Sierra Morena

Sierra Morena
	Topographic map of Spain
Highest peak	Bañuela ( 1332 m )
location	Spain
Coordinates	38 ° 18 ′ N , 5 ° 24 ′ W Coordinates: 38 ° 18 ′ N , 5 ° 24 ′ W
Type	Rump Mountains
Age of the rock	Variscan orogeny (350–250 million years)

Aroche in the west of the Sierra Morena

Farm (finca) in the Sierra Morena

The Sierra Morena is an average 800 to 1000 m high low mountain range that delimits Andalusia to the north from the plateau of Castile and Extremadura ; the highest peak is the 1332 m high Bañuela (sometimes also called El Mójina ). In the west of the Sierra Morena are the gently rolling Sierra de Aracena and the Sierra Norte , in the middle and in the east the landscapes become more rugged. Here we find the Sierra de Hornachuelos and the Sierra de Cardeña-Montoro , followed by the Sierra de Andújar and Despeñaperros to the east .

geology

Geologically, the Sierra Morena represents the southern edge of the Castilian Meseta ; its rounded shapes show that it must have originated in geological epochs long ago. Since then, the erosion has been able to develop its flattening and smoothing effect. It originated around 350–250 million years ago, in the so-called Hercynian- Variskan orogeny phase .

According to the time of its origin, the Sierra Morena is mainly composed of Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks, i.e. rocks that were formed in the earliest and ancient times . This rock is partly metamorphic; that is, it has changed in the course of the earth's history . In the Sierra Morena there are mainly slate and gneiss . In some places there is also quartzite , which with its more rugged forms breaks the uniformity of the Sierra Morena, for example in the Sierra Madrona and at Despeñaperros. Where magma , liquid rock melt from the interior of the earth, was able to penetrate the earth's crust during ore formation , it solidified into granites , as in Los Pedroches, Linares or Santa Elena.

After a long period of geological calm, the Sierra Morena represented an abutment for the rocks that unfolded under the pressure of the African plate during the later alpine mountain formation phase. It rose along the Guadalquivir flexure, so that the Guadalquivir sank against the Sierra Morena. The greater height difference meant that its tributaries cut deeper into the rock. This is how the Despeñaperros pass was created, which has long been considered the gateway to Andalusia and through which both the Madrid-Seville railway line and the N IV national road run today.

Mineralogy, historical occurrences

Already under the Phoenicians, mainly from Tire , mineral resources were mined in the Sierra Morena ( Tartessos , Almadén ), especially silver , cinnabar and mercury . The Romans limited the extraction of mercury in the mines to an annual maximum of 5000 kg, which was sent to Rome and processed there. Even under Arab rule, the deposits - in Almadén ( Almadén mine ) are the largest cinnabar deposits in the world - were further exploited (al-maʿādin, "the minerals; the mines"). The silver mines of America ( Mexico , Peru ), which had been using the patio method of the Bartolomé de Medina since the middle of the 16th century , were also supplied from the mercury deposits .

Rivers

Numerous rivers and streams arise in the wooded Sierra Morena, most of which flow south into the Guadalquivir , but flow north and west over the Río Guadiana and thus into the Atlantic .

fauna

The Sierra Morena is one of the most important areas of distribution of the critically endangered Iberian lynx ( Lynx pardinus ). About 180 animals of this extremely rare species of big cat, which only occurs on the Iberian Peninsula, live here. In addition to the Iberian wolf (Canis lupus lupus), which contributes significantly to the regulation of the fauna, the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) is also native to the Sierra Morena .

history

Prehistoric, Phoenician , Roman and Visigoth finds in the area of the Sierra Morena are - apart from the small town of Azuaga - hardly known. In the 8th century, the Moors penetrated the impassable and sparsely populated region, which was recaptured by the Christian armies from the north in the 13th century ( reconquista ) .

1492 - the last independent Muslim kingdoms are conquered
1502 - Expulsion of all Muslims and Jews from Spain, then persecution of those who remained secret (marranos)
1609 - eviction of the last remaining Moriscos

German immigration

On October 18, 1766, Johann Kaspar Thürriegel concluded with the King of Spain, Karl III. , a treaty on the immigration of Germans to the Sierra Morena. Between 1767 and 1770 about 6000 Germans migrated to the low mountain range, cleared land, planted olive trees, mulberry trees and grapevines. In 1775 there were 2446 German families with 10,490 people. The city of La Carolina was the center of German settlement, but by the middle of the 19th century the Germans in the Sierra Morena were completely Hispanic.

Mention in the literature

Due to its remoteness, the rich ore deposits and the chemical-technical knowledge that belongs to mining and was passed on to a large extent by the Arabs ( alchemy ), the Sierra Morena surrounded the aura of the magical and supernatural long after the Christian conquest. Part of the plot of the world literary classic Don Quixote by the Spanish national poet Miguel de Cervantes takes place in the Sierra Morena. In his great novel The Manuscript of Saragossa (1805–1847), Count Jan Potocki also set a literary monument for the region.

Web links

Commons : Sierra Morena - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Hugo Kehrer: Germany in Spain , Georg DW Callwey publishing house, Munich 1953, pages 189-190

[1] Hugo Kehrer: Germany in Spain , Georg DW Callwey publishing house, Munich 1953, pages 189-190