The Setenil Andalusian town las Bodegas looks like something from the set of culturally adventurous fantasy film, but is actually troglodyte town in Andalusia; being so close to the African continental plate, geological forces launched mountain ranges and volcanoes that are perfectly suited for habitation. The rocks and caves are surprisingly easy for the settlement, and the Cueva near the Pileta shows evidence of human presence up to 25,000 years ago. After that, however, the cave dwellers here are mostly ignored until the 12th century when the Setenil Moorish castle appears in the historical record.
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fuller utilization of geology as a place to live only appears in Moorish Spain, rather than earlier - but it is easy to assume that lifestyle was a local tradition that Moors imitated, it is actually a survivor of an ancient Arab tradition remains well underground and cave, a strategy to compensate for the extreme heat in some parts of the Arab world. It is understandable that the tradition survived after the end of Muslim rule, too: caves are cheap to make habitable, temperature controlled unlikely to burn, earthquake resistant and, because of their millennial history in Arab cultures, are generally converted by people who know how to use skylights or purpose built light pipes, making the most of available light with techniques such as white wall finishes.
Building in and around these huge rock outcrops may sound weird, but in reality it is a very practical decision taken by people who understand how to make the most of this land . Given unfortunately hostile relations between the medieval Islamic Spain and its northern neighbors Christians, it was also very important strategically; the 12th century castle atop the city was called almost-impregnable by contemporary Catholic columnists, and blocked the Christian advance in Granada for about 50 years.
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Although Setenil often attracts attention and tourism to its spectacular setting, it teaches us an important lesson through how normally the city, and other cave dwellings in the area, are treated by the locals. These incredibly efficient, low-impact homes have been in use for 500 years or more, and are a wonderful example of how a feature that would normally impede the settlement can be transformed into a huge advantage for those who live there.
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