes with parsley and many more. A traditional
local dessert is yams with cane syrup, while the
wines from the hills are both sweet and dry.
Fiestas
and ferias in Nerja
The
feria, a great tradition in the town ever since
1804, is held in honour of the patron saint,
Nuestra Señora de Angustias, between October 8th
and 12th. Tourists, foreign residents and the
local people all mingle at this event. The romería
(semi-secular, semi-religious parade) for the
feast of St Isidore the farm hand is held around
May 15th and is one of the most eye-catching of
all the local ones. It starts out from the Balcón
de Europa and ends outside the cave, where a big
country party is held attended by up to 10,000
people. There are many more special festivities
but one that must be mentioned is the carnival.
Lasting five days in February, it is one of the
best on the Costa del Sol. The maritime procession
in honour of the Virgen del Carmen is on July
16th. The festival of Maro in honour of San Antón
is a century-old tradition, and in September there
is the festival of the patron saint, Nuestra Señora
de las Maravillas, where the townspeople
congregate beside their Virgen de las Maravillas.
Attractions
and activities in Nerja
Nerja
Caves
It is
just one kilometre inland from here that Nerja's
great natural wonder lay hidden for thousands of
years - a huge cave, where music and dance
festivals are held every summer. Designated a
national monument, it is visited by over 500,000
people a year. The archaeological remains are
among the most important in the western
Mediterranean while the paintings span the period
from the Aurignacian culture to the Copper Age.
The dwelling of Cro-Magnon man, the cave is now
home to a research institute. In winter,
pot-holing is practiced here for organised groups.
Telephone for information: 952 529 520.
Church
of El Salvador
Built
in 1697 over the ancient chapel of the Castle of
Nerja (Balcón de Europa). Designed in the Mudéjar
and late Baroque, it was enlarged in 1770. Inside
there is a mural by the painter Francisco Hernández
and a statue of Christ in bronze by the sculptor
Aurelio Teno.
Hermitage
of Las Angustias
This
is a shrine to Nuestra Señora de Angustias (Our
Lady of Anxiety), completed at the beginning of
the eighteenth century and first used in 1720. The
outstanding feature here is some extremely
beautiful frescoes on the subject of the Pentecost
and attributed to the Granada school.
Acueducto
del Aguila
A
beautiful piece of engineering work, erected at
the end of the nineteenth century, this aqueduct
was built to transport water from a spring in Maro
to the San Joaquín de Maro sugar factory. It can
easily be seen from the N-340, before arriving at
the autovía, close to the Nerja caves.
Nature
park
Nerja
has 14.5 kilometres of coastline, with 12
delightful coves and beaches. One of the places
worth visiting is the El Pinarillo at El Esparto
Spring and Los Cahorros in the upper reaches of
the River Chillar, in the Sierra Tejeda-Almijara
Nature Park. There is a path for ramblers, which
follows the River Chillar and takes about five
hours. Pools of water remain in the river even in
summer, and along the pathways one can find
tropical plantations of avocados and chirimoyos.
Historical
Nerja
Nerja
began to develop as a settlement about 500 years
ago, in the reign of Queen Juana la Loca (Joan the
Mad). This was after the last Moors, who lived at
the Castillo Alto farmstead in Naricha (the old
name for Nerja), about two kilometres up the
Frigiliana road, had finally left. One of the main
historical buildings in Nerja is the Church of El
Salvador, built at the end of the seventeenth
century (1697) on the site of the old castle
chapel.
Enlarged in 1770, it now houses a magnificent
mural of the Incarnation on a Nerja beach by one
of the great masters of new European painting,
Francisco Hernández, and a bronze Christ, like
the statue at the entrance to the town, by
sculptor Aurelio Teno. The original atmosphere of
an Andalusian Mediterranean village is preserved
in the streets in the old part of the town.
Another attractive feature of Nerja is the Verano
Azul (blue summer) Park - named after a TV series
filmed here, which brought fame to the area - and
the boat, El Dorado, belonging to the main
character, "Chanquete". The River Miel
flows out into the sea in Nerja, with an old paper
mill standing near the mouth. It was built at the
end of the eighteenth century by Manuel Centurión
Guerrero de Torres, who was Governor General of
the overseas province of Guayana in the reign of
King Charles III. On the road between Nerja and
Maro you will pass by a beautiful piece of
engineering work, erected at the end of the
nineteenth century. This is an aqueduct that was
used to transport water from a spring in Maro to
the San Joaquín de Maro sugar factory.
