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Cuevas de
San Marcos AREA. 37,50 km² ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 416 metres AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 750 l/m² AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 16 ºC POPULATION CENSUS 1994: 4.153  
The municipal district of Cuevas de San Marcos is situated in the Antequera region, on the northern border of the province of Málaga. The town is situated over a small hill which descends to the valley of the Genal river, which is the limit between the provinces of Málaga and Córdoba. Its lands extend from the Genal river bed to the Sierra of Malnombre (828 m.), and largely correspond with the valley of the Puercos brook, which crosses the municipality from south to north between the previously mentioned sierra and the Camorro de Cuevas Altas (907 m.). The rocky adornments of these sierras and the scrubland which sourrounds it contrast with the fields of olive trees which cover the smoother terrains of this valley. Between the area where the town stands and the Camorro de Cuevas Altas, there are the most attractive spots in the municipality. Firstly there is the area of the Iznajar dam, in a narrowing of the terrain, where there are beautiful panoramas of the reservoir. Another spot is the northern hillside of the Camorro de Cuevas Altas. There, the pine groves and remains of old holm-oaks, at the foot of the sierra’s escarpments, embrace olive fields and almonds as well as the odd plot, shaping a high quality area. The first settlement in these lands took place in prehistory, shown by the interesting findings of human remains and lithics in various caves of the already mentioned sierra, the Camorro de Cuevas Altas. Of all the caves, the most outstanding for the importance and abundance of findings is the Belda cave. In the lands which today form the municipality was the city with the same name, which reached great importance not only in the Roman era to which its foundation belongs, but also during the Muslim rule. The vestiges found in the Camorro (or Chamorro) prove the village's turbulent past. Abandoned during the fights of the reconquest, Juan II ceded its lands to the village of Antequera, on which it depended until 1806.
The parish church of San Marcos is the only prominent monument which exists in this quiet town. It was built in the 17th century and reformed at the end of the 18th century, sharing the late baroque style and neoclassic as can be confirmed in its monumental facade crowned with a triangular pediment. The interior consists of three naves covered with a half-canon vault and a semiespheric transept. Outside, on the side of the epistle, a large three-bodied bell tower rises, with the first body made in masonry and brick, and the third, also in brick, is crowned with a pretty, pointy roof, topped with glassed ceramic. The other interesting monument in the town is the chapel of the Virgen del Carmen, an 18th century work which conserves its old brick tower and ceramic roof. Inside there is only one nave, and a hexagonal niche with lantern made in the same architecture.
There are various master craftsmen who work with reedmace and wicker in making baskets, chairs and other objects. There is also the tradition of ceramics, pottery, and forging.
The culinary creations in Cuevas de San Marcos, on the lines of its collection of samples, revolve around the art of making the best out of wheat flour, hence in the list of specialities they have various varieties of bread, cakes, confectioneries, etc. such as doughnut shaped bread, egg rusks, farm bread, wine rusks, sticky buns and the special cakes which are eaten on San Marcos day, the 'hornazos' - bread buns made with oil in which an egg is placed and wrapped with two laces of the bread mass and baked -, and other sweets in general. Regarding the local gastronomy they have such dishes as cold sausage meats which are eaten at carnival, stew and omelettes. In this town they also make "resoli", a drink made with aniseed, coffee beans and aromatic herbs and spices.
The main fair and festivities in the town take place from the 12th to the 15th of August. In September, the 7th and 8th, is Candlemas, common to many towns in the Axarquía. On the 16th of July they celebrate the Virgen del Carmen and the Rosario de la Aurora is an old tradition where some Saturdays of the year they pray at dawn through the town streets with bell ringers. On the major festivals, the 25th of April, patron saint's day of San Marcos, the town is almost left empty, as the people go to the countryside to "atar el diablo" (tie the devil), which consists in making a knot in a bunch of herbs or cereals without breaking the stalks. The tradition is usually made by all the members of the family who go into the countryside, in this case near the Cordoba reservoir of Iznajar, where everyone indulges in good eating and drinking during the day.
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HISTORY
AND LANDSCAPE
Places to Visit
Shopping
Gastronomy
FESTIVITIES AND TRADITIONS