Antequera

Ted. One day during Semana Santa (Holy Week), Judy and I decided to get away from the crowds in Málaga so we took a one-hour bus ride to the mountain town of Antequera.

 

Known as “The Heart of Andalusia” because of its central location, it has always been a strategic crossroads. Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Moors fought over it. The Muslim Kingdom of Granada built a large alcazaba (fort) but it eventually fell to the Christian king Ferdinand 1 of Aragon in 1410. 

The Giant's Gate into the Alcazaba

St Martha defeating the seven headed monster

 In memory of Moslem refugees after the city fell

Quite unintentionally, while taking a beer break, we found ourselves in the middle of a Semana Santa procession. In several towns around Andalusia, one procession is traditionally led by troops of the Spanish Legion and this is what we saw. The soldiers guard Jesus and, accompanied by their drum & bugle corps, sing their hymn, "The Bridegrooms of Death." Love, death, blood and Christ - very Spanish.

The area has a number of Neolithic structures dating back roughly 6,000 years so the town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We explored two of them, which were right in town. Both are megalithic dolmens - stone structures with columns and a roof. The Dolmen of Menga is a burial chamber oriented so that the entrance is focused on a nearby hill called Peña de los Enamorados (The Lovers Rock). 

The Dolmen of Viera is a smaller tomb chamber oriented so that it receives the morning light on the summer solstice. 

After a day of exploration, we were happy to come across a café set up under a group of magnolias in a plaza. This proved to be the perfect place to relax with some lunch and a little wine before taking the bus back to Málaga.