A little more than fourteen kilometres from the "Golden Mile", the visitor will run into Casares, mountain town with a population of 3,500 inhabitants, which has one of the best kept town centres in the whole of Andalucia and it served to be declared, in 1978, as "Conjunto Historico-Artistico".



Legend has it that it was Julius Caesar who founded Casares. More reliable data points out that during the Roman occupation, Casares had its own coin minting. It was also the Romans the first to value the therapeutic properties of the sulphurous and alkaline-magnetic waters of the thermal baths of "La Hedionda".

The present town centre is of Arabic origin, retaining from this period the remains of a fortress at a height of more than 400 metres above sea-level. In 1810, the town rose up against the French and the drive of its Casareña forces was so decisive that, together with Cadiz, they were the only places the French could not conquer. Casares has another high, historical honour, of being the birthplace of Blas Infante, considered to be the father of Andalucia.

Apart from the Arabic ruins and the thermal baths of "La Hedionda", one must point out amongst its monuments, the Parish Church of La Encarnacion, built in the Sixteenth Century and the Shrine of La Vera Cruz, also from the Sixteenth Century.

The principal fair in Casares is celebrated in August. It is worth-while nothing the romeria to "La Virgen del Rosario", the fair of September is dedicated to "Nuestra Senora de la Virgen del Rosario del Campo" and the fair of "El Santo Cristo", also in September.

Its gastronomy is based on the typical dishes of a mountain town, noting "el gazpacho casareño", the filling "pucheros" and, at dusk, a coffee with exquisit tortas fritas.