At more than a thousand metres of altitude, in the shelter of Monte Maimón, and on the side of a hill crowned by a magnificent castle, the monumental Vélez Blanco rises majestically.

It is a place which over time, has been populated by Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors. With the impressive sierra as a background, the town still continues occupying a strategic position in the province, something the Nasrids used to maximum advantage to reinforce the borders of the kingdom of Granada.

Finally, the town surrendered peacefully to the Catholic Monarchs in 1488, an event which is recorded in the masonry of the choir in the Cathedral of Toledo.

The Moorish legacy has left a deep imprint in Vélez Blanco and the urban structure of those times has remained more or less intact. Of special note are the Barrio de la Morería (The Moorish Quarter) and the fountains: the Caños de la Novia, Cinco Caños, Caños de Caravaca and Caños del Mesón fountains, with their waters which flow down from the Maimón.

If one had to find one word to describe the town it would be monumental, due to the rich heritage which it contains within its walls. The most ancient remains go back to prehistoric times, and of special note are the Caves of Ambrosio, an important site from the Upper Palaeolithic period, the Cerro de las Canteras, where the remains of the largest settlement have been found, and the Neolithic burial sites.

Mansions of brick and stone, with their baroque influences, are to be found in the main street of the town, and of particular interest are the Casa de los Bañones, or the Casa de los Arcos, built between 18th-19th century.

But if there is one thing that mustn't be missed that is the palatial castle of the Marquis of Los Vélez. Constructed at the beginning of the 16th century, it was designed by Italian architects for the town's first Marquis, Don Pedro Fajardo and declared a Site of Historic and Artistic Interest in 1931.

Only the outsides of the fortress remain since the interior ornamentation was sold (today it can be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of New York). It is divided into two parts, the rectangular brick structure of the old Arabic citadel, and the main part, in stone, which is currently being restored.