Monumental Almeria

The temple-fortress. Cathedral of Almería

This is the first Almeriense temple perceived as a temple-fortress, with a predominantly Gothic style. It was built to defend the town against pirate attacks.

There are battlements and embrasures for defence purposes. The transition period is Gothic and its design is attributed to Diego de Siloé. Its apse is polygon in shape and the tower is Baroque. Inside the naves are Gothic with wing chapels that have really beautiful altarpieces. The reredos of the high altar is Baroque and decorated with paintings and sculptures of remarkable quality. There is a Renaissance cloister that was once the old parade ground of the fortress.

Origin: 16th Century.

Period: 16th Century.

Style: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque

Contact Address:
Plaza De la Catedral, 1 04001 Almería (Almería)
Tel. +34 950234848

 

 

A garden fortress. Alcazaba

Abd al-Rahman III ordered its construction in 955. It was built on the ruins of a fortress.
The Citadel is a palace of Arab origin. The one in Almeria consists of three enclosures. The first of them included houses and baths. Then it was the urbanised area, although today it is occupied by several gardens. Within this area, the Saliente Bastion, the Vela Wall and the bell of Santa María la Mayor, founded in 1763, are outstanding. The second area contained the palace rooms. The califal Los Aljifes building is probably the best preserved of this group. A Mudejar hermitage, the troop baths and a typical Muslim house that has been reconstructed from its foundations are also outstanding. In its time, the Palace of Almotacín stood here. Now in the third enclosure, we find the remains of a castle ordered to be built by the Catholic Monarchs after the city was taken in 1489. Its interior is arranged around the main courtyard. The main elements in this enclosed area are the Keep, the Noria del Viento tower and the Pólvora tower. The Andalusian government declared it a Monumental Site in 1989.

On the northern edge of the Alcazaba you'll see the 11th century Wall of Jairan which drops down into the valley and ascends the San Cristobel hillside on the other side. The wall was built by the province's first Moorish ruler who was called Jairan.

C/ Hermanos Machado, 4. Edificio múltiple, 6ª planta, 04071-Almería. Tel: +34 950235010.

Type of monument: Citadel.
Period: 10th Century.
Style: Arabic.

Contact Address:
Calle Almanzor, s/n 04002 Almería (Almería)
Tel. +34 950271617 / Fax +34 950271411

Cave paintings in Los Vélez.

The region of Los Vélez is located to the north of the Almería province.

In the region of Los Vélez, to the north of the Almería province, there are sites of cave paintings that have been declared World Heritage sites by UNESCO, within the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. This region represents an outlying southern area delimited by the Levantine Mediterranean Basin. Demonstration belonging to a society with a hunting and harvesting economy.

Type of monument: Prehistoric cave.
Origin: Prehistory.
Period: Prehistory.
Style: Prehistory.
Contact Address:
04838 Maria (Almería)

 

Cave paintings in Los Vélez - Abrigo de la Cama del Pastor -Lavaderos de Tello-Arte Rupestre- (Vélez-Blanco)

In the region of Los Vélez is located to the north of the Almería province.

In the region of Los Vélez, to the north of the Almería province, there are sites of cave paintings that have been declared World Heritage sites by UNESCO, within the Mediterranean Basin of the Iberian Peninsula. This region represents an outlying southern area delimited by the Levantine Mediterranean Basin. The paintings are from the Epipaleolithic and the Neolithic, and were discovered around 1915. The manifestations which we find here belong to a society with a hunter-gatherer economy.

Type of monument: Prehistoric shelter.

Origin: Prehistory.

Period: Prehistory.

Style: Prehistory.

Contact Address:
04830 Velez-Blanco (Almería)

 

The city of prehistoric metalwork.Yacimiento de Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondújar)

This is the most important Copper Age archaeological site in European prehistory.

It dates from 2700 BC. In it you can study a complex type of society in which defence against outsiders, burial and metalwork had special importance. The village is situated on a platform protected by four concentric walls built at various periods as the growth of the city made it necessary. Up to 1,000 people lived in this 4 metre high by 310 metre wide fortress at its period of greatest splendour. Its necropolis had 100 tombs in the form of mounds. The objects found at the site, like copper smelting furnaces, make clear the development of its metalworking.

Type of monument: Archaeological site.

Origin: Iron and Copper Age.
Period: Iron and Copper Age.

Contact Address:
04420 Santa Fe de Mondujar (Almería)
Tel. +34 627521895 Tel. +34 627521895

 

Cave paintings in Los Vélez. La cueva de los letreros. Velez-Blanco

The prehistoric cave paintings of the Cueva de los Letreros are spectacular, they can be found 3km out of the town of Velez Rubio. To get to the caves follow the A317 north until you reach a petrol station on the left, next to which is a signed turning to the cave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OTHER MONUMENTS

http://www.dipalme.org/Servicios/Municipios/pueblos.nsf/velezblanco.html

http://i1.dipalme.org/Servicios/Municipios/pueblos.nsf/Turismo.html

 

Fuentes: http://www.almeriaholidays.co.uk - http://www.spain.info - http://www.castillosnet.org - http://www.andalucia.com - http://www.indalia.es - http://www.aytoalmeria.es - http://www.almeria2005.es - http://www.dipalme.org