How surprised was I driving towards the ‘Sierra Norte de Sevilla’, towards Las Navas de la Concepción, Contantina and Cazalla de la Sierra to find these lush refreshening lakes. Is this really the interior of Andalusia? Wasn’t it supposed to be hot and dry here in the summer? It was so stunningly beautiful and authentic that I have to share this in our Blog.
At approximately 1 hour drive from the city of Seville you will find this attractive nature resort. Whereas other area in Andalusia are covered in olive trees, this particular area is completely different. The mountains have their influence on the climate. At night it cools down and it is because of this that the agricultural exploitations and activities are different. In the XVIth century the monks from the orden of San Basilio established their first monasteries here and planted olive groves and vineyards. Next to this, while establishing more and more monasteries in the area they exploited lifestock farms. Nowadays you can still notice the influence of the monks. Not only have they left some fabulous building behind as the hacienda/monastery we have for sale here, yet you will also find some excellent wines in Constantina.
Delicious Ham
The lifestock farms have also survived history and you will find many pigfarms in this area. When you see these ‘patas negras’ running freely under the oak trees you understand why we do recommend you to go to a local butcher in one of the villages. I myself have bought the best ham I ever ate in the butchers at Las Navas. Not to mention the delicious sausages, the Salchichon and Chorizo. They were abslolutely delicious!
Anita Schmidt | 25th July 2014
