Since time immemorial man has resorted to the excavation of caves in order to establish his dwelling. The use of these isothermic living spaces, cool in the summer and warm in the winter, has persisted up until the pesent time, with the best examples being found in the provinces of Granada and Almería. One of the most important nuclei was at Calguerín, in Cuevas de Almanzora, which collapsed in 1990. Here we have three testimonies describing it: one by Kurt Hielscher who visited there in 1916 (La España Incógnita, Barcelona, E. Canosa,1921) one by A. T'Serstevens who was there in1950 (Le Nouvel Itinéraire Espagnol,Paris,SEGEP,1952); and one by Antonio Gil Albarracín from a visit in 1985 (Arquitectura y Tecnología Popular en Almería, Almería, C.B.G. Editora, 1992).

Around a gigantic rock a strange human nest has been assembled. One cave next to another cave, inhabited cavern next to inhabited cavern; also one on top of the other forming in some places five stories accessible from the outside. Where the rock face is too steep, excavation has been carried out from the inside and upwards. In this manner upper floors with skylights and loggias have been constructed in the steep overhanging rock. To move easily from one gallery to another, tunnels have been dug into the rock walls [...] Undoubtedly I am facing a new nucleus of caves, inhabited by people of a Homeric nature. The slopes of the hills serve as the facades of the houses, whilst the spaces between them are used as streets. In front of some of the houses there are gardens with gigantic knotty cacti and tall agaves.

Kurt Hielscher, 1916

El Calguerín

The caves are surrounded by several cirques, or natural amphitheatres, connected to one another by faults in the rock and terminating in a cliff.The whole landscape is the colour of dry clay. The reddish coloured terrain has been erroded by the rain, weathered by the wind, trampled by men's feet. Nothing grows in the porous soil, not even a cactus or a furtive olive tree. Apart from a palm grove in front of Calguerín, the landscape is devoid of any vegetation. As naked as a stone at the bottom of a dry riverbed. [...]

Calguerín is on a long high cliff, behind a well cultivated plot of land. A row of date palms gives the impression of a landscape from the Atlas or the Nile Valley. The giant facade with its ledges fissured by the rain, with rooms carved into it and dotted with doors and windows at every level, particularly reminds me of the great Thèbes' Necropolis above the Der-el Bahri. It is obviously the wonder of the area.

A. T'Serstevens

The group of troglodite dwellings which most surprises visitors from outside is at Calguerín in Cuevas de Almanzora, and includes Cerro de Calvario and Realengo which are in the immediate vicinity. In an area already known for its profusion of cave dwellings, this is where the highest concentration can be found. They are situated in huge walls of soft but solid pleistocene loam, in some places reaching up to five levels that are accessible from the outside. Leaving aside those that are inaccessible, there are still more than a hundred inhabited caves in the area. [...] In a concentration of caves of such dimensions and traditions the variety of solutions is enormous, and includes nearly all possibilities: caves with little courtyards, cave-houses, cave-tunnels, doubles or singles, mixed and others. The only two-level cave dwellings in the province can be found at Realengo.

Antonio Gil Albarracín, 1985