Chite: Church, Mills and the Sulayr

Culture and History

Chite combines a distinctive village church with traces of its history of fortification and former mills. The parish church Iglesia parroquial de la Inmaculada was built in the 16th century. Its rectangular floor plan and single-nave layout give the building a clearly recognisable architectural order. The timber structure of the limabordón roof contains seven crossbeams decorated with stars. In this way, the building form, spatial arrangement and decorative details of the roof structure each emerge as distinct features.

At the western edge of Castillo de Chite, remains of an approximately 80-metre-long rammed-earth wall have been preserved. Castillo de Chite is considered a castle of Arab origin. The complex was strategically located between the Barranco de Arrendate and the Río Grande and controlled the ascent into the valley. The wall remains, the location between the two waterways and the historical function thus belong to different aspects of the same local history.

The mills also represent a distinct aspect of Chite’s history. Molino de los Aguilera is a former olive oil mill of Moorish origin. Molino de la Inquisición is located in the Barrio Alto, is of Moorish origin and was an olive oil mill. The two names and their classification as olive oil mills complement the view of the church and castle with evidence of earlier processing and use.

Landscape and Hiking

Chite lies on the Barranco de Chite, which flows down from the Sierra Nevada. Another landscape feature of the village is the confluence of the Barranco de Chite with the Embalse de Béznar. The watercourse, mountain connection and reservoir provide three clearly distinguishable points of reference for considering the landscape.

For longer routes, there is the Sulayr, a 300-kilometre circular hiking trail around the Sierra Nevada. The trail is divided into 19 stages. The Barranco de Chite is a reference point for accessing the Sulayr long-distance circular hiking trail via Lecrín. The total length indicates the scale of the route, while the stages determine its structure; both offer different perspectives on hiking in this area.

Art and Local Traditions

The Residencia Artística José Guerrero provides space in Chite for sculptural work as part of an artistic residency and thereby supports emerging artistic talent. At the beginning of the residency, the invited artists present their project publicly. Citizens from Chite and the municipality of Lecrín are invited to attend. In addition, public lectures by researchers and experts on José Guerrero are planned for the population and educational institutions of the comarca. The public presentation, sculptural work and specialist lectures each place a different emphasis within this artistic programme.

Local traditions include the festival of Santos Inocentes, celebrated on 28 December. Alongside the permanently visible architectural and landscape history, this also places an annually dated occasion on Chite’s calendar.

The village’s themes thus range from ecclesiastical architecture and Arab-influenced castle history through historic olive oil mills to landscape, long-distance hiking trails, contemporary art and a fixed traditional festival date.

For the overarching travel overview: Lecrín.