Most beautiful villages in Extremadura
Extremadura is a land of vast distances, endless dehesas and rivers that have shaped its history. Among the prettiest villages in Extremadura are frontier towns, strongholds of the military orders and mountain hamlets that preserve their vernacular architecture, scattered between the mountainous north of Cáceres and the farmlands of southern Badajoz. What unites them is an eventful past, bound up with the Reconquista, the border with Portugal and centuries of farming and livestock rearing.
Alcántara looks down on the Tagus from on high and boasts one of the most impressive Roman bridges on the peninsula, built in the time of Trajan. Its old town still bears the mark of the Order of Alcántara, which turned the town into a centre of power during the Middle Ages. Garganta la Olla is quite different: set on the slopes of the Cáceres sierra, near the Jerte Valley and La Vera, it is a place where half-timbered houses with overhanging balconies huddle together along steep streets surrounded by water and greenery.
Further south, Jerez de los Caballeros swaps granite and mountains for the open landscape of Lower Extremadura. Its Templar past and its four Baroque towers, clad in brick, plaster and glazed tiles, create one of the most recognisable skylines in the region. Romans, knights of the military orders and mountain folk: each village tells a different part of the same Extremaduran story.
Map of the villages
Monument guide
Monuments of Extremadura
Castles, cathedrals and monasteries in the region, in our guide.
4 monuments
The 4 villages
VillageAlcántara
Villa fronteriza junto al Tajo, famosa por su colosal puente romano de Trajano y por un casco antiguo heredero de la poderosa Orden de Alcántara.
VillageGarganta la Olla
Villa serrana de La Vera, entre dos gargantas al pie de Tormantos, con casas de entramado, la azul Casa de las Muñecas, la leyenda de la Serrana y pozas para el baño.
VillageJerez de los Caballeros
A Templar town in the south of Badajoz province and a designated historic-artistic site, known for its four Baroque towers of brick, plaster and glazed ceramics that rise above the rooftops.
VillageTrevejo
Aldea de la sierra de Gata coronada por las ruinas de un castillo del siglo XV, con arquitectura tradicional, tumbas excavadas en granito y vistas sobre toda la comarca.
