Lebrija (Spanish pronunciation:[leˈβɾixa]) is a city and municipality ofSpain located in the autonomous community ofAndalusia, most specifically in theProvince of Sevilla. It straddles the left bank of theGuadalquivir river, and the eastern edge of the marshes known asLas Marismas.[2]
According to a 2008 population census, it has 26,046 inhabitants, and has an area surface of 372 km2, making it one of the biggest municipalities in the province. The nearest municipalities areEl Cuervo andLas Cabezas de San Juan, in Seville andTrebujena and the city ofJerez de la Frontera in theprovince of Cádiz.
The main productive activity is agriculture, withbeet, cotton, wheat and various fruits its main products.Winemaking activities are also prominent withManzanilla and otherfinos too. Lebrija is also known for itspottery andearthenware heritage, includingbúcaros. The farmers of this area were the first to cultivate corn brought over from the Americas.
There has been human presence in the area since theBronze Age, although the founding of Lebrija, possibly did not take place till thePhoenicians arrival, who baptised the settlement asLepriptza, then to be renamedNebrissa, duringTartessian times.
Originally, it was a port on the shores of theLacus Ligustinus, a large inner lake surrounded by the Guadalquivir River and its tributaries and coastal sand bars to the South. The lake later filled with sediment, and gradually gave way to the current Guadalviquir marshy lowlands or, in Spanish,las Marismas.
Lebrija is also theNabrissa orNebrissa, surnamedVeneria, of theRomans; bySilius Italicus.[2] According to local historian José Bellido, the word "veneria", (Latin:"that which venerates (worships)") makes reference to the mythical foundation of Lebrija by the godDionysus (Bacchus): "Where special veneration is given to Bacchus, there where the swiftsatyres and themenades, at night celebrate themysteries of that god, with their heads covered up with a deer skin".[3]
Nebrishah was a strong and populous place during the period of Moorish domination (from 711); it was taken by KingSt Ferdinand in 1249, but again lost, and became finally subject to theCastilian crown only underAlfonso the Wise in 1264.[2]
In the 1960s and 1970s, Lebrija, together with Jerez andMorón de la Frontera, became a focus ofJornalero protests (peasants without land) due to their poor living condition and expectations. As a result, a regime of "community work", guaranteeing a minimum salary during a few months every year, was established.[5] Shortly afterFrancisco Franco's death, on 6 January 1976, around one hundredjornaleros locked themselves up in the parish church to express their political demands, only to be removed by theCivil Guard, but not before they have voiced their consigns using the church tower loudspeakers several times:
"We want the miscultivated fields and lands to be given to jornaleros and small owners. We want subsidies for the unemployed all year round. We want collective agreements for the whole sector and a right to retirement at 60. We want trade union liberty and freedom for all political prisoners and exiles..."[6]
Tower of the Iglesia Mayor de Santa María de la Oliva, known asla Giraldilla.
The area has remnants of itsMuslim past among its old buildings. Its chief buildings are a ruined Moorish castle and the parish church,Santa María de la Oliva, one of the finest churches in the province of Seville that combines a variety of styles:Mudéjar,Renaissance andBaroque,[7] dating from the 14th century to the 16th, and containing some early specimens of the carving ofAlonso Cano (1601–1667).[2]
TheCasa de la Cultura (Cultural Center) was built in the 18th century in Andalusian Baroque style. Originally, it was used as a wheatsilo for the Archbishop of Seville and housing for the local Catholic chapter. TheDiezmos and tributes paid by the town people to thechurch were kept here. In 1982, theSpanish Socialist Workers' Party in charge of Lebrija City Council at the time bought the property and its restoration began. It was reopened in 1986 as the "Casa de la Cultura", a place dedicated to learning, exhibits, and all sorts of cultural expressions, including dance and music.
The Convent and Church of San Francisco (1585) has always been associated to theFranciscan Order. It is located in the Plaza Manuela Murube (also known popularly asEl Pilar), one of the most beautiful and artistic corners of Lebrija. In the same square are located the Old Hospital of Mercy (Hospital de la Misericordia) and Saint Andrew's Asylum (Asilo de San Andrés).
TheCruces de Mayo (Holy Crosses of May) is the most well-known and popular festivity in Lebrija. It is held during the first two weekends of May every year. It is a community activity where each neighborhoodraises a cross, either using a permanent buttercross site or building them from scratch using flowers, forged iron or wood. These places around the town are then used for dancing and singing, particularly a local form ofSevillanas, known asSevillanas corraleras.
The local annual fair is dedicated to thepatron saint of Lebrija, Our Lady of the Castle, and held around hernameday, on 12 September.
The festivity of theJúas (Andalusian dialect pronunciation of the nameJudas) takes place on Saint John's Eve. Local people get together and make lifesize rag dolls, representing celebrities and local politicians. These rag dolls are left outside of houses so they can be admired by others. At midnight they are set alight, together with a fireworks display, thus ending the festivity.
As inSeville and other Andalusian cities, towns, and villages, severalhermandades, or religious brotherhoods, march inprocession, carryingpasos, lifelike wood or plaster sculptures of individual scenes of thePassion of Jesus Christ or images of theVirgin Mary. Two of the most important hermandades areLos Dolores orEl Castillo.
Lebrija is aflamenco centre and theCaracolá, one of the major flamenco festivals in Spain is held there every year in July.
^http://www.ugr.es/~pwlac/G16_08JoseLuis_Solana_Ruiz.html "Las clases socialesen Andalucía. Un recorrido sociohistórico", article by José Luis Solana Ruiz published inGazeta de Antropología n. 16, 2000. University of Granada, Spain
^"Dosenuna". Archived fromthe original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved3 September 2006. "Jornalero y campesino en Andalucía",Revista Militante published by theMovimiento Rural Cristiano
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