Trasierra Tierras de Granadilla
Reencounter with our roots among reservoirs, mountain ranges, pastures and olive groves.
Open map Guijo de Granadilla (Cáceres), España
The region of the stars
In the north of the province of Cáceres, Trasierra-Tierras de Granadilla surrounds the Gabriel y Galán reservoir, where the sports innovation center El Anillo is located as a sports and architectural reference center.
The olive groves and pastures guide us through paths creating beautiful landscapes reaching amazing natural viewpoints and are the basis of the excellent gastronomy of this land. We have the first restaurant with a Michelin star in the rural world of the province of Cáceres.
The reservoir is inhabited by waterfowl or cranes and, together with the rivers of the region, form a freshwater paradise to enjoy water sports or paragliding from the Pico Pitolero.
As a cultural visit we can not miss the archaeological site of the Roman City of Cáparra, the Medieval Villa of Granadilla, the Vía de la Plata or the House-Museum of the Poet Gabriel y Galán.
And to finish the day, we can choose between four celestial viewpoints.
Cultural crossroads
Trasierra-Tierras de Granadilla can boast of its Roman heritage spread from north to south through the Silver Route that communicated the north and south of Hispania and houses the archaeological site of Cáparra which is a Roman city settled between Oliva de Plasencia and Guijo de Granadilla. In the center of the city stands majestic El Arco Tetrápilo, whose name is due to the fact that it has four gates as it is at the junction of the Cardo Maximus and the Decumanus (the Via de la Plata itself).
The Muslims founded Granadilla in the 9th century on this key site for the Reconquest. The town is surrounded by a solid Arab wall made of mortar and slate. It is one of the best preserved in Spain and can be visited. It includes a medieval castle from which you can marvel at the fantastic views of the town and the reservoir.
Nobody lives in Granadilla since the 60's as a result of the Gabriel y Galán reservoir flooding its rich farmland, leaving the village without a livelihood and practically incommunicado.
In Guijo de Granadilla lived and died the poet Gabriel y Galán house-museum, the best way to know the life and legacy of the poet from Salamanca who made the castúo his standard.
Biodiversity
More than 2,000 cranes spend the winter in the Gabriel y Galán Reservoir (Zepa). In this area you can find aquatic ornithofauna of international importance, as the quality of its waters and the environment are ideal for their development. Habitat that the osprey, black vulture and honey buzzard, among others, know how to take advantage of. You can also find geese, ducks, large cormorants, ospreys, black vultures, among others.
Los Pinares de Granadilla joins the Gabriel y Galán Reservoir SPA and the Granadilla SAC and is home to lynx and deer. It is the location of the lynx captive breeding center, where the cubs are cared for until they are released. The Iberian lynx has gone from "endangered" to "vulnerable". All this and more can be found at the Iberian Lynx Awareness Center in Zarza de Granadilla.
At the beginning of autumn, you can enjoy the rutting of the deer in this dream place. This is the courtship of male deer that emit sounds to attract females and compete for them during sunrise and sunset.
Much of the region is populated by the Extremadura dehesa, which in spring hosts, among many other species, the black stork. With the arrival of cold weather it is the common crane that offers us the spectacle of seeing them take flight after eating the fruit of the oaks.
Once again, the holm oaks, cork oaks and bushes such as rockrose and lavender in the Dehesa Boyal de Santibáñez el Bajo take center stage; it is the ideal place to get to know a large public pasture that is naturally preserved and is a great place to enjoy the natural beauty of the area.The best time to visit it is during the "montanera" season, when you can see how the Iberian pigs graze freely.
We cannot leave without seeing the Oak of Acarreadero in Cabezabellosa. It has been declared a Singular Tree. It stands out for its age (more than 500 years old) and the size of its crown.
Presiding over the Puerta de La Villa in Granadilla, the first thing we find is another splendid Singular Tree, the bicentennial Elm of Granadilla under which King Alfonso XIII rested on his trip to Las Hurdes.