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Points of interest in Almonaster la Real

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Almonaster La Real Mosque

The Mezquita de Almonaster is located at the highest point of the hill that crowns the Castillo. It is an exceptional testimony to the earliest Islamic works in Spain. A small and sober building, erected during the reign of Abd al-Rahman III, yet endowed with the subtle elegance of the Umayyad period. It must have been built in the late 9th or early 10th century. Based on the remains reused in its construction, it is thought that a monumental building existed here in Roman times, which was later transformed into a Visigothic-Christian church, surviving as a monastic site until the Muslim invasion. Numerous Roman columns, capitals, and ashlars from the 1st and 2nd centuries, as well as fascinating Visigothic vestiges from the 5th to the 7th centuries, are silent witnesses to this repurposing. Following the canons of the Caliphate era, the Mezquita presents two clearly defined spaces: the shan, or open courtyard for ablutions, and the haram, the covered prayer hall. The oratory consists of five naves oriented towards the qibla wall, whose brick arches, originally horseshoe-shaped, rest on columns and pillars of different materials, sizes, and periods (spolia). Masonry and Toledan brickwork predominate in the construction materials, although brick also appears, as well as rammed earth or corners made of large granite ashlars in some areas. In the center of the qibla opens the mihrab, with a cubic-semicircular floor plan covered by a kiln vault; a brick alfiz frames the frontal horseshoe arch. The alminar, which still preserves in its initial section the staircase that circles the central pier, completes the Islamic building. When the Christians occupied these lands in the 13th century, a possibly Romanesque apse was built, of which only the springers of the triumphal arch remain, embedded in those of the current arch, converting the building into a place of Christian worship under the name of Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. At the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, the mosque underwent a series of major works that renovated part of its structure and added new spaces: the arches adjacent to the qibla were trimmed, although some retained their horseshoe springers; the qibla wall was reinforced with a buttress; the mihrab was reformed, and the mosque was expanded by raising the portico and perhaps the cistern; all within a Mudéjar style (depressed and segmental arches, exposed brick) related to the Sevillian style. In the 16th century, the bell tower was built, and the sacristy and porch were carved, in addition to adding certain decorative details such as the tiles that adorn the step leading to the presbytery. Later works, in the 18th century, include the transformation of the tower's top, the construction of the “cuarto de los moros,” and the decoration of the apse dome. Neither the passage of time nor the attacks of nature have been able to overcome this unique monument, an emblem of Almonaster and both the origin and destination of cultures. Each era left its mark, and from each era, we are left with a clear memory in its old stones, surviving to this day as an authentic melting pot of cultures, a synthesis of the entire history of this village, one of Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España.

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El Castillo

In the IX century, the iqlim of Al-Munastyr was the most important town in the region, head of a military and fiscal district. It was surrounded and protected by a walled fence, inside which was the medina, the aljama and, possibly, its fortress of which no trace remains. The current plan of the walled enclosure is an irregular polygon, with a surface area of about 80 areas and a perimeter of 313 m., articulated by walls of different heights, with rectangular and circular towers at the corners and in the middle of the longest sections. Its construction reveals several constructive stages: the oldest can be traced back to the Caliphate period and its walls are made of masonry reinforced with Roman ashlars at the corners; important interventions from the Almohad period can also be observed in the red earthen rammed earth sections; finally, there is masonry from the medieval Christian period. In 1479, with the signing of the Treaty of Alcobendas, the defensive interest of the fortress decreased and the Archbishopric of Seville stopped paying attention to its conservation and maintenance. In 1583, it was valued at 14,000 ducats and there was talk of its poor condition. Finally, in the 19th century, materials from its fence were used to build a bullring over the old parade ground.

