In 2011, Antequera had a population of 41,854. It covers an area of 749.34 km2 with a population density of 55.85 inhabitants/km2, and is situated at an altitude of 575 meters. There is also a very small town named "Gloriano" in the bottom of Antequera. Antequera is the most populous city in the interior of the province and the largest in area. It is the twenty-second largest in Spain.[3] The city is located 45 km from Málaga and 115 km from Córdoba. The cities are connected by a high-speed train and the A-45 motorway. Antequera is 160 km from Seville and 102 km from Granada, which is connected by motorway A-92 and will be connected by the high-speed Transverse Axis Rail in the near future.[4]
Due to its strategic position in transport and communications, with four airports located approximately one hour away and the railway running from thePort of Algeciras, Antequera is emerging as an important centre of transportation logistics, with several industrial parks, and the new Logistics Centre of Andalusia(Centro Logístico de Andalucía).[5] In addition, theVega de Antequera, watered by the riverGuadalhorce, is a fertile agricultural area that provides cereals, olive oil, and vegetables in abundance.[6]
The nearby natural reserve ofEl Torcal, famous for its unstable limestone rocks, forms one of the most importantkarst landscapes in Europe.[7] It has an extensive archaeological and architectural heritage, highlighted by the dolmens ofMenga,Viera, andEl Romeral,[8] and numerous churches, convents, and palaces from different periods and in different styles. Antequera played a role in the rise ofAndalusian nationalism: it was the site of the drafting of the Federal Constitution of Antequera in 1883, and also of the so-called Pact of Antequera in 1978, which led to the achievement of autonomy for Andalusia.[9] It was considered as a possible headquarters of theAndalusian government, but lost the vote in favor of Seville.[10]
Antequera lies 47 km north of the city ofMálaga on theA45 highway, at the foot of the mountain ranges ofEl Torcal and Sierra de la Chimenea, 575 mabove mean sea level. It occupies a commanding position overlooking the fertile valley bounded to the south by the Sierra de los Torcales, and to the north by theGuadalhorce River. At 817 km², the municipality is the largest, in terms of area, in the province of Málaga and one of the largest in Spain. The population is 41,197 (2002 census).
The saltwaterFuente de Piedra Lagoon, which is one of the few nesting places of thegreater flamingo in Europe, and thelimestone rock formation of theTorcal, a nature reserve and popular spot for climbers, are nearby. Across the Guadalhorce isPeña 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 the English poetRobert Southey for hisLaila and Manuel, in which the lovers were a Muslim girl and her father's Christian slave.
The larger one,Dólmen de Menga, is twenty-five metres in diameter and four metres high, and was built with thirty-twomegaliths, the largest weighing about 180 tonnes. After completion of the chamber (which probably served as a grave for the ruling families) and the path leading into the centre, the stone structure was covered with earth and built up into the hill that exists today. When thegrave was opened and examined in the nineteenth century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people inside.
TheDólmen del Romeral, which dates from about 1800 BCE, is outside the city. A large number of smaller stones were used in its construction.
Los Silillos, a significant Bronze Age prehistoric village was uncovered several miles north of Antequera.[13]
From the 7th century BC, the region was settled by theIberians, whose cultural and economic contacts with thePhoenicians andGreeks are demonstrated by manyarchaeological discoveries. In the middle of the first millennium BCE, the Iberians mingled with wanderingCelts (seeCeltiberians) and with the civilization ofTartessos of southern Spain.[citation needed]
Antequera's castle with thePeña de los Enamorados in the background
The Conquest of Antequera
TheArabinvasion of the Iberian peninsula began in 711 underTariq ibn-Ziyad. Anticaria was conquered around 716, becoming part of theUmayyad Caliphate under the nameMedina Antaquira[citation needed] (Arabic for "Antaquira City").Umayyad Spain was formallyMuslim, but broadly (thoughnot entirely), tolerant of other religions. Amid theReconquista, a coalition of Christian kings drove the Muslims from Central Spain in theBattle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Over the next few years, theAlmohads were defeated and al-Andalus greatly reduced in strength. Medina Antaquira, which at that time had a population of about 2600, became one of the northern cities of the remainingNasridEmirate of Granada and an important border town. To defend against theCatholic Spanish troops from the northern kingdoms, fortifications were built and aMoorish castle erected overlooking the city. For about two hundred years, Medina Antaquira was attacked repeatedly.
