The Vía Verde del Noroeste greenway and Caravaca de la Cruz
A 78-kilometre hiking and cycling route full of beautiful scenery and cultural and historical significance
The Vía Verde del Noroeste (the Greenway of the North-west) is one of the most important ecological routes in the Region of Murcia and is also an important tourist attraction, particularly every seven years when pilgrims and hikers flock to the Holy City of Caravaca de la Cruz for the Jubilee Year.
Much of the 78-kilometre greenway follows the old track bed of the Murcia-Caravaca de la Cruz railway line and it offers a series of beautiful landscapes and a wide range of aspects of the natural and cultural heritage of Murcia. Among these are three areas belonging to the Natura 2000 network and countless Items of Cultural Interest in the 9 municipalities along the way (Murcia, Molina de Segura, Alguazas, Campos del Río, Albudeite, Mula, Bullas, Cehegín and Caravaca de la Cruz).
The greenway is also part of the “Camino de la Cruz” pilgrimage route (also known as GR-252, the Camino del Apóstol), and this features two main extensions – one from Orihuela to Murcia and the other between Cartagena and Murcia – although there are also others such as the “lignum crucis” route which runs from Granja de Rocamora to Caravaca!
The route can be completed on foot or by bicycle and is dotted with a series of hostels (“albergues”) for hikers and cyclists.
The route of the Vía Verede del Noroeste can be seen on Google Maps in more detail here.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Caravaca de la Cruz tourist office
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and shares boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Tourist office opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
