The Guadalete River is a small stream located in the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 province of Cádiz

Cádiz (province)

Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia, the southernmost part of continental Western Europe....

, arising in the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park

Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park

The Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park is a natural park in the northeastern part of the province of Cádiz in southern Spain. The park encompasses, within its , a complex of mountain ranges, known collectively as the Sierra de Grazalema, which, in turn, are part of the Cordillera Subbética...

 at an elevation of about 1000 m, and running for 172 km into the Bay of Cádiz

Bay of Cádiz

The Bay of Cádiz is a body of water adjacent to the southwestern coast of Spain. It touches the following municipalities in the province of Cádiz: Cádiz, San Fernando, Puerto Real, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Rota...

 at El Puerto de Santa Maria

El Puerto de Santa María

El Puerto de Santa María is a municipality located on the banks of the Guadalete River in the province of Cádiz, Spain. , the city has a population of c...

, south of the city of Cádiz

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

. The name of the River came from the Arabic phrase meaning "River of Forgefultness"

River flow

Along the way, it flows by some of "White Villages" of Andalusia

Andalusia

Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

, such as Arcos de la Frontera

Arcos de la Frontera

Arcos de la Frontera is a town in the province of Cádiz in southern Spain. It is located on the eastern bank of the Guadalete river, which flows to the Bay of Cadiz. The town commands a fine vista atop a sandstone ridge, from which the peak of San Cristobal and the Guadalete Valley can be seen...

. The "Sierra Greenway

Vía Verde de la Sierra

The Vía Verde de la Sierra is a rail trail for tourist use comprising 38 km of mountainous landscape between Puerto Serrano and Olvera villages, provinces of Cádiz and Sevilla...

", a 36 km bicycle

Bicycle

A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....

 path reclaimed from an abandoned railroad line, also passes along the river.

It receives water from Majaceite river. It's the largest river in Andalusia, and it has several man-made lake controllig its stream.

Historic importance

The river was once the frontier between Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 and Moorish

Moors

The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 Iberia

Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

, receiving the sobriquet Río de los Muertos (river of the dead).

The River may have been the location of the Battle of Guadalete

Battle of Guadalete

The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king, Roderic, and an invading force of Muslim Arabs and Berbers under Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Arab-Berber...

, at which the Visigothic army was defeated by an invading Muslim army, leading to the conquest of Iberia by the Umayyad Caliphate.

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