The Carranza Valley, nature and culture

Spain it is a very interesting country to visit. Every corner has its own but today another of the wonders of the Basque Country summons us: the Carranza Valley. Do you know this Basque beauty, this great place for outdoor tourism, between mountains and mountains, with streams everywhere, caves, megalithic rocks and cultural treasures?

Today, Tuesday, we will enter the Carranza Valley so if you have it on your list of destinations, write down all the practical information necessary to not miss the best.

Carranza Valley

This valley is especially crossed by the river that gives it its name, Carranza, although there are other smaller rivers. This in the region of Las Encartaciones and it has its neighborhoods distributed throughout the valley, but the most important are Concha and Ambasaguas, where the train station is.

In tourism we can divide the valley into a prehistoric sector, Another sector with spectacular caves, another with a historical and cultural legacy in palaces, houses and churches, and finally a theme park. What do you like more?

Let's go by parts. The area has many prehistoric graves, especially in the Sierra de Ubal. The tombs date from the Neolithic and Eneolithic, that is, they were built between the middle of the XNUMXth century and the XNUMXrd millennium BC. Haizo megalithic itinerary, very interesting to do but with a car. Aim:

You can start the tour in Concha on the BI-3622 road where it intersects with the GR-123 road. You take that road so you go from Concha to Villanueva de Presa, there you take the turn to the left. You can also go from Concha through Aldeeacueva to the intersection of Arreturas and take the turn to the right, already en route. Over there it will be about 10 kilometers, the monuments are generally close to the route.

At the junction of Arreturas, 10 kilometers from Concha, is, for example, the Alcuera dolmen, in the middle of two pine forests. Then, again in Arreturas, going up about 900 meters, there is a dirt road and if you follow it, at about 140 meters, no more, there are the megalithic of Bernalta. Nearby, there are also the megaliths of La Bohereiza. Always retracing our steps, following the route, you will see information panels about the Megalithic ensemble of Cotobasero and not far away another of the megalithic of Bernia.

El El Muro burial mound It is not far, either, neither the five monuments of La Cabaña nor the megalithic ensemble of Fuentellenaoo the megaliths of El Fuerte. The last one on the route is La Calera. As you can see, the route has a lot to see and it is only about having the map at hand to follow the directions and knowing that sometimes you will cross meadows with fences and that it is always about opening them and leaving them closed, respecting the environment and its neighbours.

Of course, you can do this route on your own or hire a local tourism agency. When this is the case, the departure is full day as it includes stopping for lunch and a visit to an organic cheese factory in the area, in the Vista Alegre farmhouse.

Secondly the caves of the Carranza Valley They are spectacular and a paradise for those who love underground exploration. The pearl in this field is the Pozalagua Cave, a cave with flower-shaped stalactites unique in the world, in quantity, only surpassed by a cave in Australia.

The cave was officially discovered in 1957 and today it forms a larger group since nearby, a few meters away, is the Carlista's Torca, the largest cave in Europe and the second in the world. The Pozalagua Cave has a single huge room, 125 meters long, 12 meters high and 70 meters wide. It is known by the name of Versailles and it is where the strange stalactites are located.

In the central part there is a huge lake, unfortunately almost dry today, but that does not detract from the splendor of one of the most visited caves in Spain. The visits are guided. On the other hand, what about Carlista's Torca? It is 729 meters high, with the entrance very close to the top of the limestone summit that hides it.

It is one of the largest underground cavities in the world and is accessed through a small crevice of just 5 by two meters at more than 700 meters of altitude. The 68 meter long chimney ends in a room 84 meters above the ground, but there are five rooms in total, all huge.

Another cave is the Venta Laperra Cave, on the slopes of Mount Ranero, a site inhabited during the Middle and Upper Paleolithic by hunters and gatherers, who recorded paintings, beautiful pictures of animals on the walls.

Now, we also talk about architectural and religious treasures in the Carranza valley. With regard to civil heritage, the different villages of the valley have their treasures in the form of, for example, the so-called tower houses that have long been a symbol of the power of local nobles. They were houses of solid aspect and military aims that arrived to the present day very modified. You will see them in Molinar or San Esteban, with their lintelled arches.

There are also palaces harmonious proportions built from the seventeenth century, such as the Prieto de Ahedo Palace, in Ranero, baroque style and coat of arms on the facades, or the Trevilla Palace, in San Esteban, a mixture of Gothic and Baroque, or the Angulo Palace and Villapaterna Palace, in La Lama, with balconies and stones. Already from the XNUMXth century are the Palaces of Portillo and Pando and from the XNUMXth century is the Molinar Spa, with its hot springs.

In addition to these noblest constructions, of course, simpler constructions of a popular character are added: stone facades, balconies, roofs as a visor. So far we have seen megalithic tombs, precious underground caves and ancient buildings. We have in the inkwell the Karpin Abentura natural park, a special place to go with children as it is a shelter for wild animals that come from illegal traffic or were abandoned or belong to endangered species.

It works on a century-old farm of 20 hectares and is inhabited by about 55 different species. The tour is through a closed wooded area separated into two sectors, one that focuses on the was jurassic and the dinosaurs and another that is later. We will see many life-size reproductions, some animatronics, so it gets fun. The park was inaugurated in 1995, it was expanded in 2003, today having four sectors in total.

Entry costs 10 euros per adult, seven for retirees and six euros for children from 4 to 14 years old. It opens all year round from 11 am but closes on December 24, 25 and 31. As you can see, the Carranza valley has a bit of everything so include it in your list of destinations in the Basque Country. How about?


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