Una ruta cultural por la historia, las tradiciones, la gastronomía y la naturaleza de diez enclaves patrimoniales por el interior de Andalucía
The necropolis is found in an open space, meaning that any visitor is able to access it every day for free. Many of its remains can be found in the local Archaeology Museum. If these caves had not been looted repetitively in the past, Osuna would have one of the best Roman Ceramic and Glasswork Museums in Spain. Some of the caves are separated into sections with vaulted ceilings, dug out of the rock, the walls decorated with birds. There are a large number of tombs in the ground. A series of more recent tombs can be seen from the enormous funebrial ensemble, the latest being from the Visigoth era.
vereda real de granada, osuna
The main historical inhabited enclave in Baena’s rural setting is the town known as Torreparedones. It was first Iberian and Roman, it then became a military enclave during the Medieval period and was rediscovered in recent excavations. It was inhabited for at least 3500 years, from the Copper Age until the Low Middles Ages. Torreparedones reached its height during Iberian and Roman times. It’s powerful wall, reinforced with towers, surrounding a 10.5-Ha space was already present from the 6th century BC. The site was known since the Early Modern Period given the remarkable remains that appeared. Many scholars mentioned it as an important site “during Roman times” or in reference to the controversial martyrs, Saints Nunil and Alodia. The chance finding of “Pompey’s Mausoleum” in 1833 was a milestone in the site’s history, as it gained the attention of many Spanish and foreign researchers. It was a monumental tomb that contained incinerated remains of more than 12 family members, with their names engraved on stone urns. Torreparedones reached its height during the Iberian and Roman era when it achieved colony or town status. The most outstanding findings correspond to this era. One of the most important settlements to date is […]
Ctra. A- 325, km 18, Torreparedones, baena
San Gil Abad parish church is located in the highest part of the town, on a typical Andalusian street, Calle San Antonio, in the San Gil neighbourhood, also known locally as Cerro del Alcázar. It is well suited to its setting, which exudes regional character and essence. Founded in the fifteenth century, in around the same time as Santiago church, San Gil is Écija’s oldest church (1479). Over the centuries, it has undergone several conversions and extensions, until almost the entire building was transformed into Baroque. The building’s general structure is preserved from the original construction: a rectangular floor plan with three naves, each with five sections, separated by pointed arches supported by pillars. The church was remodelled in the third quarter of the eighteenth century, when groin vaults replaced the naves’ primitive wooden roofs. Additional works were also executed at that time: the baptismal and animas chapels were built, the apse remodelled, and the sacristy erected. Between 1727 and 1730, a building of one single nave, consisting of five sections, was transversally erected. The tower, located to the left of the portal on the west end, was built between 1777 and 1782 by Écijan master, Antonio Caballero, in line with […]
C/ San Antonio, s/n,Écija
Los Pareja Palace House has a white façade and a slender viewing tower on the corner. It consists of semi-circular arches and is covered by a gabled roof. The stone-carved portal is late eighteenth-century Baroque. The dynamic cornice is raised at the centre to display the Pareja family coat of arms. The building’s vault ceiling over the staircase and the quadrangular courtyard surrounded by a double arcade of semi-circular arches are both impressive. The building houses the Tomás Beviá Public Library, which is connected to the Historical Archive via a courtyard. The town’s historical archive is located on Calle Cintería.
C/ Santa Maria, s/n.,Écija
It was erected in the north-west of the town, within the walled enclosure. It had a parade ground where eight to ten thousand men trained, and was surrounded by a strong wall with 18 towers. More than half of the original construction’s wall remains, and approximately 76 x 47 m of the enclosure’s floor can be determined. The walls is approximately 2.60 m thick. Two of the towers are recognisable, and we can determine the location of two others: at the sides of the enclosure’s current entrance way. The keep half protrudes from the centre of this wall. It is almost square in shape and is around 20 m tall. Almost 11 m from current ground level is a octagonal-shaped chamber with cloister vault, with squinches in the angles. The other preserved tower is found in the north-east corner. It is approximately 10 m high and has a square floor and the corner that faces the interior of the enclosure is bevelled. The las Escolapias convent-school is currently housed within the enclosure.
