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Description
Martos is located to the north of the Sierra Sur region, being the largest municipality and population of this region. There are other populations that are part of the municipality, such as Monte Lope Álvarez, Las Casillas, La Carrasca and Villarbajo.
Its municipal term is essentially olive tree, in its landscape of countryside the olive tree is the protagonist, extending to the horizon. Because of the great quantity and quality of olive oil produced in the city, it is called the "Olivar Cot." Around it has developed an important olive industry that together with the automotive-related factories and their auxiliary industries are the engine of employment and wealth for the municipality and its region.
It has an important historical heritage, among other monuments we quote: the Old Cárcel and Cabildo, Castles of the Peña and the Villa, Puente Romano, Urban Wall, Castle of the Endowment, Pilar of the New Source; with respect to the religious architecture: Royal Parish Church of Santa Marta, Sanctuary of Mary Most Holy of the Villa, Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, Ermita of San Bartolomé, parish of San Amador and Santa Ana, etc.
This is the cultural wealth and beauty of its historical ensemble, which since 2003 has had the status of Good Cultural Interest.
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Culture
Old Jail and Cabildo. Building built in the 16th century, considered a masterpiece of Spanish mannerism. It is currently the City Hall of the city.
In his spectacular main façade We can highlight the huge, dogrous columns with piled armchairs, the sculptures of Justice and Prudence, (both were beheaded), the great doors and their bronze aldabones and a great shield of the Austrians crowning the whole. It was declared a National Historical Monument in 1931. Below the City Hall, the Convent of the Trinitarian, work of the late 16th century, and on the same street, but in the opposite sense the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, of baroque bill of the 18th century. All this high part of the intramurous historical centre is of great quaint and from it you can enjoy beautiful panoramic.
- Santa Marta Parish Church. It rose in the 13th century, in the years following the taking of the city by Fernando III the Holy, on an Arab mosque. It is consecrated to the patron of the city and has the title of Real since 1617. Gothic Mudejar style. The Baptisterium, the Major Chapel, was later built and embellished with the slate-cross vaults and a large cover of the isabelin Gothic. In the 16th century the interior is expanded and remodeled, raising large columns of Tuscan order and building the original Bell Tower with three bodies.
- Pilar of the New Source. Ornamental source located in the Manuel Carrasco Municipal Park. It was built in the 16th century, reflecting the most new and outstanding aspects of the Manier architecture. The set stands out for its monumental beauty and austerity. It consists of an abrevadero pillar and a smaller one in which two lions make water pipes. In the center is the Austrian shield, and on the sides is the shield of Martos and that of Governor Aboz Enríquez.
- The hermitage of San Bartolomé. Located in the skirts of the Peña de Martos, dates from the 14th century and houses the venerated image of Mary Most Holy of the Victory, Queen and Lady of the Peña.
- Roman Bridge of Martos. Important engineering work, built in the Roman era on the Salado stream in the vicinity of Martos to facilitate the passage between the two shores.
- Sanctuary of Mary Most Holy of the Villa. Temple in which Mary Most Holy of the Villa, known as "La Labradora," is sold. It was built on dates near the delivery of Martos to the Kingdom of Castilla. In the 16th century the temple was remodeled and a bell tower was built. This sanctuary was burned and destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. The current was rebuilt in the 1940s of the last century, in a Neobaroque style. The Torre-Campanario dates from the 16th century, is separated from the main building and is the only original element of the ancient Sanctuary. It has a square floor with half-point arches.
The ruins of Castillo de la Peña which we know today are not those built by Muslims but correspond to the strength that the Calatravos built from 1340. The floor of the castle is trapezoidal adapted to the surface of the plateau on which it sits and its entrance, for security reasons, marked a zigzag drawing. The compound was divided into alcázar and a courtyard of weapons protected by a walled enclosure. The alcázar, where the tower of tribute is raised, takes advantage of a natural podium that lifts it about three meters above the courtyard of weapons, separated by a wide, also natural.
Castle of the Villa. It was an alcazaba or citadel surrounded by canvases of almenada wall, as well as passageways and towers, leaving the central space for the construction of administrative and religious buildings: church of Santa Catalina, headquarters of the governorate, cavalries, tahonas, lagores, aljibes, etc. According to evidence from an inspection carried out by the Visitors of the Order of Calatrava in the 16th century in order to repair the deficiencies of the Lower Fortress.
Nature
The orography of the municipal term of Martos is characterized by being quite accidental, with plenty of mountain grounds above all the southern part, instead the north-western part corresponds to soft reliefs and plain characteristic of the Guadalquivir depression, which extends in the west and north of Martos.
Among the greatest levels are the Sierra de la Caracola, with 1340 m., located in the south and to the north is located the Sierra de La Grana with 1254 m. and this is the extension of the Sierra de Jabalcuz, and we would like to mention the well-known Peña de Martos with its 1003 m. on whose slopes the city of Martos is located.
The hydrographic network is composed of a set of rivers and streams which are used for both human consumption and irrigation.
They are two rivers the main ones that pass through the municipality: Eliche Riverwhich is born by the saw of the Grana, and the river Víboras which is born in the term of Valdepeñas de Jaén. The channel of this river is used in the a reservoir of the same name, next to the pastry of Las Casillas.
The flora of the term is dominated by the olive, located in a large percentage of the land of the municipality. It also exists indigenous vegetation of the Mediterranean forest in the mountain areas, where we see species such as: the oak, coscoja, white jara, complaining and abundant number of aromatic plants such as lavender, rosemary or thyme.
