Velez Blanco is on the mountainside of the Sierra del Mahimón a few hundred metres above Velez Rubio. It is the smaller of the two towns. This wonderful location gives it remarkable views over the Blanco valley and beyond.
It is a beautiful picture-postcard town that is dominated by an impressive castle. The Castle of Marques de los Velez was built in 1506 in the hillside above the town and from here one can see all of Velez Blanco. However, even though it appears a solid fortress, behind the battlements is emptiness. Its white marble courtyard is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and friezes from the main rooms are in Paris. It was declared an Artistic-Historic Monument in 1931 and partly restored between 1960 and 1980. There are plans to rebuild the courtyard completely with marble from nearby quarries. There are many fine views from its Torre del Homenaje and the fort is open daily in the summer.
The Parish Church de la Magdelena, built before 1597, but became a ruin when the roof collapsed in 1822. The Church de Santiago (1515-1559) was built coinciding with the completion of the castle, a mixture of Gothic, Renaissance and Mudejar styles. It was restored in the 1980s. It is well worth taking a walk along the Calle de la Corredera where there are many baroque mansions, the Temple de Santiago (1559) and other historic buildings including the Ayuntamiento (town hall) built in 1888. It is said that this street is the historic and social axis of the town.
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