Setenil de las Bodegas

Setenil de las Bodegas is a municipality in Cádiz Province, Spain, where houses stand along a river gorge and sit embedded within limestone rock formations. The buildings use natural overhangs as roofs, while streets wind tightly between cliff faces and residential structures.

The settlement grew from a 12th-century Moorish fortress and fell to Christian forces in 1484 after repeated sieges using gunpowder artillery. The conquest ended Moorish rule in this part of the Sierra de Cádiz.

The name comes from the Latin 'septem nihil', meaning seven times nothing, a reference to the number of attempts Christian armies made before taking the settlement. Residents today live in homes built directly beneath rock overhangs, with some rooms using the bare stone itself as a ceiling.

The town center holds narrow streets with restaurants serving regional products such as chorizo, pork, and traditional pastries. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear, as some streets run steep and uneven.

Some houses have gardens growing directly on top of the rock overhangs beneath which living spaces sit. In certain cases, the ceiling of one home serves simultaneously as the floor for another family's garden above.

Location: Cádiz Province

Elevation above the sea: 640 m

Part of: Arcos de la Frontera notary district, Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Sierra de Cádiz, Sierra de Cádiz

Shares border with: Alcalá del Valle, Cañete la Real, Ronda, Olvera, Torre Alháquime

Address: C. Cuevas de la Sombra, 7, 11692 Setenil de las Bodegas, Cádiz, Spain

Website: http://setenil.com

GPS coordinates: 36.86417,-5.18139

Latest update: December 12, 2025 17:55