Tag: Antequera

Farewell To Antequera

What A Setting For Dinner …
We decided we needed to catch our breath and spend a rest day in Antequera. A casual morning in our local bar drinking coffee and catching up on emails, an afternoon siesta and a swim in our pool and we were ready to venture out for a nice dinner. The owners of our villa recommended a restaurant with a traditional Spanish menu and a fantastic outlook. With a balmy 20 oC and a light breeze, we enjoyed a romantic dinner in this beautiful setting outside the Church of the Santa Maria la Mayor.


A Romantic Dinner in Antequera

Granada …
After a rest day in Antequera it was off to Granada for two days with the key objective of visiting the Alhambra. Construction of the Alhambra commenced in 1237 by Muhammad I al-Ahmar and continued under Arab rule for 255 years until 1492 when the Alhambra was surrended to the Catholic monarchs. Construction during the early period was strictly to the Arab style of very plain exteriors to the buildings and palaces and extremely ornate interiors. From 1492 onwards construction was in the Spanish Renaissance style with strong ornate exteriors and plain interiors. It is this variation in styles and the sheer size of the complex that makes the Alhambra one of the most visited historical sites in Spain.


Ornate interior of the Comares Palace in the Arab section


Contrasting style of the Charles V Palace built from 1526

Our second day in Granada was spent visiting the rest of the city including the Albaycin district (Jewish Quarter) with its rambling narrow cobbled streets and the downtown area where the Cathedral is the centre piece.


The amazing Granada Cathedral


Albaycin District – Jewish Quarter Of Granada

Malaga – What a surprise …
We returned to our villa in Antequera for a well earned rest before our next adventure to the coast to the city of Malaga. This city took us by total surprise as we were of the impression it is more a commercial and industrial centre being the capital of Andalucia. It turns out that it is a beautiful city with lots of tourist attractions and probably the best tourist information we have seen in any city. Our starting point was coffee outside the house where Picasso was born followed by a visit to the Picasso Museum which we both really enjoyed.


Woman with raised arms – Picasso 1936

Our next stop was to the Roman Theatre. This is another example of fantastic tourism with an ultra modern interperative centre that gives you a multi screen video presentation followed by touch screen images and text explaining how the Romans used their theatres for entertainment, meetings and political debates. You then went down a ramp into the theatre. All for free and with a really fun guide, who with broken English gave us an excellent explanation of the site and other tourist attractions in Malaga.


Roman Theatre with the Alcazab in the background

From the Roman Theatre it was off to the Muslim Alcazaba (fortress) of Malaga. Much smaller than the Alhambra in Ganada but many similarities as it was again built by the Arabs during the eleventh century.


Steps leading up into the Alcazaba Palace

From the Alcazaba it was into the retail area of Malaga for lunch and a quick look around the shops. What a surprise this turned out to be as the marble paved streets with beautiful designer shops is equal to any in the world. Clearly this is a very wealthy city partly as it is the capital of Andalucia Province and also supported by tourism as many cruise boats dock here during cruises of the Mediteranean.


Calle Marques de Lanos in Malaga – The Main Shopping Street.

East Along The Coast …
From Malaga we decided on a drive along the coast road east to Nerja. This area is where a lot of the British head for holidays. It is densly packed with holiday apartments and very few car parks and would certainly not be our choice for a holiday, although it does have great weather. Nerja is a nice coastal town on the Mediterranean Sea. If we were heading for the coast for a Spanish holiday, I think this is where we would pick.


View of the Malaga Port from Alcazaba

Our Departure From Antequera …
With sadness we departed the beautiful city of Antequera. I have no doubt we will return one day for an extended stay as we really enjoyed the villa, the town and the spectacular countryside. It was also a great central location from which to explore many of the towns and cities in region.


Central Antequera Shopping Precinct


Church Of Sans Sebastian in Antequera

Location:Antequera, Spain

Welcome To Spain

A Sad Departure …
With sadness we departed Montone on Monday August 22 after a fabulous 10 days of festivities. We drove with Allison and Luke to Bologna for our flight to Seville, Spain. Allison and Luke were off to Bordeaux, France.


Montone at Dusk

As our flight did not arrive until 11:15 PM we had an overnight stop in Seville and picked up our rental car the next morning for our trip to Antequera in the Province of Andalusia. We chose Antequera as a base for 10 days as it is central between Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Ronda and Malaga. All places we planned to visit during our stay.


Antequera Estepa Gate and Bullring

Antequera – What A Surprise …
We did not know what to expect on arrival in Antequera as it is not on the tourist trail but what a surprise we received. This beautiful town boast the magnificent Alcazaba Castle, Roman ruins, over 30 churches, the 2500 BC Copper Age Dolemens, and good shopping.


Liz At Alcazaba Castle – La Pena in the background.

On our first day in Antequera we decided to explore the city with the hop on- hop off bus which gave us a great overview of the city, its monuments and churches. We then took the opportunity to explore much of the city on foot.


Rob in the 2500 BC Dolomens burial site

Exploring The Region …
Our second day in Antequera was spent exploring the region around the city. To the south are magnificent mountain ranges, some of the peaks are 1300 metres in height and to the north are largely flat undulating plains with olive tree plantations as far as the eye can see.


Olive Trees as far as the eye can see

We visited the El Torcal Nature Reserve. These limestone mountains have been weathered over millions of year to form the most incredible structures with rocks defying gravity.


El Torcal Nature Reserve


From there we visited the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra Nature Reserve which is the nesting place for thousands of flamingos and then on to the Guadalhorce Dam and Nature Reserve which supplies the region with its water supply for both domestic consumption and irrigation.

A Day Trip To Ronda …
90 km from Antequera is Ronda, one of the ‘must visit’ towns in the Andalucia region. It is divided into an old town and a new town by a spectacular gorge which must be 150 metres deep. The two towns are joined by two bridges, the Puente Viejo or old bridge built in the 11th century and the Puente Nueve or new bridge built at the end of the 18th century.


Puente Nuevo – New Bridge

The old town has rambling streets with Museums, restaurants, tourist shops and many historic buildings. The new town is the commercial centre of Ronda and has an impressive shopping strip which is 1 km long and boast lots of designer shops, restaurants and bars. A complete contrast to the old town.


Shopping in Ronda

Ronda boasts one of the oldest Bullrings in Spain, built in 1785, and called Plaza de Toros de Ronda. We took the opportunity to visit both the bullring and the attached museum which shows the history of bullfighting along with an amazing display of antique fire arms.


Ronda historic bullring

To The North – Cordoba …
Our second day of exploring further afield was to Cordoba, 120 km from Antequera via a magnificent multi-lane Autovia (freeway). In just over an hour we were in Cordoba and managed a car park right on the edge of the Jewish Quarter which is the main attraction in the town.


Gardens at Fortress

Our first stop was the Alcazar de los Reyes Cristianos, (The Fortress of the Christian Kings). This fortress Roman baths and ruins at it’s base and the most magnificent gardens which included, believe it or not, a gum tree as one of it’s feature trees. Our next stop was the Mosque Cathedral, the main feature of Cordoba. Built originally as a Mosque and later converted to a Cathedral this building preserves much of the Muslim architecture. A strange combination in today’s world.


Entrance to the Cordoba Cathedral


Ambling streets of the Jewish Quarter of Cordoba

We wandered the rambling streets of the old town and then ventured into the newer section of Cordoba which although interesting did not have the impact on us that the new town in Ronda had.


Plaza de la Tendillas in the new section of Cordoba

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Location:Antequera, Spain