Santa Ana

Nestled into a mostly pedestrian street in the center of Priego de Cordoba, the Santa Ana apartment offers a rare in-town location that allows you to come and go on your explorations of Andalusia but be able to walk to shops and restaurants. Set within a large building near the Old Arab Quarter, the Santa Ana apartment is named for the little street it's on and includes off street parking.

Upon entering the hallway, you will have the kitchen is on the right, equipped with a stove, oven, microwave and clothes-washing machine. The living/dining are is on your left and overlooks the small street. The bathroom is straight ahead at the end of the hall, along with two bedrooms, one with a double bed, one with two twin beds. The apartment has central heating and A/C. One of the two bedrooms' windows overlooks the interior patio you see pictured and is very quiet. The other bedroom has a window overlooking the small street. The street is only used by cars going into the car park (where you have a reserved spot), so this is a quiet oasis in the center of the lovely town of Priego.

Priego de Córdoba, the capital of the Subbética region, offers a fabulous location on a plateau that overlooks the Subbética mountain range. Though Priego’s history dates back over 8,000 years, the town came into prominence during the eighteenth century, when wealth from the silk and textile industries financed the construction or remodeling of the Baroque churches and buildings for which it’s famous. Most of Priego’s monuments are within an easy walk of the old town, which was built on the edge of the plateau around the thirteenth-century Moorish castle.

Before exploring Priego’s Baroque offerings, visitors should take in the Barrio de la Villa, the ancient Moorish part of town and its oldest residential area. The barrio is a serpentine maze of cobbled alleyways and houses decorated with wrought-iron window grilles and potted plants of geraniums and petunias. The barrio’s narrow alleyways make it a natural pedestrian zone, only broken up by the occasional little plazas (plazuelas) like the charming Plazuela de San Antonio. The barrio borders on the splendid Paseo del Adarve, an original Moorish promenade with views over the valley below and the rolling landscape of olive groves stretching to the distant hills.

The first of Priego’s Baroque churches is the Iglesia de la Asunción, formerly a Gothic building remodeled in the eighteenth century. Though the exterior of the Asunción is quite modest, a sumptuous white stucco interior leads to a stunning carved Mannerist altarpiece. The most exquisite part of the church, however, is found through a portal on the left aisle, through which one enters the sacristy, a dazzling masterpiece of Spanish Baroque stucco and statuary. Both the altar and the sacristy of the Asunción have been declared national monuments. Visitors, however, should not neglect the other Baroque treasures found among Priego’s other churches: the San Pedro, the San Juan de Dios, the Aurora and the San Francisco.

Visitors are also urged to see the sixteenth-century Fuente del Rey (King’s Fountain) at the southern end of town. This extraordinary Baroque cascading fountain features 139 waterspouts surrounding a statue of Neptune. The park where the fountain is located offers some tranquility, in contrast with the bustle of town.

Being the largest town in the Subbética region, Priego de Córdoba offers everything a traveler needs: ATMs, bakeries and cafés, as well as markets and shops of all kinds. Priego also offers the greatest selection of restaurants in the region and will likely be the town choice for a night out. In addition, the local travel agency can help with hotel and train reservations for those interested in longer overnight trips.

From Priego de Córdoba, easy day trips can be made to Cabra, another Baroque gem, as well as Lucena, a town with an industrial appearance that masks some of the region’s most superb churches, about 13 miles to the west. In addition to smaller towns in the region, the 3 major cities of Andalusia – Córdoba, Granada and Sevilla – are all within a 2 -hour drive.

Your landlord, Juan López Calvo, lives nearby. He speaks limited English, but conveys his message through his warm personality. Our staff person, María Muñoz, will be your main contact and is available to help throughout your stay.