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Brihuega is the name of a municipality in Guadalajara that may not tell you anything. But it may sound to you if I tell you that it is the ‘Spanish lavender capital‘. This town of the Alcarriaof just 2,800 inhabitants, multiply its population during July thanks to Lavender festival. But under the surface of Brihuega There is more, much more:
Almost eight kilometers of tunnels that make up the largest underground labyrinth in Spain.
Arab Caves. The caves, tunnels or galleries always have a fascinating point. They are natural or excavated by humans, imagine the stories that occurred among its narrow walls always have a point of attractiveness. Visit a mine, How can Almadén’sIt is always interesting … and a business. Capadocia with its secret citiesAnd tunnels knows it well, but it turns out that you don’t have to go to Türkiye to see something similar.
Between the 10th and XI centuries, in the municipality of Brihuega, the inhabitants They built An intricate tunnel system. It is a complex maze of about eight kilometers in total that travel practically the entire subsoil of the town, as well as parts that give abroad. And, although they are called ‘Arab caves’, the symbology found in the galleries is not Mudejar.
War and peace. As in this type of structures, they are naturally protected from inclement and a constant temperature of about 12 degrees Celsius throughout the year is maintained. This allows, traditionally, galleries have been used as a food warehouse.
In some parts of the tour, in fact, you can see great jars that would have been used to store food or drink, each with the potter’s label that built them. However, they have not only used in peace times, and they will probably be initially built as an escape and refuge.
Brihuega was a Strategic point In the face of toledo by Christians in the reconquest, and what allowed the tunnels was that, in times of siege, the population could escape outside the perimeter of the walls. Brihuega also witnessed a homonymous battle in December 1710, during the Spanish Succession War.
Civil war. Let’s say that, in any conflict of this type, the population has an insured escape and refuge, and it is something that they also took advantage of during the civil war. During the conflict, one of the battles was to Guadalajara. In March 1937, the nationalist troops, with the support of Italian forces and tanks, tried to penetrate Madrid through the north.
In a Televisilla-La Mancha television report, it is noted that there are parts near the breathing rooms that have soot on the roofs. They are the points where the population, taking refuge from the siege of the Italian troops, lit fires to cook and heat.
Tourist interest. Currently, Brihuega caves are the memory that the history of some cities is not only on the surface, but unfortunately you cannot travel the eight kilometers of galleries.
They have only enabled about 700 meters for visits subject to schedule and payment of three euros per person. The tour lasts a little less than half an hour and it is always interesting to visit these sites … unless you have claustrophobia.
Images | Millars and Benjamín Núñez González
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