Soportújar: Carataunas

Carataunas, the village between Órgiva and Soportújar, is the smallest village in terms of geographic size in the Alpujarra, and the third least populated, with fewer than 200 inhabitants. This made it a nice, quiet place to walk to for Easter.

The path down from Soportújar is El Camino Real, the Royal Road, somewhat narrow, with the original paving stones in some sections. It was formerly used to bring livestock from the high areas of the Alpujarra to the Órgiva fair.

Because Carataunas is so small, it is an easy place to identify the elements listed on the ADR fichas. They often have quirky little facts noted, such as pointing out that “In 1856, the priest and town council informed the archbishop that the church was in ruins, especially the main chapel, and requested that a master builder be sent to assess the situation and prepare a budget, with the neighborhood pledging to contribute with labor and the transport of materials. The appointed architect warned that it was necessary for the future solidity of the work to relocate the acequia that passed under the presbytery.”

I remembered that in Cáñar, there is also an acequia passing under the church. That got me to wondering: Is this just a coincidence or was it common? AI says early Christian churches were often located over springs because flowing water was preferred to still water for baptism, but these churches in the Alpujarra would almost always have been mosques originally. Turns out mosques were also built near water sources for ritual cleansing.

Near the church is a fine old manor house built in the eclectic style, rare in this area, with segmented arches over the windows. (You can see it in the video.)

Surprisingly, we didn’t see any processions today - or any other days this week. It’s the only time we’ve been in Andalucia over Easter and not seen processions.Læs mere