Details

Guadix is located just off the A-92 about an hours drive east of Granada City. The town is built in a valley above which the landscape becomes wild and arid, taking on an almost lunar quality.

It is one of the oldest settlements in Spain and was inhabited during both the Phoenician and Carthaginian periods and later by the Romans and the Arabs before falling to the Catholic Monarchs in December 1489.

Over the centuries the nature of the environment in and around Guadix has had an obvious influence on the way of life and has resulted in a large number of urban districts made up of cave houses. It is unknown exactly when the caves were first constructed and used as homes but is generally thought to be some time after the Arabic period. With an estimated 2,000 cave houses populated by over 3,000 people Guadix has the largest cave dwelling population in Europe.

The centre of the town is where the old and the new begin to merge, with many historical buildings constructed during the 16th-18th centuries sitting alongside more contemporary structures. Guadix has all the modern facilities expected from a town of this size while at the same time managing to retain its sense of history.

For those who enjoy the great outdoors and unspoilt scenery there are three park areas very close to the town, the Sierra Nevada Natural Park (to the south) the Sierra de Baza Natural Park (to the east) and the Sierra de Huetor Natural Park (to the north).