La Taha, is a municipality in the
Alpujarras
The Alpujarra (, Arabic: ''al-bussarat'') is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, ...
region of the province of
Granada, Spain. The modern municipality consists of three distinct villages, though several of these are themselves clusters of distinct settlements. It lies to the east of the villages of the
Río Poqueira gorge, and to the south and west of
Trevélez
Trevélez is a village in the province of Granada, Spain. Its population in 2011 was estimated at 823. The river Trevélez flows through the village. They are located in the western part of the Alpujarras region.
Two of the highest mountains in ...
. The villages are all on south-facing slopes overlooking the
Río Trevélez.
The villages of La Taha are:
*Pitres, with the smaller settlement of Capilerilla above it; this is the administrative centre, the largest of the three villages, and the only one on the through road
*Mecina Fondales, which comprises Mecina, Mecinilla, and Fondales
*Ferreirola, which is below the smaller village of Atalbéitar
In guidebooks and other sources, some other neighbouring villages are often included in La Taha, though they do not belong to the municipality. These include
Pórtugos and Busquístar.
The name La Taha comes from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
''Tá'', meaning "obedience". Under the
Nasrid kings of
Granada, the region was divided into a number of administrative districts called "tahas", each containing several settlements; for example, the villages of the Poquiera gorge formed "La Taha de Poqueira". Modern La Taha is the only one of these districts to have retained the name.
There is a modest tourist trade in La Taha, though the villages do not attract the intense interest either of the Poqueira river villages or of Trevélez. Pitres has a market on Friday. The
GR 7 long-distance footpath
A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...
passes through the municipality.
Atalbeitar is one of the best villages in which to learn about the original characteristics of the houses and streets of the Alpujarras, due to the lack of new buildings that other more touristic villages have been constructing.
References
http://multiportal.dipgra.es/web/ayuntamiento-de-la-taha/historia-de-la-ciudad
Bibliography
* Existe traducción al castellano en: *
External links
*
Walking in La Taha, Las Alpujarras
Atalbeitar website
Taha, La
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