On 16 September 1410, after a nearly 4-month siege, the city capitulated to a Castilian army led by theinfanteFerdinand of Trastámara.[16][15][n. 1] The Muslim population was forced to leave their homes, departing toArchidona andGranada.[17] Following a compromise, they surrendered the castle and their Christian slaves in exchange for being provided with beasts of burden to carry their goods out of the city.[18] For two days, they were able to sell their properties.[18] 895 men, 770 women and 863 children left.[19] The settling for new Christian population was tasked to Rodrigo de Narváez.[18] After the conquest and up until 1487, Antequera was attached to Seville from an ecclesial standpoint.[18]
Old town and towers of San Agustín and San Sebastián churchesRoyal Collegiate Church of Santa María la MayorStatue of the scholar Pedro Espinosa (1578–1650) on thePlaza de Escribanos
The city became part of theKingdom of Seville,[20] a realm of theCrown of Castile. On 20 February 1448,[21] despite some earlier reluctance to take such a dangerous measure in a relatively big town,John II granted Antequera the privilege ofhomicianos,[22] thus easing the conditions for the settling of criminals seeking redemption. However demographic growth in Antequera, a borderland that had been recently endangered by the military campaign undertaken byMuhammad X in the area,[23] did not substantially improve.[24] By 1477 the situation was critical. Nasrids attempted to conquer the city, ravaging the crops and firing housing.[25]
The city served as major military power base during theWar of Granada.[26]
Population boomed after theconquest of Málaga by theCatholic Monarchs in 1487 (and the ensuing conquest of Granada in 1492), as concerns about military insecurity were left in the past.[27]
Throughout the 16th century Antequera, that enjoyed a rich neighbouringvega irrigated by theGuadalhorce, was noted as cereal production centre, and was key in the food provision of Málaga.[28] The economic fabric of the city shifted from a borderland military-focused economy to the strengthening of the agricultural role in the early 16th century.[29]
Antequera became an important commercial town at the crossroads between Málaga to the south, Granada to the east,Córdoba to the north, andSeville to the west. Because of its location, its flourishing agriculture, and the work of its craftsmen, all contributing to the cultural growth of the city, Antequera was called the "Heart of Andalusia" by the early sixteenth century. During this time the townscape also changed. Mosques and houses were torn down, and new churches and houses built in their place. The oldest church in Antequera, thelate GothicIglesia San Francisco, was built around the year 1500.
In 1504, thehumanist university of theReal Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor was founded; it became a meeting place for important writers and scholars of the SpanishRenaissance. A school of poets arose during the sixteenth century that includedPedro Espinosa,Luis Martín de la Plaza, andCristobalina Fernández de Alarcón. A school of sculpture produced artists who were employed mainly on the many churches built, and who were in demand in Seville, Málaga and Córdoba and the surrounding areas. The newly built churches includedSan Sebastián in the city centre and the largest and most splendid of the city,Real Colegiata de Santa María, with its richly decoratedmannerist façade.
Still more churches and convents were built into the eighteenth century (today there are 32 in the city altogether), as were palaces for the members of the aristocracy and the wealthier citizens, in theSpanish Baroque style.
Antequera's prosperity slowly came to a close at the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of the eighteenth. Spain had to accept the loss of its American colonies and lost a number of crucial military conflicts in Europe. That led to a deep economic crisis, which in some parts of the country, led people to turn tobartering. Church, aristocracy, and the upper middle class — the great landowners — who had been the clients and sponsors of the creative arts, lost most of their fortunes and could not afford to build more churches or palaces.
Starting from the mid-eighteenth century, Spain underwent a series of reforms, in particular a land reform and the reduction of the power of the Church (the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767) that produced a slow economic recovery. In Antequera, textile production became the main industry.[citation needed][dubious –discuss] In 1804,yellow fever caused a setback, as well as theNapoleonic wars that broke out shortly after.
In the 1960s, the nearbyCosta del Sol developed into an internationaltourist hotspot and Antequera experienced another economic upswing. Today the city is an important tourist and cultural center, nationally, as well as regionally.
The excavatedRoman baths may be seen in the southeast part of the city
Roman villa ofEstación: (1st century BC-4th century AD)
The city's museums house about 80% of all the art treasures in the province of Málaga, which makes it one of the cultural centres of Andalusia.
In the eastern suburbs there is one of the largest burial mounds in Spain, dating from theBronze Age, and with subterranean chambers excavated to a depth of c. 20 m. See theDólmen de Menga.
Historically, the region's economy was based on the production and processing of agricultural products (olives,grain, andwool), as well asfurniture manufacturing. In the mid-nineteenth century, it manufacturedflannels,paper,leather,silk, andsoap and it carried on a large trade ingrain,fruit,olive oil, and locally-quarriedmarble.[15] A largesugar industry was established in 1890. By theFirst World War, it lay on theBobadilla–Granada railway andwoolen textiles were being manufactured. The primary employers of the region, however, continued to be involved in the production and trade of grain, fruit, olive oil, andwine.[31] The textile industry collapsed in the early twentieth century.[why?][citation needed]
Today,tourism is the main industry and there are an increasing number of international visitors.
^Ferdinand thereafter added the style "lord of Antequera" (Don Fernando de Antequera) to his titles. The city's main street still carries his name:Calle Infante Don Fernando.
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