Frigiliana — the Barribarto stepped lanes

Frigiliana's upper quarter kept its Moorish street plan intact: lanes barely two metres wide, kinked so you never see more than twenty metres ahead, climbing the hill in flights of shallow steps. The walls are lime-washed several times a year, the doorframes and pots are cobalt blue, and glazed ceramic panels set into the walls tell the story of the 1569 Morisco rebellion that ended here.

For a photographer it is a set of ready-made frames: a stepped lane with a subject halfway up, an arch with light at the far end, a door with a bougainvillea over it. Almost every corner works, which makes it a good place for people who freeze in front of a camera — you keep walking and the backdrop keeps changing.

Go at sunrise. Frigiliana is a day-trip stop from the coast, and from about eleven the lanes have a slow queue moving up them. In the first hour the light comes in low from the east along the steps, the whitewash goes warm, and the only people out are watering plants.

The village is steep and paved in cobbles and steps — flat shoes to get up, change at the top. Cars stop at the bottom of the old quarter; everything above is on foot.