Linares de la Sierra
Linares de la Sierra is a tiny white village of about 280 people at 505 metres in a wooded valley of the Sierra de Aracena, Huelva, known for its 'llanos', pebble mosaics at the doors.
About Linares de la Sierra
Linares de la Sierra lies at 505 metres where two streams meet in a deep valley in the centre of the Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park, among chestnut woods. It grew from late-medieval resettlement around a hermitage, separated from Aracena in the 18th century and peaked at 1,021 people in 1857. About 280 live in its protected Conjunto Histórico.
More than 300 llanos, two-tone mosaics of river pebbles laid mostly in the late 19th century, decorate doorways and squares with geometric and floral patterns. The main square doubles as the bullring, its stone tiers built against the houses and the late 18th-century church of San Juan Bautista. By the town hall, the Fuente Nueva of 1908 has a trough and a round washhouse still used today.
Linares is 6 km west of Aracena on the winding HU-8105 and about 1 hour 30 minutes from Seville; there is no practical bus. Park at the entrance and walk in: the lanes are narrow, cobbled and stepped, unsuitable for wheelchairs. Allow an hour, more to walk the 6 km Camino de Aracena. It suits walkers, photographers and anyone wanting peace.
Spring and autumn are best, when the valley is green or the chestnuts turn. The bullring square hosts summer festivities, and the patron, San Juan Bautista, is honoured in June. Try Iberian chacinas, puchero, gurumelo mushrooms in spring, chestnuts in autumn and the sweet local mosto. Tip: come on a weekday morning, when the lanes are empty.
Linares de la Sierra in pictures
What you’ll find
- Car parkParkingFree
- ChurchChurch visitFree
- Hiking trailHikingFree
- Historic centreOld town walkFree
- Local foodLocal cuisineBuy
- Tourist officeVisitor informationFree
Nearby places to visit
Alájar (4 km) and the Peña de Arias Montano (4 km) lie just to the west, the crag's hermitage and viewpoint visible from the hills above Linares. Fuenteheridos (4 km) has its fountain of twelve spouts, the source of the Múrtigas. To the east, Aracena is reached on foot along the 6 km Camino de Aracena or by road: the Gruta de las Maravillas (5 km) is a show cave of lakes and galleries, and the Aracena Castle and Priory Church (5 km) stands on the hill above it, with views back over the sierra.
Linares de la Sierra at a glance
Category
Culture White villages
Location
Sierra de Huelva, Huelva
Town
Linares de la Sierra
Address
Plaza Juan Ramón Jiménez, 21207 Linares de la Sierra, Huelva, Spain
Opening hours
Open access; the streets, squares and fountains can be visited at any time. The church opens mainly for services.
Prices
Free
Website
linaresdelasierra.es
More places nearby
Other places within 25 km of Linares de la Sierra, nearest first.
