Salares offers two distinct highlights for a stay: the architectural history of the parish church of Santa Ana and the Alminar, as well as hiking trails with specific time and difficulty information. The town is also part of the Ruta Mudéjar, a cultural route along the foothills of the Sierra de Tejeda. This gives you the choice of focusing on architecture, the cultural route, or hiking.
Church of Santa Ana and the Alminar
The parish church of Santa Ana was built in the 16th century. Its western courtyard contains the remains of pillars and pointed arches attributed to the former mosque. These details add traces of the mosque that once stood here to the story of the church.
The Alminar of Salares is an example of Almohad art on the Iberian Peninsula. It was built of red brick between the 13th and 14th centuries as part of the mosque that once stood here. Its origins therefore belong to a different historical context from the church, which was built in the 16th century.
The Alminar is about 12 meters high and shaped like a rectangular prism made up of two sections; each side measures 3.5 meters. The bell tower has four openings with recessed alfiz frames. Wide sebka panels and remnants of tilework are particularly interesting decorative features. For architecture enthusiasts, the building’s history, structure, and decoration offer different ways to explore it.
Hiking trails with different time requirements
The Puente Ãrabe hiking trail starts and ends in Salares. This circular route passes through various representative landscapes of the Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama Natural Park and offers views of the surrounding area. It is 6,124 meters long, takes three hours, and is of moderate difficulty.
The trailhead is at the bridge by Calle del Puente. From Sedella, the trail can be reached via the MA-4107 road; from Canillas de Albaida, take the MA-4108. As road conditions can change, check them before setting out.
A shorter option is the Casa Aro hiking trail: the Puente Romano is the access point to the trail in the Sierra Tejeda and Almijara park. Casa Aro is easy and takes about an hour and a half to walk. The time required and difficulty may vary depending on trail conditions.
By comparison, Casa Aro is the shorter, easy-rated hike, while Puente Ãrabe is a moderate three-hour circular route. This lets you choose a hike based on the time you have available and the stated difficulty level.
Salares and the Ruta Mudéjar
Salares is part of the Ruta Mudéjar, a cultural route along the foothills of the Sierra de Tejeda. This context connects the individual buildings to a broader cultural heritage. Together with Santa Ana and the Alminar, it offers a distinctive starting point for a stay focused on architectural history and the cultural route.
Discover more destinations: Genalguacil, Mollina, Cuevas Del Becerro, Ronda, Atalaya Isdabe, Malaga, Guaro, Alfarnate.
For the broader travel overview: Málaga.
