The Villa Vieja district can trace its roots back to the sixth and seventh centuries AD, when it was an important enclave for the Iberian people, and known as LICABRUM. Many of the Iberian remains found in the area can be found in remarkably good condition in the Museo Arqueologico Municipal, along with fascinating statues, mosaics and artefacts from an important Roman villa in the area.

Cabra is also rich in churches, including the spectacular Asuncion y Angeles converted from a mosque to church, but still retaining its 44 dramatic red marble columns, reminiscent of the mosque in Cordoba, and its five naves. It also has a magnificent 18th century red marble altarpiece by Melchor de Aguirre. Across the Plaza Vieja is the church of San Juan de Dios, founded in 1568, and extensively rebuilt in the 18th century to feature some extraordinary baroque interior design: a high balustrade worked in an undulating formation to suggest the walls are moving.

The town is also full of convents and senorial houses, one of which is the seat of the Cabra Philharmonic. Having woven through the whitewashed streets, the traveller can rest a while in the Alcantara Romero park, with its flowers and fountains, and statues to its famous sons, Juan Valera (author), Pedro Iglesias (poet) or Cayetano Muriel (singer).

Nearby is the newly opened Museo de Aceite (olive oil museum), well worth a visit. It was built in the middle of the nineteenth century, and now traces the 2000 year history of olive oil in the area, including life-size reconstructions of Greek and Roman presses.

Another point of interest not far from the park is the Aguilar y Eslava College, a pioneering school housed in an old senorial house of the seventeenth century, and boasting a red marble facade. Opposite, is Los Remedios church, formerly a sixteenth century shrine to Santa Ana, and rebuilt in the early eighteenth century.

Other features of note include the Casa Consistorial, and the Parque de la Tejera, a large green area crossing the city.