Almería
Spain · Andalusia · 15 m
Description
Almería is the Andalusian capital that the tour buses drive past, and the one whose fortress comes closest to the Alhambra in scale. The Alcazaba covers four hectares on the ridge above the old town, the largest Muslim fortified complex built in Spain after Granada's, and its three walled enclosures still look down on a flat-roofed quarter that runs to the harbour. Below it the cathedral was raised in the sixteenth century with the walls and corner towers of a fort, because Barbary raiders came ashore here often enough to make a church worth defending. Four and a half kilometres of tunnels were cut under the streets during the Civil War, enough to shelter forty thousand people from the bombardments, and a stretch of them is open to walk. The iron pier called the Cable Inglés still reaches out over the water as the one monument to the ore trade that paid for the modern town.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 3 days (optimal 2 days)
Travel season
Best time to visit: May – June
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Alcazaba of Almería
- Fortress cathedral of the Incarnation
- Civil War air raid shelters under the streets
- Cable Inglés ore loading pier
- Cabo de Gata(Day trip)
- Paseo de Almería and the covered market
- Tabernas Desert(Day trip)
- Museo de Almería and the Los Millares finds
- La Chanca cave houses in painted rock
- Playa del Zapillo promenade
- Tapas bars of the old town
- Los Millares copper age settlement(Day trip)
- Aljibes de Jayrán Moorish cisterns
- Almería harbour and the fishing quays
Getting there
- Airports:
- LEI
- Train stations:
- Almería
- Seaport:
- Reachable by ship or ferry