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Gothic-Mudejar Church

The Ermita de la Concepción, located in the former mosque, became too small to accommodate worship services, making it necessary to build a new church for the town. The new church was built in a location relatively far from the castle, which would make it a focal point around which the town’s urban expansion would coalesce. The church, with its highly complex architecture, is considered a unique monument within the Archdiocese of Seville, due to the pointed barrel vault used in its three naves and the uniqueness of the Portada del Perdón. Construction likely began in the early 14th century, following the Mudejar style. Later, throughout the 15th century, the church was gradually completed with a series of additions that blended seamlessly with the earlier structures, notably the Gospel and Epistle Doors, framed by buttresses and an alfiz. In the first third of the 16th century, the choir, the tower, and the Puerta del Perdón were built; the latter is an element of striking stylistic uniqueness in the religious architecture of the entire region. The Portada is a magnificent example of the Portuguese Manueline style, characteristic of the rural churches of the Alentejo. It must have been erected around 1530, since the coat of arms crowning it, according to Professor Pérez Embid, belonged to Cardinal Don Alonso Manrique de Lara, Archbishop of Seville from 1524 to 1538. It is built of local limestone. A large arch framed by two pinnacles shelters another ogee arch that provides access to the church. Its design and central decoration stand out, featuring motifs associated with both the Manueline and Gothic styles, such as tropical vegetation, marine motifs, animals in combat, anthropomorphic figures, and more. In the early 17th century, the small Mannerist portal leading to the sacristy was built, and in the same century, the current tabernacle was added. The 1755 earthquake significantly damaged the building, which was subsequently restored by the architect Pedro de Silva.

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Hermitage of Santa Eulalia

It is one of the few Roman buildings that we can see in Huelva, as the three walls of the apse are those of a mausoleum of imperial times, probably built in the first half of the first century AD and, in its day, must have had a similar appearance to that of the Tower of the Scipiones in Tarragona. The hermitage was erected in the mid-fifteenth century, is located about 20 km from Almonaster and is a beautiful example of the religious-rural architecture of the time. Its interior is decorated with fresco murals dating from the late fifteenth century. The historical-artistic complex is completed by an old bullfighting ring, of ancient and stony architecture, of which there is documented news, at least, since 1678. Its morphology is framed in the scope of the churches of transverse arches of the mountain range. Access to the hermitage is through a baroque porch of mixtilinear arches that extends along the sides of the building. Of this stage, S. XVIII, would also be the belfry of two bodies and the sacristy. In the ends of the apse there are a series of mural paintings from the end of the 15th century or beginning of the 16th century, within the late Gothic period. The hermitage of Santa Eulalia has become, since 1606, the center of celebration of the pilgrimage in honor of the saint, the oldest in Spain. Thousands of pilgrims from all over the Sierra and other parts of the national geography, come every third weekend of May to the place, to participate in one of the most historic and traditional festivals of the whole region. The Hermitage and its surroundings, including the old bullring, has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest within the cataloging of Archaeological Zone. The site consists of an area of Roman habitat, linked to mining, one to the south of the Hermitage and another to the north (the latter with obvious signs of metallurgical activity) and the remains of the necropolis around the hermitage.

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D. Manuel Vázquez Vargas Museum

A collection of paintings and sculptures bequeathed by Manuel Vázquez, which includes works from the Baroque and Romantic periods as well as some Modernist pieces, by artists of the stature of the well-known Italian-born painter Lucas Jordán, the Spanish painter Francisco Jover y Casanova, the sculptor Pablo Serrano Aguilar, the Catalan artist Miguel Senserrich, and Ramón Garrido, a Spanish architect and sculptor, among others. OPENING HOURS: MONDAY THROUGH SUNDAY: 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

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Hermitage of the Lord

This small shrine of the Lord - Santísimo Cristo de la Humildad y Paciencia - whose image fulfilled the role of "Cristo del Buen Viaje", is located at the exit of the town, next to the old road to Cortegana. With a rectangular floor plan, it consists of a nave formed by two sections of vaulted vault and a small sacristy covered by a pair of groin vaults. The building, very simple, with a gable roof, shows two constructive stages: the oldest, which would correspond to the nave and the altarpiece, details between 1640 and 1684; and the work of the sacristy, after that time. The most recent part is the gable. It includes a belfry from the 19th century.

