El Cau: a sculpture garden between Elche and Crevillent

El Cau is the open-air sculpture garden many walking groups associate with the hills above Crevillent. It actually lies in Elche's Ferriol district, close enough to the Crevillent side of the landscape for the confusion to be understandable. A short approach opens into a place made for wandering between rock-cut scenes, pausing at the stone tables and looking back across the dry mountain margin.

Why it matters

Retired shoemaker and lifelong mountaineer Mariano Ros began this project around 2000 after age and health reduced his climbing. With Cándido Escribano, José Pérez 'Tío Pere' and Vicente, he turned an abandoned sandstone quarry into more than a collection of reliefs: paths, terraces, free-standing forms and painted scenes evoke the Dama de Elche, the Palmeral, Santa María, La Calahorra, the Pantano and the aerial devices of the Misteri. Ros died in 2017; the ensemble remains an affectionate, handmade map of Elche.

Plan the visit

The quarry is approached on rough tracks in exposed, semi-arid country. Once inside, visitors can walk around the sculptures, explore the small terraces and stop for lunch at the simple rock tables and seats. The reward extends beyond the art: from the nearby high ground the plain, palm landscape and a broad arc of Alicante sierras become legible. Enjoy the place at human scale and leave every painted and carved surface as found.

• Use a current walking route and offline map; several quarry tracks look alike.
• Bring a picnic, plenty of water and take every scrap away with you.
• Keep dogs and children close around quarry edges and loose stone.
• Remember that El Cau is in the Elche municipality even when starting from the Crevillent area.

Connect the story

Pair the walk with Elche's Palmeral route, which explains many of the symbols carved into the rock, or return through Crevillent to compare two very different readings of the same dry mountain margin.

Sources

Written in September 2026 from the Memoria Digital de Elche account of Mariano Ros and El Cau and the documented route and location record.

Tracks, fire restrictions and the condition of outdoor works can change. Follow current municipal and emergency notices and leave the quarry exactly as found.