La Casa Piedra
La Casa Piedra is a newly restored village house high up in the village of Berchules in the central Alpujarras. La casa is a unique and special house. It provides superlative, refined and comfortable accommodation for two couples. A local builder has sensitively restored the house in traditional Alpujarran style - chestnut beams, slate ceilings, shuttered windows and flat roof. It is one of the few houses in this white village that is finished in the local stone. He has also ensured the house meets all holiday makers' requirements for modern and convenient facilities. Next door to La Casa is our other property El Rincon which has just been renovated and sleeps 6 people in comfort (property reference 8771)
The village
Berchules is a small village just off the mountain road that links the high villages of the eastern Alpujarras – Trevelez, Juviles, Mecina Bombaron, Yegen and Valor. It is a sleepy village with about 800 inhabitants. It is a typical Alpujarran village built on the hillside with steep, narrow streets, fountains of fresh mountain spring water, small squares and whitewashed houses.
It is a typical village with working farms - you get a taste of Spanish country life complete with mules, goats and sheep.
It is just short of 1400 m above sea level so the air is fresh and cool in the evenings.
Las Alpujarras
The Alpujarras are a curious and little known part of Spain. Set below the snow topped Sierra Nevada, the hills run east to west with a series of whitewashed villages clinging to the hillside. For many years the Alpujarras were seldom visited due to difficulties with access. However there are now good roads throughout the region and there is an increasing but still limited seasonal tourist trade.
The Alpujarras provide miles of walking and was voted in the top 20 walking regions in the world in Country Walking last year.
The area is remarkably green throughout the year. This is due to the network of acequias that bring water down from the mountains in a complex series of channels to water the farmland and terraces lower down the hillsides. In spring, summer and autumn many of these channels are filled with running water. The acequias were built over a thousand years ago by the Moors who also cultivated the steep land using terraces. The combination of terraces, water and flat-roofed houses remind many people of the mountain villages of the Atlas mountains of Morocco.