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Campillos,
Málaga
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Location |
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Local Information |
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Ayuntamiento de
Campillos
Avenida Santa Mª del Reposo, 4
29320
Campillos, Málaga
Telephone: 952-722-168
http://www.campillos.es/ |
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About The Area |
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This peaceful little town of less
than 8000 inhabitants, equidistant between the Costa
del Sol, Granada and Sevilla, has been an important
cattle farming, leather production and mining centre
since Roman times. Archaeological digs in the vicinity
have uncovered Roman architecture and coins, as well
as brass busts of Octavius, Claudius, Constantine and
Trajan. Nowadays, however, it is mainly known as one
of the key stops on the Algeciras-Granada rail
line. |
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Drivers, who will reach it 30km
from Antequera on the N342 which continues on to
Olvera, Arcos de la Frontera and Jerez de la Frontera,
will also find it a worthwhile diversion to see the
flocks of brilliant pink flamingos that, in season,
nest in the nearby La Fuente de la Piedra ('fountain
of stone') waterlands. Like much of Andalucía, its
post-Roman history followed the familiar pattern of
Visigothic and Arabic invasion. It fell to the
Christian forces relatively early in the Reconquest,
in 1324, when the town was almost totally destroyed.
It was considered sufficiently important to both Arabs
and Christians to have been the subject of several
fierce battles, notably in 1237 between the army of
Mohamed Alhamar, Moorish king of Granada, and rebels
from Campillos and nearby Loja. After the fall of
Granada in 1492, it was rebuilt and resettled by
farmers and coal workers from Osuna and
Teba. |
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The most important monument in
Campillos is its central Iglesia Parroquial Nuestra
Señora del Reposo, the parish church of our lady of
rest, which is just off the town's plaza central. The
impressive bell tower was built by Fray (father)
Miguel de Santísimo Sacramento in the 16th century.
Its chief architectural style is Doric, with two stone
facades, one Doric, the other baroque.
The main
altar in the church features a pine tabernacle with
eight columns 'jónicas', that is, of the Ionian or
Ionic school of architecture, with the familiar fluted
columns and elaborate capitals of classical Greek
architecture. |
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Also worth seeing is the Ermita
de San Benito, the town's patron saint. The saint's
modest hermitage was built between 1578-1569 although
the building seen today was extensively rebuilt in
1756 and 1814.
The vestiges of the town's Arab
castle, el Castillo de Gobantes, loom over the centre.
The Fuente de las Piedras is in
fact only one of more than half a dozen of lagoons in
the surrounding countryside. Even at 540m above sea
level, these are salt water lakes, one, the Laguna
Salada, is a gigantic salt pan where salt has been
harvested for hundreds of years. |
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The most important fiesta is the
one celebrating patron saint San Benito Abad, which is
held on July 10-11 every year. The town's summer feria
happens every first fortnight of August. |
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The local speciality is Porra
Campillera, a dryish soup or stew with tuna, eggs and
ham, similar to another, better known, regional
speciality, salmoreja, which uses oranges, fried fish,
cod and tuna. Peasant specialities using garbanzos are
also popular. |
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Call us to our
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or our Head Office in Spain +34 952 741 525
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