Antequera is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia. It is called "the heart of Andalusia" because it lies in the center of Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville. The Antequera Dolmens Site is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In 2011, Antequera had a population of 41,854. It covers an area of 749.34 square kilometers with a population density of 55.85 people per square kilometer. The city is located at an altitude of 575 meters. A small town named "Gloriano" is located near the bottom of Antequera. Antequera is the most populous city in the interior of the province and the largest in area. It is the twenty-second largest city in Spain. The city is 45 kilometers from Málaga and 115 kilometers from Córdoba. These cities are connected by a high-speed train and the A-45 motorway. Antequera is 160 kilometers from Seville and 102 kilometers from Granada, which are connected by the A-92 motorway and high-speed rail.
Because of its strategic location for transportation and communication, with four airports about one hour away and a railway line from the Port of Algeciras, Antequera is becoming an important center for transportation logistics. It has several industrial parks and the new Logistics Center of Andalusia. Additionally, the Vega de Antequera, a fertile area watered by the Guadalhorce River, produces large amounts of cereals, olive oil, and vegetables.
The nearby natural reserve of El Torcal, known for its unstable limestone rocks, is one of Europe’s most important karst landscapes. It has a rich history with many archaeological and architectural sites, including the dolmens of Menga, Viera, and El Romeral, as well as churches, convents, and palaces from different periods and styles. Antequera played a role in Andalusian history, as it was where the Federal Constitution of Antequera was drafted in 1883 and the Pact of Antequera was signed in 1978, leading to Andalusia’s autonomy. The city was considered a possible location for the Andalusian government but lost the vote to Seville.
Geography
Antequera is located 47 kilometers north of the city of Málaga on the A45 highway, at the base of the mountain ranges El Torcal and Sierra de la Chimenea, 575 meters above sea level. It is situated in a prominent location overlooking a fertile valley. This valley is bordered by the Sierra de los Torcales to the south and the Guadalhorce River to the north. The municipality covers the largest area in the province of Málaga and is among the largest in Spain. According to the 2002 census, its population is 41,197.
Nearby is the saltwater Fuente de Piedra Lagoon, one of the few places in Europe where greater flamingos nest. Also nearby is the Torcal, a limestone rock formation that is a nature reserve and a popular destination for climbers. Across the Guadalhorce River lies Peña de los Enamorados, or "The Lovers' Rock," named after a legend about two young Moorish lovers from rival groups who jumped from the rock while being chased by the girl’s father and his men. This story inspired the English poet Robert Southey’s work Laila and Manuel, in which the lovers were a Muslim girl and her father’s Christian slave.
Antequera shares borders with the municipalities of Humilladero, Mollina, Alameda, Benamejí (Province of Córdoba), Cuevas Bajas, Sierra de Yeguas, Fuente de Piedra, Campillos, Villanueva de Algaidas, Archidona, Villanueva del Rosario, Ardales, Colmenar, Casabermeja, Villanueva de la Concepción, Almogía, Valle de Abdalajís, and Álora. The municipal area includes the villages of Bobadilla, Cañadas de Pareja, Cartaojal, Colonia de Santa Ana, La Higuera, La Joya, Los Llanos, Los Nogales, and Villanueva de Cauche.
History
On the northern edge of the city, there are two Bronze Age burial mounds, called barrows or dolmens, named Dólmen de Menga and Dólmen de Viera. These were built around 3000 BCE and are the largest of their kind in Europe.
Dólmen de Menga is the larger of the two. It is 25 meters wide and 4 meters tall, made with 32 large stones. The heaviest stone weighs about 180 tonnes. After the chamber, likely used as a tomb for leaders, and the path leading to it were built, the structure was covered with dirt to form the hill seen today. When the tomb was opened in the 1800s, archaeologists found the bones of hundreds of people inside.
Dólmen del Romeral, built around 1800 BCE, is located outside the city. It was constructed using many smaller stones.
Los Silillos, an important Bronze Age village, was discovered several miles north of Antequera.
From the 7th century BCE, the region was settled by the Iberians. They traded with the Phoenicians and Greeks, as shown by archaeological finds. Around the middle of the first millennium BCE, the Iberians mixed with Celts and the Tartessos civilization in southern Spain.
The dolmen complex of Menga, Viera, and Romeral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016 under the name "Antequera Dolmens Site." The UNESCO application also includes Peña de los Enamorados (Lovers' Rock) and El Torcal.