In the banks of the river Víboras coexist riverside species as they can be: white, strawberry, elves, olms, zarzamoras and carrizos.
In the fauna exists a great diversity of species, from rapacious birds, both diurnal and nocturnal; aquatic birds, paseriforms, reptiles, amphibians and minor-game mammals.
For nature lovers, Martos offers an interesting natural offer to make different routes, climb to the top of the Peña, offers unparalleled views of the countryside landscape and the surrounding mountains.
Other very interesting routes are also the rise to the Sierra de la Grana, the Sierra de la Caracolera and the setting that forms the reservoir of the Víboras River and the Víboras Castle.
Parties and Events
Among the main festive celebrations of Martos are:
- Romeria in honor of the Virgin of Victory. The last weekend of May is held. The festivities begin on Friday with the departure of the procession of the image from the hermitage of San Bartolomé to the Church of Santa Marta with the streets where it passes adorned with flags, reunions, retamas, altars and rosemary in typical suits. The next day the Virgin leaves the parish to go to the hermitage of the Virgin of Peña followed by carts, chariots and horsemen. On Sunday, the day of the rosemary, the virgin returns to her hermitage carried on a cart thrown by oxen and accompanied by gilded carrots with floral ornaments and various decorations. During the tour the atmosphere is fun and cheerful. They sing songs, they eat cheese, ham and rebujito. Once in the Peña, the solemn mass is celebrated and at the end of the rosemary they prepare to eat in the surroundings of the hermitage. This party is declared the Festival of Tourist Interest of Andalusia.
- Fair and parties in honor of San Bartolomé. At the end of August, Martos is preparing for the largest celebration. Many and many different activities are organized during the days of pre-fair and fair, such as concerts, theatre, cultural and sports activities, horseback riding, pasacalles and taurinos (traditional the brandy torillo). The festivities begin with the official turn on of the cover and the fun is centralized in the fairgrounds, where various musical performances are offered.
- Olive party. Typical celebration of Martos that symbolizes the official start of the olive collection campaign and pays tribute to the olives that work in the campaign. It takes place during several days of December with the celebration of many cultural activities related to the olive grove. The brooch of party end takes place on December 8, with the most outstanding events: reception of authorities at the City Hall, followed by a floral offering at the Monument to the Olives and the invitation to the attendees of a olive hole (bread, oil, cod and olives). And to put the final point to the party, the Martos' almazara teachers extract the first olive oil of the year.Declared holiday of Tourist Interest of Andalusia.
- Holy Week. It is one of the most important popular and religious manifestations of Martos. The existence of co-fradies in the 16th century is recorded. Part of its Reciprocity in the narrow, tortuous and very considerate streets for which the hermandades run. All this linked to the incomparable frame offered by the millennial city of La Peña and the beauty of the images and thrones. It has been declared Tourist Interest Festival of Andalusia in 2002.
Gastronomy
In the gastronomy of Martos, extra virgin olive oil is a fundamental ingredient.
- HoyoIt's bread and oil.
It retains two salads with origins of the Arabian-Andalusian cuisine: The orange chopper and the granate salad, where other vegetables are accompanied by orange or seasoned grenade grains.
- Potage of beans and eggplants.
Meat dishes:
- The rabbit with olives, which is prepared in the pastry of Las Casillas from which is found its replica in North Africa.
Dishes attached to the festive cycle:
- Carnival filling, onions of Easter, the Sweet peas typical of the holiday of All Saints.
The of the Trinity mothers like the crotch or the buds, among many others.
Many traditional Martos dishes are shared with the rest of the Mexican cuisine Like, crumbs, gazpacho, pipirrana, white...
History
The origins of Martos they go back to Prehistory. Its strategic location, the existence of springs and the natural defense it offered were factors that caused the human settlement in the area.
There is evidence of different lytic materials belonging to the Paleolithic, however, the oldest documented statements are from the Neolithic. Remains of this period have been found in "El Molinillo," "Huertas Viejas" and "La Alberquilla." They are underground housing, funeral and defensive structures.
The city is known from very old, the Iberians named it Tucci and an important Iberian oppidum located in the upper part of the Peña is cited in the works of Ptolemy. There will be many settlements around Martos, such as Castlejo de Belda, La Atalaya, El Alamillo...
The Iberian city of Tucci, being occupied by the Romans, it became a colony that was named after Augusta Gemella Tuccitana. Many remains of this time are preserved such as mosaics, coins, ceramics, weapons, marble portraits..., the most important being the collection of Roman tombstones exposed on the façade of the Casa Consistorial de Martos.
From the visigode period, the paleocristian sarcophagus which is preserved in the Provincial Museum is the most important archaeological piece appeared in the town.
In the year 711 The Visigodic monarchy on the Iberian peninsula ends with the arrival of Muslims. Since the 9th century it was a very disputed border city. From this time are the castle of the Peña, the walls and torreons of the castle of the Villa. In 1225, Martos became part of the kingdom of Castilla, which King Fernando III will donate to the Order of Calatrava.
From the 13th century it acquired great splendor that will be increased with King Fernando the Catholic and the arrival of settlers from Castile and the Moorish of the Alpujarras.
The 16th century was a stage of economic, social expansion and of great transformation of the villa with the construction of new buildings, the remodeling of others and the expansion of the urban town.
During the 20th century, With the development of the olive grove, the arrival of the railway and the road there was a great population growth that decreased in the decades of the 50 and 60 of the last century caused by emigration.
The urban, social and demographic development of the city has now been increased by industrialization, being considered as one of the main industrial centres of Andalusia.
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