Arc Venue: A Historical Gem

Located in a privileged setting next to the Guadiana Menor river, also known as Río Grande, Arc Venue stands majestically on the northern slope of Jabalcón hill. This impressive 1492-meter-high mountain offers spectacular panoramic views of the entire region, serving as a natural balcony overlooking the recently UNESCO-recognized "Granada Geopark."

The monastery's history is intimately linked to the famous Zújar baths, known in Roman times and later renamed "Benzalema" during the Muslim period, due to the presence of an important fortress that played a strategic role during the Reconquest.

The building, whose construction dates back to the early 16th century, was founded in 1502 by María de Luna and Enrique Enríquez, the Catholic King's uncle, as part of the Jerónimos Monastery of Baza. The monks not only used the surrounding lands for cultivation and food production, but also offered accommodation to those seeking the healing properties of Benzalema's thermo-mineral-medicinal waters.

A crucial moment in its history came in 1835 with Mendizábal's confiscation, when the monastery passed into private hands. Among its illustrious visitors was Don Juan of Austria, who stayed here during his campaign against the Moorish uprising in the Alpujarras.

The place has witnessed important historical events, surviving the French occupation and the Civil War. It also served as inspiration to the famous writer Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, who immortalized it in his novel "La Pródiga" (1882) as the "Cortijo del Abencerraje."

Currently, after passing through the hands of the Portillo family, the building has belonged to the Guadalquivir Hydrographic Confederation since the early 1980s, preserving historical elements such as the Roman columns from the ancient Zújar spa, now submerged underwater.