Archidona (Spain)

Archidona municipality
	Archidona - town view
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Andalusia
Province :	Málaga
Comarca :	Nororma
Coordinates	37 ° 6 ′ N , 4 ° 23 ′ W Coordinates: 37 ° 6 ′ N , 4 ° 23 ′ W
Height :	720 msnm
Area :	185.59 km²
Residents :	8,238 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	44.39 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	29530
Municipality number ( INE ):	29017
administration
Website :	Archidona

Archidona (right) in the Kingdom of Seville

Archidona is a small town in southern Spain and a municipality ( municipio ) consisting of three hamlets (pedanías) and several individual farmsteads with 8,238 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) in the province of Málaga in the autonomous region of Andalusia . The center of the village is recognized as a conjunto histórico-artístico .

Location and climate

The place Archidona is located at the foot of the almost 1000 m high mountain range of the Sierra de Gracia approx. 56 km north of the port city of Málaga at an altitude of approx. 720 m . The climate in winter is temperate, while in summer it is warm to hot; the rather low amounts of precipitation (approx. 610 mm / year) fall - with the exception of the almost rainless summer months - distributed over the whole year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2019
Residents	7,410	8,880	12,259	8,171	8,238

The significant population decline since the 1950s is essentially due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the resulting loss of jobs ( rural exodus ).

economy

The people of earlier centuries lived essentially as self-sufficiency from agriculture; Traders, craftsmen and service providers of all kinds also settled in the village. The strategically advantageous location on an old trade route between inland and coast ensured slow but steady development. Today the cultivation of olives as well as the domestic Spanish tourism represent the essential bases of the economic life of the community.

history

Stone Age finds were made in the municipality , which may be attributed to the Neanderthals . Also Bronze Age pottery fragments were discovered. In ancient times the area was under Phoenician , later under Carthaginian influence. The fortress mountain was settled in Roman and Visigoth times. At the beginning of the 8th century the region was overrun by the Moors ; Archidona (Medina Arxiduna) and the neighboring city of Antequera (Medina Antaquira) were close to the route from Cordoba to Málaga . In 1326 the battle of the Guadalhorce took place nearby , in which the troops of the Castilian king Alfonso XI. (ruled 1312–1350) remained victorious. Nevertheless the city remained in Islamic hands until the reconquest ( reconquista ) by the Calatrava order in 1462 . Until the conquest of Granada (1492), the place was near the border between the Christian areas of the Kingdom of Seville and the Nasrid Empire . In the period that followed, building activity began, which peaked in the 17th and 18th centuries.

and display information about the image

Summit of the fortress mountain with the Ermita de la Gracia and a restored section of the old defensive wall

Attractions

Only a few remains of the walled medieval fortress on the castle hill have survived; one of the angled portals with the surrounding walls was reconstructed.

The most important building on the fortress hill is the Ermita de la Gracia , which was originally a mosque (mezquita) , but was converted into a church after the city was conquered by the Christians. Its three naves are separated from one another by ancient or Visigoth columns - some with twisted canals ; the individual yokes have open roof trusses .

Walls on the fortress mountain
angled portal
View over the Ermita de la Gracia into the valley
Ermita de la Gracia
Interior of the church

The center of the city is an octagonal square (Plaza Ochavada) surrounded by whitewashed three-storey houses from the late 18th century , on which bullfights also took place. The door and window frames of the houses are colored with bricks.

The three-aisled Iglesia de Santa Ana was built in the early 16th century, but was partially redesigned in the 18th century. The portal has two lateral columns and a bell-shaped gable field - next to a resting cross there are two side round windows , at the very top a small double window ( ajimez ) breaks through the gable. The vaulted interior of the church is dominated by an altar retable with stylistic elements of Churriguerism , which appears almost round due to the side carved curtains ; there are other baroque carved altars on the outer walls of the aisles.

The Convento de las Mínimas was the seat of the Franciscan order ; the 18th century church facade with the bell tower on the left shows a mixture of Mudejar brick masonry and plastered fields.

The Iglesia de la Victoria dates from the 16th / 17th centuries. Century and once belonged to the convent of the Friars Minor; its simple baroque facade is elevated by a recessed bell gable. Behind the main altar there is a separate chapel ( camarín ) .

Today there is a hotel management school in the former Dominican convent .

The Iglesia de Jasús Nazareno dates from the late 17th century. The baroque portal framed by brickwork and a figure of Jesus carrying the cross inside are remarkable .

The Edificio de la Cilla one was a granary (Pósito) the former landlord of the city, the Duke of Osuna . It was probably built in the 16th century; the baroque portal, however, dates from the 18th century. Today it serves as a municipal museum as well as an exhibition room.