el cerro del hierro

Overview

El Cerro del Hierro is a village and natural monument located in the northern province of Seville (Spain), 786 msm and about 5 km south of San Nicolás del Puerto on the road from Constantina to Cazalla

It is a karst area, limestone-rich iron ore that was mined since the Romans, until the mid twentieth century. Now declared a natural monument by its geological and landscape value, it's also a great spot to climb and hike. The former mining town is maintained as a village with few inhabitants dependent on San Nicolas del Puerto. A rail route used to link El cerro del Hierro with the port of Seville where the ore was shipped. With the iron extracted from this mine bars were forged that limit the facades of the Royal Tobacco Factory (University of seville) or the structure of the famous Triana bridge (Puente de Triana) over the Guadalquivir, now a days a great urban boulder place to go if you visit Seville.

This small village with few inhabitants is called the siberian Seville, due to extreme cold mountain climate characteristics with continental influences. In winter, frosts are common to several times a day have come to exceed -5 ° C, with occasional snow. Rime are frequent due to the large number of days of fog there. In summer, temperatures are mild, with highs that are seldom reach 30 ° C, mainly due to its altitude and lushness of the forests that surround it, and the constant cold wind blowing from the slopes of the mountains, which in turn leads to fresh minimum temperatures at night. Rainfall is usually around 1000 mm per year, mainly present in winter.

Getting There

From the A-4 motorway wich joins Seville and Cordoba take the 506 exit to Lora del Rio,this road is the A-457,once you get to Lora take the A-455 road to Constantina,from there you take the SE-7102 road to San Nicolas del Puerto, 6 Km before reaching this village you will see a sign indicating "El Cerro del Hierro",you are there, just drive to the parking,and get ready to enjoy climbing.

Red Tape

Camping is strictly forbidden,the "Guardia Civil" can give you up to 300 Euros fines for sleeping there,but...the truth is if you lose yourself into the great rock maze it is they won't find you,but please dont leave any rubbish and respect nature.In the late 90s and early 2000 the Junta de Andalucia(Andalucia's goverment) created certain areas to protect the black stork nesting. Which ended up all the new route projects. Basically the Red tape is, if you do anything to the black stork you are done for.

Camping

As i mentioned before its posible to "sleep" at the crag, if not in San nicolas del Puerto theres is a smalll lodge the only one in the village, and in Constantina there is a hostell-inn belonging to Inturjoven,for staying somewhere else you can go to a camping at the riverside of the river Hueznar between San Nicolas del Puerto and Cazalla

climbing

The peculiar structure of El Cerro del Hierro makes it ideal for the development of sport climbing in both summer and winter, being the largest climbing school in the province of Seville. The limestone has a very characteristic shape, which is difficult to find in other schools and has a great grip. It has about 120 routes, of varying difficulty (IV-7c) [1].

* Average height: 15 meters
* Maximum height: 18 meters
* Number of Routes: 90
* Ways to V: 5%
* Routes of V + to 6c +: 65%
* Routes 7a to 7c +: 30%

There are also trad climbing routes.

This school has several decades of existence, being the climbers the only visitors for years until its transformation into tourist attraction.The atmosphere of small shrine has disappeared after the construction of the green path(via verde)a bike road in the middle of the countryside. Still climbing there can be very rewarding,you are isolated from travel path through the labyrinthine corridors of the mine, whose access is sometimes risky for trail hikers.

In the late 90s and early 2000 the Junta de Andalucia(Andalucia's goverment) created certain areas to protect the black stork nesting. Which ended up all the new route projects

There is a project of re-equipping Cerro del Hierro's crag,from a few climbing clubs in Seville.

Images

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