RURAL ANDALUCIA
southern spain
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luxury villa with pool in RURAL ANDALUCIA southern spain |
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rural-andalucia.co.uk Information on Priego de Cordoba in the fabulous Sierra Subbetica of southern Spain The Town. In the heart of rural Andalucia, Priego de Cordoba stands on a natural shelf, in the lee of the Sierra Subettica mountains and high above a sea of olive trees. Priego is famous in Andalucia as the Capital of Baroque, and there are indeed many opulent churches and other baroque monuments of the 18th-century. Magnificent though they are, it is the Moorish Quarter that catches the eye and fires the imagination. In particular the Balcon del Adarve, a clifftop promenade with fountains and iron lamp stands that marks the edge of the oldest quarter of the town, the Barrio de la Villa (left), a tangle of alleyways whose whitewashed houses are decked with geraniums throughout most of the year. This dramatic location evidently appealed to the Moors who built their castle walls here, and cultivated the rich soils of the hillsides. Its formidable defensive location drew some attention from the Romans, but Priego seems to have acquired real importance for the first time under the Moors. In 863AD Baghu, as the town was then known, is recorded as having contributed 900 horsemen towards raids on the Christian territories in the North, so it must even then have been a place of some importance. By the fourteenth century Priego had for a long time been struggling as a frontier town between Moorish and Christian interests. It fell finally to the Christians in 1431 - while nearby Granada remained a Moorish dominion for a further 160 years. Priego's economic fortunes recovered in the 18th century when the town came under the sway of the Dukes of Medinaceli, and a silk and textile industry flourished here. Wealth poured into the Baroque churches and the grandiose Fuente del Rey that are the outstanding architecural features of the town. In the last century textiles declined in the face of foreign competition but today, Priego prospers anew, revived by the olive business and local tourism. There are also a few remaining clothing manufacturing workshops in the Old Town. Gerald Brenan, author of the classic "South to Granada", was struck by Priego's dramatic natural setting when he stayed here in the 1940s: "What a wonderful situation this for a primitive city, with its abundance of water and its natural fortifications! Priego must have existed before Athens or Syracuse....." Brenan was carried away, and it was not just by the beauty of the place and its situation. He was also impressed by the civility of Priego, a particular ambience that is still tangible. Priego remains distinctive and a little different from its neighbours - more sophisticated, distinctly urbane and charming. Priego has, by and large, escaped the depradations of large scale tourism and English is rarely heard, even in Priego's excellent restaurants, something which makes the experience of staying here all the more rewarding. .
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