Mojácar
Encyclopedia
Mojácar is a municipality situated in the south east of the Province of Almería
Almería (province)
-History:The rich customs and Fiestas of the denizens retain links deep into the past, unto the Moors, the Romans, the Greeks, and the Phoenicians.During the taifa era, it was ruled by the Moor Banu al-Amiri from 1012 to 1038, briefly annexed by Valencia , then given by Zaragoza to the Banu Sumadih...
(Andalucia) in southern Spain
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...
, bordering the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
. It is 90 km from the capital of the province, Almería
Almería
Almería is a city in Andalusia, Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the province of the same name.-Toponym:Tradition says that the name Almería stems from the Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to "The Mirror of the Sea"...
. It is an elevated mountain village displaying the traditional white color from its earlier days. There is also a tourist resort to the south of the town on the coast called Mojacar Playa.
History
Mojácar has been inhabited by many and varied peoples since antiquity. Populated since the Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
around 2000 BC, traders such as Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns and Carthaginians
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
arrived to serve the growing communities. Under Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
dominion, the settlement was called Murgis-Akra, whence came the Latinized Moxacar, the Moorish Muxacra and finally the current name of Mojácar. The North African Islamic Moors
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...
established themselves in Spain in the early 8th century and the province of Almería came under the authority of the Caliphate of Damascus
Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
and was later ruled by the Umayyads of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
.
Under this second enlightened rule, Mojácar quickly grew in size and importance. With the coronation of Muhammad I of Córdoba
Muhammad I of Córdoba
Muhammad I was the Umayyad emir of Córdoba from 852 to 886 in the Al-Andalus .-Biography:Muhammad was born in Córdoba...
in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Mojácar and its lands became incorporated into the Nasrid
Nasrid dynasty
The Nasrid dynasty was the last Moorish and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa...
sultanate, and the town found itself on the frontier with the Christian forces to the east. Watchtowers and fortresses were built or reinforced during the 14th century, which nevertheless did little to discourage Christian incursions and fierce battles like the bloody event of 1435 where much of the population of Mojácar was put to the sword.
On June 10, 1488, the leaders of the region agreed to submit to the Christian forces, although Mojácar's alcaide refused to attend, considering his town to be already Spanish. At that time occurred the meeting at Mojácar's Moorish fountain, where a pact of free association between the local Moors, Jews and Christians was agreed to. Mojácar once again began to expand until the early 18th century, when the census of the time recorded 10,000 people. Around the middle of the 19th century, Mojácar began another period of decline.
Several severe droughts brought about this drop in the town's fortunes, with a consequent emigration to northern Spain, Europe and South America. The depopulation of Mojácar was reaching worrying proportions by the 1960s when tourism began to reverse the trend.
Climate
Mojácar has more than 3000 hours of sun per year. The medium yearly temperature is around 20 °C. Winter is normally mild, although in the past few years there has been more some freezing temperatures especially when the sun had gone down, with the marine temperature higher than the air temperature.Culture
The IndaloIndalo
The Indalo is a prehistoric magical symbol found in the cave of "Los Letreros" in Sierra de María-Los Vélez Natural Park in Vélez Blanco, Spain. It has been customary to paint the Indalo symbol on the front of houses and businesses to protect them from evil and is considered to be a god totem...
, or Mojácar man, is a magical totem is said to bring protection and good luck, and from times past was always painted onto the fronts of houses once the whitewash was dry: keeping away the evil eye
Evil eye
The evil eye is a look that is believed by many cultures to be able to cause injury or bad luck for the person at whom it is directed for reasons of envy or dislike...
and protecting those within from storms. The figure might be interpreted to be a man holding a rainbow between his outstretched arms. The original totem is thought to be around 4,500 years old, and the earliest known one appears among other prehistoric paintings in a cave in Vélez-Blanco
Vélez-Blanco
-External links: - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía - Diputación Provincial de Almería - Asociación Ágora - TODOVELEZ.ES...
. The name, Indalo was coined by a group of artists and intellectuals who settled in Mojácar in the early 1960s, attracted by the magic and bewitchment of the town, and who commercialised the totem which today signifies the whole province of Almería. Indalo Man has, probably due to the increase in tourism, spread in popularity and has been seen on houses as far apart in Europe as Brittany in France and Cornwall in England for the benefit of its protection from storms and the evil eye. Source: INE (Spain)
Mojácar is home to the Fundación Valparaíso
Fundación Valparaíso
Fundación Valparaíso is an international arts residency organization located on the Mediterranean coast of Andalucia, Spain, in the old Moorish hilltown of Mojacar....
, an international artists' colony.
Food
The traditional dishes still found today in Mojácar denote the rural nature and the Arabic origins of the village. Its cuisine is plain. Amongst the most well known dishes are: Gurullos, Pelotas, Gachas, Migas, Ajo Colorao, and Pescado frito.Festivals
The most important festivals (Spanish: fiestas) in Mojácar are:- Moors and Christians: the nearest weekend to 10 June.
- San Agustín: AgustínAugustine of HippoAugustine of Hippo , also known as Augustine, St. Augustine, St. Austin, St. Augoustinos, Blessed Augustine, or St. Augustine the Blessed, was Bishop of Hippo Regius . He was a Latin-speaking philosopher and theologian who lived in the Roman Africa Province...
is the male patron saint of Mojácar. This fiesta falls on 28 August. - Romería de San IsidroIsidore the LaborerIsidore the Laborer, also known as Isidore the Farmer, , was a Spanish day laborer known for his goodness toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers and of Madrid and of La Ceiba, Honduras....
: 15 May. - San Juan Hogueras: (Bonfires of Saint JohnBonfires of Saint JohnBonfires of Saint John is a popular festival celebrated around 24 June Saint John's day throughout many cities and towns in Spain; however, the largest is in Alicante, where it is considered the most important festival in the city...
) 23–24 June. - Virgen del Rosario: Rosario is the "patrona" or secondary patron saint of Mojácar. This fiesta falls on 7 October.
External links
- Mojácar - The official system of information for the multiterritorial of Andalucia.
- Website with information about Mojacar
- Mojacar Travel Guide
- Website with information about Mojacar
- Mojacar property Restaurants Guide of Mojacar