Plaza del Conde de Cabra
One of Puente Genil’s most interesting industrial buildings is next to the river Genil and the avenue. This building is one of the most emblematic in the town given that it started as a flour factory and some years later went on to generate electricity, on 11 August 1889. It was built in 1878 as a project commissioned to the French engineer, Leopoldo Lemoniez, by the shareholders, once the bridge was complete. La Alianza is a building with a square floor plan. It has four floors and an attic, but only two floors are visible from the avenue. The building has French influence given the constructor’s origin, only noticeable in some elements such as the decoration of the attic’s window. The building was built with stock brick from local ceramicists and is exposed. There are numerous windows, framed by white stone from the Sierra Gorda quarries. The whole building only has one central pewter balcony likely to have come from Seville. There are decorative ceramic elements between each of the windows, making the building appear less austere. There are four stone pinnacles at the ends of the gabled-roof, also created with stone from the Sierra Gorda quarries. The building has […]
plaza nacional, Puente Genil
Several sections of Écija’s medieval wall have been preserved and some of its gateways can be recognised. Of the fourteen gateways documented, four originate from the Roman layout, and therefore connect the two main roads in the town. The first road goes from east to west, from the Puerta del Puente gateway to the Puerta Cerrada gateway. It is extremely interesting given the variety of historic sites and picture-perfect spots found along its length. The Torre del Carmen tower, a stretch of wall, La Cárcel and Ciudad Real buildings, the ancient inn and stone fountain can be observed along this road and provide an evocative setting: the sound of water from the fountain, the breeze and shade from the trees and impressive buildings. The second road stretches from north to south of the town, from the Puerta de Palma gateway to the Puerta de Osuna gateway. Its location is historically interesting, given the Moorish wall ruins. This stretch once provided access to the Moorish fortified town, known as Bab Usuna. The rest of the gateways documented originated in the Almohad era, and others were later than the Christian era. Several stretches of wall have also been preserved, the most emblematic are in Calle Alcázar, Cavilla, […]
puerta cerrada Écija, españa
Military Almohad bastion from the 12th century, renovated in the 14th century by the Order of Calatrava. It is located close to the Puerta de Teba, which formed part of the town’s defence system. There is a wide sample of remains found in the town: Iberian reliefs, amphorae, Roman glassware and coin collections. This tower, bastion of the belt of 12th century Almohad walls currently houses theArchaeology Museum. It is made up of four rooms organised over two floors. The archaeological remains from the ancient city of Urso and some reproductions are displayed here.
Located in the centre of the Sierras Subbéticas natural park, at 1200 m high, in an environment declared as being a “natural site of interest” given its geological, geographical and scenic interest in the area. This sanctuary is the venue for a series of romerías, or religious pilgrimages. These include the unique ‘Romería de los Gitanos’ (National Gypsy Pilgrimage), held in June and declared as being a festival of national touristic interest, when gypsies and non-gypsies come together to honour the “Majarí” in an explosion of joy and devotion; the “Baja”, on 4th September, in which the image of the Virgin is carried from the chapel to the village; and the ‘Romería del Costalero’ (the Costaleros’ Pilgrimage, costaleros referring to the men who carry the platforms bearing religious images on their shoulders in processions). In this last pilgrimage, which takes place on the first Sunday in October, the Virgin is carried back to Her chapel.
Ermita Virgen de la Sierra, Cabra
An ancient 16th century Dominican convent, baroque in style, which worships the Virgen de Guadalupe, Baena’s patron saint. It has a large central nave, with no crossing, and two side naves, separated by semi-circular arches. The 16th century Mudejar coffered ceiling that covers the main altar is quite remarkable: it is the only one of its kind in the whole province. The polychromed wooden altarpiece from the second third of the 18th century is also impressive. The icon of Cristo de la Sangre is worthy of mentioning, dating back to the 17th century and declared as being a cultural asset to Andalusia in 1988. According to professor Hernández Díaz, “it is a masterly piece”, which must be attributable to the García brothers.
C/ Virrey Don Joaquín del Pino, s/n,Baena