Antequera

[onlyMark]

We had a friend of our daughter come to stay with us in Spain and on her last day she had a quite late flight from Malaga. We decided to have a few hours somewhere so as the day wasn’t wasted. One of our favourite places is a town called Antequera.
This is because of its proximity to a number of other places like the lakes/reservoirs (you can swim in which is unusual for reservoirs in Spain) of El Chorro, the stone landscape of El Torcal, the town itself because of the big castle and nearby, the ancient Dolmens (a UNESCO World Heritage site).

Again, it is a place few tourists visit and those you do see tend to be the Spanish holidaying on the coast who want a day out.
The town was called ‘the crossroads of Andalusia’, as it is more or less central point between Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Malaga.
Antequera was conquered around 716 by the Arabs and fell to the Christians in 1410 after a prolonged four month siege.
There are over 30 churches and convents resulting in more per head of population than anywhere in Spain and several palaces built during the 16th to 18th Centuries.

We though tend to like to have a walk around the Alcazabar, the castle, built by the Moors on the site of a Roman fortress and then added to after the Christian reconquest.
Worth having an audio guide if you go for a wander round.
In Andalucía it is known for its comprehensive Tapas Route (Ruta) which happens for a couple of weeks in February whereby virtually all the bars and restaurants make their own home made tapa and with a small glass of beer you attempt to visit them all. Each place you visit stamps your card to prove you’ve been there. There is no prize, just bragging rights.

Across the river, the Guadalhorce is Peña de los Enamorados, ("The Lovers' Rock"), named after the legend of two young Moorish lovers from rival clans who threw themselves from the rock while being pursued by the girl's father and his men. This romantic legend was adapted by an English poet (Robert Southey) where it was a Muslim girl and a Christian slave.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe%C3%B1a_de_los_Enamorados

[onlyMark]

We parked not too far from the castle, called in there then had a wander down into the town before leaving -

[bixaorellana]

Yaay ~ more southern Spain! Some very striking pictures -- the two right before the bell pictures are such dramatic views. I really appreciate the history you include, both the old and the ongoing tradition of the tapas route, which I feel strongly I need to follow.

Another reason I appreciate this report is because I live in Antequera: The city [of Oaxaca] is also known as "la Verde Antequera" (the green Antequera) due to its prior Spanish name (Nueva Antequera) and the variety of structures built from a native green stone. source

I knew this city was named after the Antequera in Spain, but this is my first time knowing anything about the original Antequera.

[onlyMark]

Well, what a coincidence. Never thought of the origin of where you are.

[onlyMark]

This is the lover’s rock of the legend -






































And there you have it.

[bjd]

Does that area get greener in winter when it rains (if it does)? It does look terribly dry and arid and I was wondering whether at some point Andalusia had more trees and a milder climate.

The town looks nice enough but just too hot for me.

[onlyMark]

I think the Romans brought olive trees because of the ideal climate for them, so at least since then there has been little change in the hot climate. In the dim and distant past then yes, it was milder. But go there in May and apart from the rocky bits, it is mostly green. Not so in winter because it is winter.
In the first photo of the last set you can make out all the fields, which would now be growing wheat and other cereal crops. Now meaning 2022 but everything is harvested in June and the fields then left until the next year. Sunflowers abound and are best seen before they leave them to go to seed, so early summer, June(ish).
May brings out all the poppies.

The olive farmers keep their fields cleared so all you would see are the trees and bare earth, not so attractive as farmer's fields, but at least there is some green.
In late Spring you can't guarantee the weather, but if the area is visited, most everything is green and/or being cultivated.
There is a (small) native oak tree that still can be seen in isolated patches but over the centuries have been used for their wood so I think it was Franco who decided it'd be nice to have more trees again but just brought in a lot of pine trees.
It is hot in the summer, but it depends on what you get used to. Hot meaning mid-thirties as a normal temperature, but will go higher in July and August, as expected.

[onlyMark]

bjd, same area, March or April 2009. Still not yet to full greenness -

[bjd]

Thanks. That looks much nicer to me.

[onlyMark]

bjd, last thing, this is the back of my house in July or August where the builder's rubble was always deposited and we've cleared up the dead weeds -




Even there, in May, it grows greener. Yes, weeds, but at least it's green -




And around my area, in fact a lot of places, end April, early May, it's often like this. Not a good photo, but gives you the idea -

[fumobici]

Very cool report and very interesting town. Being across an ocean, it seems odd to me how dry it looks given that Central Italy (which looks not terribly far away on a global scale) has been inundated with rain for the past several weeks. I generally picture weather moving from west to east in the Northern Hemisphere.

[kerouac2]

I like all of the panoramas seen from above. Down at street level it could be anywhere in Mediterranean Europe (that is not a bad thing).

The difference between the terrain in spring and the rest of the year looks exactly the same as in southern California to me (and probably many other places that I have not seen).

[onlyMark]

fumo, the photos were taken 23rd August. I think you'd still have good weather then. These and others are just left over from the summer.
K2, if I'd just seen some photos of the town I really couldn't place where it was, never mind the town, more which country. It could fit quite a few, as you say.

[bixaorellana]

More fascinating views of Antequera and the area around it. Driving out in the country around Oaxaca during the dry season, it's easy to imagine that the rank and file of the Spanish conquering armies -- most of whom came from southern Spain -- felt right at home in this sere and hilly land. So many of the pictures show the influence of the Moros & it looks completely at home in that landscape.

I absolutely adore the poppy field picture, poppies being one of my abiding memories of Spain.

How did you get those remarkable views looking down on the towers and battlements of the castle?

One thing I find striking about the town is the excellent, very attractive brickwork. There's a small wall section next to stairs in the picture right above the closeups of the bell tower. It seems to be indicative of the style, the type of brick, and the beautiful workmanship throughout the town. I love those skinny buff-colored bricks. Even the roofs are different. Of course there is quite a bit of the classic Spanish tejas, but the church has what looks like bricks laid in a sort of herringbone pattern. (also love the wavy wall behind your house)

[cheerypeabrain]

It looks like an interesting place. Excellent photos too. I can imagine Charlton Heston gazing moodily from those battlements.

[onlyMark]

Sept 21, 2022 19:32:22 GMT bixaorellana said:

One thing I find striking about the town is the excellent, very attractive brickwork.
(also love the wavy wall behind your house)

I tend to climb high things so those would have been taken from the top of whichever was the highest tower.
I think in the towns around my area there are quite a number of buildings with a bit of fancy brickwork here and there added as decoration, but I often wouldn't notice them. I'll keep my eye out now.

Wavy wall -
Bit of a story with that.
Being built around the pool -




Finished. A daughter took this from her bedroom window -




The wall to the right is the front of what you can see the back photo of. The one in the being built photo was blown over by a localised tornado thing. It swept one day from the local town to the local village and unfortunately came straight past our house. Luckily we suffered little but some houses had roof damage. We replaced the blown over wall with a shorter version which suits us now as we actually have a more open view -




Cheery, Charlton Heston would be good but for some reason in my mind's eye I have Yul Brynner up there.

[kerouac2]

Yet it was Charlton Heston who starred in El Cid in 1961.

[onlyMark]

Yes. You would know that.