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Chapel of the Holy Trinity

It is a small baroque building, from the end of the 18th century, located in the Town Hall Square. The church, as can be seen in its irregular floor plan, follows the physical indications of the site on which it sits, arranging its spaces in a somewhat arbitrary manner. In a single nave there is a sacristy with a square floor plan, covered with groin vaults, and the presbytery, with a trapezoidal floor plan and closed by a longitudinal barrel vault with lunettes. A small pulpit and an elevated choir complete the chapel. The illumination is provided by two tetralobulated oculi and the entire interior is whitewashed down to the smallest detail, which gives the building an architectural purity hardly detectable in other baroque buildings. Among other characteristics, the slenderness of this small chapel stands out. The decoration of the interior is reduced to some holy water basins and several panelled doors. The entrance opening is covered by a lobed arch and is framed by the Tuscan pilasters of the doorway. It consists of an architrave and a dismembered frieze, cornice and broken pediment whose tympanum houses a tile framed by baroque cutouts. The doorway is completed by pinnacles, typical of the late 18th century, and a little higher up is one of the aforementioned oculi that give light to the choir. The belfry, with two sections of the same composition, is decorated with Tuscan pilasters, semicircular arches and above them a cornice, Doric in the first and Tuscan in the second. It is crowned by a weathervane and four ceramic finials.

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Popular architecture

Almonaster preserves a rich and varied catalog of buildings, making it one of the most interesting urban complexes in the region. Modest and stately buildings, from different periods and styles (with Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance and other more modern elements) coexist in perfect urban harmony, set in the set. The Mudejar houses of the medieval period are characterized by their structural and decorative simplicity, in contrast to those of the 18th century built on large plots of land that usually include courtyards and backyards. On the main facades, there are usually doorways with popularly interpreted constructive and ornamental elements, such as columns on pedestals or semipilastras, crowned by a classical entablature with its architrave, frieze and cornice. Also of interest are houses from the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, easily identifiable by their privileged position in the urban fabric, their verticality -with two or three stories-, their warm colors and the skylights and chimneys of Portuguese origin. They are usually built on corners, giving rise to two or three facades that appear extended above the roofs, hiding the hipped roof. Finally, reference should be made to the Palace House of D. Miguel Tenorio de Castilla (19th century), a Spanish politician and diplomat born in the town of Almonaster la Real, personal secretary to Queen Isabel II of Spain for seven years.

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Access bridge to the old Tannery

The bridge is a medieval monument of ancient Roman factory through which runs one of the branches of the Roman Via Julia. The bridge leads to the Antigua Tenería (Old Tannery), an interesting pre-industrial complex dating from 1806. In its day it also housed a mill. It has a rectangular floor plan and around the courtyards there are two-story warehouses with lowered brick arches. The façade is decorated in neoclassical style.

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Bullring

It is a circular plaza, with an inner diameter of 32 meters, with a capacity of over 1200 spectators. Category: 3rd. The Plaza de Toros de Almonaster la Real is located on the top of a hill, within the walled enclosure, next to the mosque. Erected on the old parade ground of the fortress and built using masonry from the walled fence and the buildings that existed inside, is the third bullring of those existing in Almonaster (along with those of Santa Eulalia (S. XVII) and the remains of the S. Cristobal. Cristobal. The Plaza de Toros was inaugurated in 1821 and reformed seventy years later, being Fernando El Gallo - creator of the famous bullfighting dynasty - who fought the first bullfight of this era. Recently, a restoration work has fully integrated it into the rest of the Historical Ensemble of the Mosque. Currently, in addition to its own functionality, it is a cultural space of great value for the people of Almonaster, since different activities take place there during the Islamic Culture Days, as well as being a stage for concerts, theaters and weddings, among others.

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Concejo Fountain

It is located at the exit of the town next to the popular Cruz de la Fuente and consists of a basin, trough and uncovered sinks. On the main spout, there is a white marble shield with the royal arms and the inscription with the date of completion of the work: "in the year 1701, the Cabildo of this town did this work at the expense of its neighbors". The present appearance is due to the restoration works at the end of the 19th century.

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La Era de la Cuesta

After crossing the Puente de la Tenería and following the cobblestone path, we begin to climb a slope that makes us cross the road that leads to the village of La Escalada. We continue uphill for another minute and there it is: La Era de la Cuesta. The threshing floors used to be paved and were usually built in high places, to take advantage of the gentle and constant winds, which facilitated the work of ventar or separate the grain from the straw, once the threshing was finished with "the beasts". From this height, the views of the mosque are unbeatable and we see how the village of Almonaster is nothing more than a small shelter immersed in the beautiful nature that surrounds it. But the Era de la Cuesta is not only this privileged viewpoint, it is also a place steeped in tradition. It is here where the butler and the butler meet during the ritual of El Romero in the celebrated Cruces de Mayo of Almonaster La Real.

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