Caravaca de la Cruz

The land around Caravaca has been occupied for a very long time. The oldest human remains come from the Palaeolithic site at Cueva Negra, which holds evidence of what is considered the earliest use of fire in Palaeolithic Europe. Near the town centre, excavations revealed a Chalcolithic burial site containing around 1,300 skeletons, remains of 50 dogs, and various objects, regarded as the largest prehistoric burial site on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the largest in Europe.

Bronze Age finds include an Argarian diadem discovered at the Estrecho de la Encarnación, now in the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. A small bronze Greek centaur figure, found at a nearby Iberian settlement, points to active trade with the eastern Mediterranean. Romans built military posts, villas, baths, and a sanctuary in the area.

In 1125, Alfonso I of Aragon passed through on his way to aid the Mozarabs of Granada, returning the following year with thousands of Christian settlers. Following the Treaty of Alcaraz in 1243, Castilian forces occupied Moorish strongholds in the region. Caravaca was handed to the Knights Templar to balance the already strong presence of the Order of Santiago, and to secure the frontier position between the Kingdom of Granada, the Kingdom of Murcia, and the Kingdom of Valencia.

The most significant building in Caravaca is the Basilica of the Vera Cruz, a baroque structure designed by the architect Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, which sits inside the castle. The castle itself has Islamic origins but was remodelled during the Christian period. Inside the basilica, the famous Cross of Caravaca is venerated.

The Church of El Salvador is considered one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in the Murcia region, belonging to the tradition of columnar churches. The Church of La Concepción contains a polychrome Mudéjar wooden coffered ceiling and a high-altar retable with a sculpture by local artist Francisco Fernández Caro, made in 1792.

The Carmelite convent was founded by Saint Teresa of Jesus in 1576, making Caravaca one of 17 cities on the Huellas de Santa Teresa pilgrimage and cultural route. A second Carmelite house, the Convento de Padres Carmelitas, was founded by Saint John of the Cross in 1586.

The hexagonal baroque Templete or Bañadero hosts the ritual bathing of the Cross every 3 May, a ceremony recorded since 1384. The medieval quarter around the castle hill preserves irregular lanes, dead-end alleys, small squares, and remnants of the old town walls, along with several aristocratic mansions built after Caravaca expanded beyond its walls following the end of the Granada frontier.