Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos
The Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos (Road of the White Villages) is a country road route in Andalusia in southern Spain . It leads in a partly mountainous natural landscape through a number of small towns and villages , which, mostly going back to Phoenician and Roman settlements, were expanded by the Moors from the 8th to the 15th century (see also: Al-Andalus ).
Typical of the White Villages are the whitewashed houses and the narrow, winding streets, as they can be found in a similar form in North Africa . Churches (often built on the site of earlier mosques) and mansions from the centuries after the Reconquista can be found in most of the villages , whose Gothic , Renaissance and Baroque architecture contrasts well with the Moorish character of the houses. Many visitors start the route in Arcos de la Frontera , which is commonly considered the starting point of the Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos.
The following list is a selection of the towns on the Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos:
- Alcalá del Valle
- Algar
- Algodonales
- Arcos de la Frontera
- Benaocaz
- Bornos
- El Bosque
- El Gastor
- Espera
- Grazalema
- Olvera
- Prado del Rey
- Puerto Serrano
- Setenil de las Bodegas
- Torre Alháquime
- Ubrique
- Villaluenga del Rosario
- Villamartín
- Zahara de la Sierra