Zuheros

Zuheros is a municipality in the Spanish province of Cordoba in southern Andalusia. It is located in the UNESCO- Geopark Sierras Subbéticas, the Parque Natural de las Sierras Subbéticas.

Zuheros had 710 inhabitants on 1 January 2013 on a total area of 42 km ². The place is located in 656 m height and is surmounted by a castle, which dates from the period of Moorish rule. Other sights include the church of Nuestra Senora de los Remedios from the 16th century, the Historical Museum and a 4 km distant cave system, the Cueva de los Murciélagos, from which the impressive archaeological finds from the Neolithic period in the museum.

History

The region has been inhabited since the Middle Stone Age. The Iberians inhabited the place in order to protect the historic Camino de los Metedores ( smugglers route). Under Roman rule until around 450 AD, Andalusia has been an urban region, and many of the inhabitants of this land even received the Roman citizenship. To exceeded 711, the Moors, the Straits of Gibraltar and conquered within a few years the south of Spain. In the 10th century they founded the village of Zuheros and built the castle for his protection. During the Reconquista, the area of Ferdinand III was. 1241 conquered. In the 14th and 15th centuries the castle served as a defense against their former masters until the last Moors were expelled from Spain in 1492.

The population grew from 90 Zuheros inhabitants in 1530 to 195 in 1694 and a century later doubled. The population growth was caused by the construction of a Renaissance palace of the 16th century. The prolonged absence of the owner of the castle later led to its collapse and its stones were used in the 18th century as a building material for the houses of the growing population.

Opposite the castle is the church of the place, which is dedicated to the patron saint Nuestra Senora de los Remedios. It was built in the 16th century, in 1696 totally rebuilt and finally got their bell tower in 1795.