Zahara de la Sierra is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the hills of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

, southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is perched on a mountain, overlooking a valley and a man-made lake formed by the dam that must be driven over to access the town. It is considered to be one of the '' pueblos blancos'' or "white towns" because the overwhelming majority of the buildings are white. The town was originally a Moorish outpost, overlooking the valley. Due to its position between

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

and

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, it was a perfect site for a castle to be built to serve as a fortress in case of attack. The remains of the Moorish castle still exist. It was ruled by Arabs until 1407. It was recaptured by the

Emirate of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language: Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion: Sunni IslamMinority religions: Ro ...

in 1481. This capture gave a pretext to Castile's war against Granada. It was finally captured by Castilian troops under command of

Rodrigo Ponce de León, Duke of Cádiz Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Duke of Cádiz (1443–1492) was one of the Castilian military leaders in the conquest of Granada. In 1482 he led the Castilian forces that captured the town of Alhama and later Boabdil. He had earlier been one of the m ...

in 1483. The Garganta Verde canyon is located nearby. File:ZaharaSierra67.jpg, The castle File:ZaharaSierra069.jpg, View in the town

References

External links

Tourist Information for Sierra de Grazalema in English
Municipalities of the Province of Cádiz {{Andalusia-geo-stub