Pitres: a walk around the village

We walked from Cortijo Jiménez into Pitres this morning to look for the 23 items on the ADR fichas that are located right in the village and to restock on a few grocery items.

We’ve found that when we are standing in the middle of a lane in a village turning around in circles, searching for a house that has segmented arches and corbels or open-fronted drying rooms or a triangular tinao, a person walking by will often stop to help us. They generally become quite interested in our little project and show us a house that we missed around the corner or a hidden adarve that will take us to what we are looking for. Today we were particularly lucky that when we were admiring the back of the church on the main plaza, a young man across the street noticed us, and came over to ask us if we would like to see inside. He seemed such an unlikely person to be a key holder for the church that at first we wondered if we had understood him correctly, but yes, indeed, he took us around to the front door, opened it up and let us in. The church is built where the great mosque used to be, and was rebuilt after the Civil War using the stone blocks from the church in Capilerilla.

The main plaza in Pitres is a busy place in an old-fashioned sort of way. The people enjoying a cup of coffee or pan tomate at the scattered tables seem like residents rather than tourists. The medical center, the ayuntamiento (designed by Donald Gray), the bakery, and the one grocery store are all located on the plaza. Big trucks somehow make their way up the narrow streets to unload groceries and bar supplies. Everything is transferred by hand. It looks like a very welcoming place to spend time - not anywhere near as tourist-dominated as some of the other villages are.

After a stop for some coffee, we continued our walk in the oldest part of the village. Again, we had help from a woman watering the plants under her tinao, but at the other end of the spectrum, when we were photographing an adarve rather quietly we thought, a woman came out and sternly told us she could hear us at her table. Or at least that’s what we think she said. We apologized and retreated!

After a stop at the bakery and Covirán to pick up more rolls, olives, and milk, we headed back to the cortijo. Here it is sunny, peaceful, and quiet, making for a perfect afternoon.Read more