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October 7 90-kilometre ultra-running endurance race to Caravaca de la Cruz
The pre-jubilee year event in Caravaca also features marathon and half-marathon
As the Holy City of Caravaca de la Cruz prepares for its next 7-yearly Holy Jubilee year in 2024, one of the events leading up to the expected boom in religious and walking tourism in north-western Murcia has been officially presented by the local Town Hall.
This is a long-distance endurance race which is expected to attract 2,000 competitors on October 7th 2023, all of them keen to test themselves against a stiff 90-kilometre route which runs from the city of Murcia to Caravaca. For less ambitious athletes there are also marathon and half-marathon events, starting in Mula and Bullas respectively.
This is the sixth time the event has been held and participation levels are exceeding those of recent years, although there are still places. Information and registration are available online here: click on the race distance you are interested in to begin the registration process.
The “90K Camino de la Cruz” ultra-running evento is sponsored mainly by the Fundación Camino de la Cruz with support from the regional athletics federation and the Region of Murcia’s greenways consortium. The event is also fortunate to receive collaboration from the Town Halls of not only Caravaca but also Murcia, Molina de Segura, Alguazas, Campos del Río, Albudeite, Mula, Bullas and Cehegín, all of which are along the route.
The maximum permitted race time is 8 hours, with checkpoints along the route, which includes various established walking paths as well as the “Camino de Levante” pilgrimage route and the Vía Verde del Noroeste.
For more local events, news and visiting information go to the Caravaca de la Cruz section of Murcia Today.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268
