Los Piedaos,
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Los Piedaos is uniquely situated on a tree covered ridge in the Alpujarra valley with 360-degree panoramic mountain views. These beautiful holiday cottages lie in a quiet and secluded corner of the "finca" which has an area of three hectares (8 acres) at an altitude of 480m (1500 ft). To the north rise the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada , and to the south the majestic Sierra de Lujar and beyond the sparkling Mediterranean.
Los Piedaos has a near perfect climate , producing olives and almonds, intermixed on the stepped terraces with oranges, lemons and pomegranates. Above the groves there are wild rocky hillsides, glorious with thyme, rosemary, gorse and broom from autumn to spring. The terraces of Los Piedaos look their best in March, April and May, when they rival an impressionist painting, dappled with poppies and borage amongst clovers and grasses.
There are two fishponds in the garden, plus the swimming pool and an irrigation 'alberca', so we attract a lot of bird life . The arrival of the swallows, followed by the bee-eaters is a joyful experience. Hoopoes dip over the terraces and eagles and other birds of prey swoop down from the mountains. There are fabulous walks from your door through the surrounding groves and beyond to the mountains or the Guadalfeo river. You can swim in the pretty, chemical-free pool, picnic in the shade of an olive tree, or just lie in the sun and read a book from the well-stocked bookshelves. The pool is set against the hillside amongst scented white oleanders. Share it on summer evenings with skimming swallows or, in May, gaze up at a snowy peak whilst you swim.
We are a few minutes drive outside the bustling market town of Orgiva, known as the gateway to the Alpujarra. As well as the colourful Thursday market, Orgiva has restaurants and bars, supermarkets, banks, garages, Post Office, health clinic, dentist, gift shops, disco and an Internet Cafe.
Los Piedaos is halfway between the ancient city of Granada , with its fabulous Moorish palace, the Alhambra, and the headlands, beaches and castles of the Costa Tropical .
The olive terraces are very interesting
in that they were developed by the Moors as an early form of permaculture.
Their wonderful irrigation system brought water (melting snow for much of the year) through a system of irrigation channels to each farm. As the water often comes in the middle of the night it could be stored in a large tank or Alberca from where it is then guided to each terrace at a convenient time.
The terraces are gently sloping across their width and along their full length so that the water, on its own, floods the whole surface, with only a little guidance from the farmer to individual trees.(Now days the water is often fed to individual trees through a piped drip irrigation system ) When the Moors were eventually expelled to North Africa the conquering Catholics retained an Arab family in each of the Alpujarran villages to operate this wonderful but complicated system which still works today, each farm having its water allocation, written into its title deeds.
The olive trees were, and are still, under-planted with grains, vegetables, almonds , oranges , lemons and pomegranates . The Spanish for pomegranate, grenadine gives the city of Granada its name and emblem.
You will be interested to read this report about us and Los Piedaos. in Arpi Shively's "blog" Andalucid where she publishes her firsthand enthusiasms about people, places and activities in the Alpujarras and beyond.
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