The city was known to the Romans as Anticaria or Antiquaria. It was part of the Tartessos region and later the Turdetani, a highly developed group of Prehistoric Iberians. Carthaginian settlers arrived along the coast starting in the 6th century BCE, with their port city of Malaca (Málaga) located near Anticaria. Carthage expanded inland in the 230s BCE after losing Sicily in the First Punic War. The Roman Republic gradually took control of eastern Hispania during the Second Punic War, securing its power with Scipio Africanus’s victory at Ilipa in 206 BCE. Carthage ceded the area in 201 BCE, and Anticaria became part of Hispania Ulterior in 197 BCE. That year, the Turdetani rebelled but were defeated by Roman forces under Cato the Elder. The region became heavily Romanized, with many colonies established nearby. The city’s modern street layout follows the design of the Roman town. After Agrippa suppressed the Cantabri in northern Spain, Hispania was reorganized, and Anticaria became part of Hispania Baetica. Under the Romans, Anticaria was known for producing high-quality olive oil. Christianity spread across Spain after the second century.
During the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was taken over by the pagan Siling Vandals in the 410s. After being attacked by the Visigoths, the Vandals surrendered to Gunderic of the Hasding Vandals and western Alans in 419. Gunderic’s half-brother, Genseric, later moved his people to Africa. Spain was then ruled by the Visigothic Kingdom, which adopted Arian Christianity.
The Arab invasion of the Iberian Peninsula began in 711 under Tariq ibn-Ziyad. Anticaria was captured around 716 and became part of the Umayyad Caliphate, known as Medina Antaquira. Umayyad Spain was officially Muslim but generally tolerant of other religions. During the Reconquista, Christian kings drove Muslims from central Spain after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212. Over the next years, the Almohads were defeated, and al-Andalus weakened. Medina Antaquira, with a population of about 2,600, became a northern city in the Nasrid Emirate of Granada and an important border town. Fortifications and a Moorish castle were built to defend against Spanish forces. For about 200 years, the city was repeatedly attacked.
On September 16, 1410, after nearly four months of siege, the city surrendered to a Castilian army led by Infante Ferdinand of Trastámara. The Muslim population was forced to leave, moving to Archidona and Granada. In exchange for allowing them to leave with their belongings, they surrendered the castle and their Christian slaves. For two days, they sold their property. About 895 men, 770 women, and 863 children left the city. Rodrigo de Narváez was in charge of settling the new Christian population. Until 1487, Antequera was connected to Seville for religious purposes.
The city became part of the Kingdom of Seville, a realm of the Crown of Castile. On February 20, 1448, King John II granted Antequera the privilege of homicianos, allowing criminals to seek redemption. However, population growth in Antequera, a border area recently threatened by military campaigns by Muhammad X of Granada, did not improve much. By 1477, the situation was critical. The Nasrids tried to conquer the city, destroying crops and burning homes.
Antequera was a major military base during the War of Granada.
Population increased after the Catholic Monarchs conquered Málaga in 1487 and Granada in 1492, as fears of military danger faded.
Throughout the 16th century, Antequera, located near the Guadalhorce River, became a center for grain production and supplied food to Málaga. The city’s economy shifted from a military-focused borderland economy to an agricultural one in the early 16th century.
Antequera became an important commercial town at the crossroads of Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville. Its agriculture, craftsmanship, and location helped it earn the nickname "Heart of Andalusia" by the early 16th century. During this
Main sights
The city's museums hold about 80% of all the art treasures in the province of Málaga, making it one of the important cultural places in Andalusia.
In the eastern suburbs, there is one of the largest burial hills in Spain. It is from the Bronze Age and has underground rooms dug to a depth of about 20 meters. See the Dólmen de Menga.
Economy
Historically, the region's economy relied on making and processing agricultural products such as olives, grain, and wool, as well as furniture manufacturing. In the mid-nineteenth century, the area produced flannels, paper, leather, silk, and soap, and traded in large amounts of grain, fruit, olive oil, and marble from local quarries. A major sugar industry was started in 1890. By the time of the First World War, the region had a railway line connecting Bobadilla and Granada, and woolen textiles were being made. However, the main employers in the region continued to work in the production and trade of grain, fruit, olive oil, and wine. The textile industry declined in the early twentieth century.
Today, tourism is the leading industry, and the number of international visitors is growing.
Transport
Antequera has two train stations. One is called Antequera-Ciudad, and it is a stop for medium-distance trains that travel between Seville and Almería. The other station is Antequera-Santa Ana, which serves the Antequera–Granada high-speed rail line and the Madrid–Málaga high-speed rail line.