Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, Granada

CUEVAS PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN: FOR 21ST-CENTURY TROGLODYTES

Guadix is a town in the province of Granada where nearly half the population live in caves carved out of the age-old stone, the geological origin of which is the decomposition of a glacier that once covered the entire valley. The inhabitants of this region have built their homes in these types of cave since the sixteenth century. The best way to experience this return to the stone age – with all the comforts that our ancestors never had – is to head for the locality around Guadix where Pedro Antonio de Alarcón’s cave houses are to be found. This ensemble of caves converted into apartments was once a neighbourhood of Guadix. Its reddish clay mounds create a lunar landscape against which the façades and whitewashed chimneys stand out. At sunset, from the terraces of the cave houses, the contrast of colours between the claystone, the whiteness of the lime, and the blue of the sky transforms the troglodyte homes of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón into a palette of blinding colour.

The story began twenty years ago when the owners decided to buy the cave houses from their former occupants in order to create a complex of twenty-three apartments. Each includes an equipped kitchen, a combined dining and living room with TV, a bathroom and, depending on the size of the cave, one or two bedrooms. Some are suitable for a single guest while others can accommodate up to eight. In both the rigours of winter and the heat of summer, the claystone helps to maintain a constant and pleasant temperatura.

Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón
Bda. de San Torcuato, S/N
18500 Guadix
(Granada), Spain
+34 958 664 986
cavehotel@infonegocio.com
www.cuevaspedroantonio.es

Rooms and rates
From €70 for two people.

Directions
From Granada, take the A92 motorway to the Guadix- Benalúa de Guadix exit. The exit joins up with a local road about 2 km (1 mile) from the town of Guadix. The cave houses of Pedro Antonio de Alarcón are located 250 m (300 yards) after the level crossing.