Logbook · 4 places

What to see and do in Villamartín

What to see and do in Villamartín (Sierra de Cádiz, Cádiz): 4 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Activities

How far each place is from the centre of Villamartín

Dolmen of Alberite 4.9 km
Castle of Matrera 9 km

Towns near Villamartín

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What to see in Montellano 16 km · 8 places
What to see in El Bosque 17 km · 3 places
What to see in Arcos de la Frontera 19 km · 4 places
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Spain › Andalusia › Cádiz › Sierra de Cádiz › Villamartín

What to see and do in Villamartín

Villamartín
Village
Villamartín is a town in the province of Cádiz, in the Sierra de Cádiz, in the transition zone between the countryside and the sierra, as close to Seville as to the provincial capital itself. It was founded on 4 February 1503 by a Carta Puebla granted by Seville to 118 settlers, most of them from the surrounding villages, although the area had been inhabited since prehistory, as shown by the nearby Alberite dolmen; in 1994 a Tartessian site was also discovered on the town's hill. The Castle of Matrera, which guarded the southern border of the kingdom of Seville against the Nasrid kingdom of Granada and collapsed in 2013 for lack of maintenance, dates from the Middle Ages. In 2003 the fifth centenary of the founding was celebrated; the town's economy has been based on agriculture and livestock farming.
Dolmen of Alberite
Monument
The Alberite dolmen is located in the municipality of Villamartín (Cádiz), within the megalithic necropolis of Alberite I. It was discovered in 1993 following a Civil Guard investigation after a looted funerary assemblage was recovered, and it is one of the oldest dolmens on the Iberian Peninsula, some 6,000 years old. Its excavation, led by Francisco Giles Pacheco and José Ramos Muñoz, brought to light a gallery some 23 metres long with a monumental entrance flanked by two large orthostats, some with schematic ochre paintings and engravings of weapons, moons and suns. Inside, the remains of two individuals were found with their bones dusted with ochre, along with an assemblage of polished stone, necklace beads, amber and a large quartz crystal.
Castle of Matrera
Monument
The Castle of Matrera stands on the Cerro Pajarete, at 523 metres above sea level, in the municipality of Villamartín, and has been a Monumento Nacional (a heritage protection category that preceded the current Bien de Interés Cultural) since 1949 and a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1985. It was built in the 9th century by Omar ibn Hafsun to defend Iptuci; conquered by Ferdinand III in the 13th century, it returned to Muslim hands and was reconquered by Alfonso XI in 1341, remaining on the border with the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which besieged it several times in the 15th century. It thus watched over the southern border of the kingdom of Seville. It retains a walled enclosure of more than 500 metres with two gates flanked by towers and the keep to the north; one of its towers collapsed in 2013 and was restored in 2016 in a much-discussed intervention that went on to receive international architecture awards.
Feria ganadera de Villamartín
Activity
The Villamartín livestock fair (Cádiz), considered the oldest in Andalusia and held since the 16th century. It takes place from 20 to 24 September, coinciding with the patronal festivities of San Mateo, and combines a livestock market with popular festivities.