EmailANTEQUERA "CROSSROADS OF ANDALUCIA"
Antequera is a very beautiful and historic town, full of monuments, churches and cathedrals dating back to Roman and Arabic times. Geographically, it is positioned in the heart of Andalucia, providing excellent motorway access to all the important surrounding capitals - Malaga and Costa del Sol 30-45 minutes drive, Sevilla 1hr 20mins, Granada and Sierra Nevada 50mins, and Cordoba 1hr 20mins. Which means skiing in Granada during the winter, and swimming at the beach in Malaga during the summer! Antequera also has an 18 hole golf course just 5 minutes from town.
A visit to ancient and historic Antequera will take you back 4500 years to start a journey in time from Bronze age burial Mounds (Dolmens) to Roman baths, a Moorish Castle, Gothic Churches, Renaissance Fountains and Baroque Towers. As you approach Antequera, the spires of her many churches and the walls and towers of the great Moorish fortress silhouetted against the sky, you will see spread out before you the fertile valley of Antequera irrigated by the Guadalhorce river. For centuries an important farming area, the land now produces asparagus, cereals, olives and in summer, fields of sunflowers. Out of this valley towers an enormous limestone rock (880 m) known as the "Peña de los Enamorados" (Lovers' Rock).
"El Torcal" Nature Reserve is known for unusual limestone rock formations, it is located just south of Antequera. Within El Torcal 17 square kms are some of the most beautiful and impressive limestone landscapes and formations in Europe. To reach the heart of the reserve it's possible to drive up the 1100m above sea level via a good access road. There is an shop and information centre with an interesting of view of the wildlife, flora and fauna in the natural reserve. Enthusiasts will be captivated by the 30 varieties of plants growing in the reserve.
One of Antequera's most impressive sights are the ancient remains represented by a culture dating back thousands of years, in the form of the most important group of dolmens in Europe. Dolmens are burial chambers made from enormous slabs of stone, monoliths, covered with earth to form great mounds. The largest and oldest is the Menga Dolmen, said to be the most majestic and best conserved in the entire prehistoric world, dating back to approximately 2.500 B.C. It contains the remains of a Bronze Age chieftain and his family, its size underlining the importance of Antequera, even then, as a human settlement.
If you are interested in taking a closer look at Antequera's churches and convents, we recommend that you visit on Sunday when all the doors will be open. The four most famous are probably "Santa Maria", "San Sebastian", with its Renaissance fountain, "Nuestra Senora de los Remedios" and the Baroque church "Nuestra Señora del Carmen". Don't miss a visit to the nearby Plaza Santa Maria, where three of Antequera's main Monuments are situated, the recently excavated Roman baths, the magnificent Renaissance Santa Maria la Mayor Church and the Arch of the Giants, built in 1585.
Many of the convents sell delicious home-made cakes and biscuits. We recommend you shop at the "Convento de las Descalzas" found in the plaza of the same name. Inside the heavy wooden entrance, there is a small counter with a display of products and prices and next to it is a revolving wooden door in the wall. Just ring the bell, a hidden voice will reply "Si", you give your order and place your money on the tray. The hidden nun will then twirl the tray round to exchange money for goods...