Utrera

One of the bonus's of living in Olvera is its location. Set in the north-east corner of Cadiz province, we have easy access to the provinces of Sevilla to the north and Malaga to the east.

It's not often that we head north into Sevilla but today we did, to the town of Utrera, located on the main A-375 road to Seville, about 80kms (50 miles) from Olvera.

Arriving at just after 10am, we found a car park fairly quickly and strolled the short distance to the Plaza del Altozano where we sat in the pleasant 25°C sunshine enjoying a cup of coffee.


We asked directions to the tourist office and headed off to explore.

Utrera is quite a large town of approximately 50,000 inhabitants. In the old part of town, a lot of the buildings retain many of their period features.

The 14th century Iglesia de Santiago el Mayor.

I'm not sure whether this horseman atop one of the church towers was a weather vane or purely decorative but still quite unusual.

After wandering for about twenty minutes, we had still not found the tourist office so we asked a kindly old gentleman who walked us in the correct direction.

The arch pictured above led into the beautiful Plaza Enrique de la Cuadra, popularly referred to as the "Plaza del Bacalao" (of the cod), referring to the 18th century fish shops that were once in the square.

It's the oldest square in the town dating from the 14th century, in what was then the centre of the town.




The 15th century Iglesia de Santa Maria de la Mesa.


The statue dedicated to Saint Angela of the Cross.

The tourist office is located in the square in the old town prison.

As always, the staff were very helpful with maps and information.

Just off the plaza was the Casa de la Cultura with its beautiful collonaded courtyard.

We walked to the Plaza de la Constitución and this statue of Enrique Montoya, a renowned gypsy flamenco singer and guitarist born in Utrera.

The pathway leading to the castle, the oldest sections of which date back to the 13th century.






The restored Torre de Homenaje.

Parts of the castle still await restoration.



The views from the castle overlooking Utrera.

The Ayuntamiento (Town Hall).

We quite liked our visit. The people were very friendly, lots of cafes in which to sit and all of the attractions identified on the tourist map were within easy walking distance.

Unfortunately, all of the churches were closed with the exception of one where a funeral was taking place so it was not really appropriate to go inside. It would have been interesting to have had a look.