Starlight

We can also find other architectural monuments in Aldeaquemada, which come from the time of the colonization of Charles III, highlighting:

• Church of the Purple Conception (18th century). A colonial-type church with a single ship. A vertical trend in relation to the rest of the buildings. Its facade is made of brick and is articulated in two bodies. In the first one, in rectangular form, the only differentiated elements are a narrow cover with a half-point arch and above, two lunetes that keep the line of horizontality. In the second body, a slight swordsman with a bell tower is triangulated, culminating in a small front. There are two houses on both sides of the church, corresponding to the old house of the priest and the post commander.

• The Comandante's House has also come to serve as a city hall for many years and even... The poultry house where bulls and bravas were locked up during the holidays of San Miguel! It is now the Retired Home, renovated and opened in April.

• Diezm and Labrador site (18th century). Building of the time of colonization and present in all the foundations of Charles III. It was dedicated to housing the cereals harvested by the farmers and as a warehouse in times of famine. Current town hall of the town, it is built in brick, of rectangular floor, of two floors and roof to two waters where it has a discreet structure of grabbard brick that houses the city's watch. New atypical uses: some of their rooms have performed the role of dungeon, home of the retired, butcher's shop, teleclub and, of course, municipal warehouse.

The original place of worship would be made up of a grotto in the rocky massif and a source; in front of that it is possible to emerge at different times, successive buildings of worship; for the oldest one it is kept news of its rectangular plant, and it is suspected a chronology of the centuries V- IV BC; for the most recent the dating managed would place it in the first century or perhaps before; the Shrine would already work from before the construction of the first building and would continue to do so, at least until the fourth century, after the destruction of the second building towards the third century AD. It seems that the exvotes, in the vast majority or in their entirety bronze figures, "Fury primitivement dépossées dans la caverne, et jetées de temps a autre sur la pente, mais jamais aucune fosse ne fut creusée pour les recevoir," which prevents the existence of a reliable strategy, which is aggravated by the precarious conditions of the excavation, at the beginning of the century, of the site. It is not unlikely, as one of the excavators suggested, that the religious whole should also be completed with a sacred forest, from whose branches the devotees would hang part of the offerings.

In 1169 the Castle of Castro Ferral was conquered by Calatravos, commanded by Fernando de Icaza, the second Master of the Order. However, before the battle of the Navas de Tolosa, the fortress was again under Muslim control. Ferral would lead several acts of weapons during the military campaign that would end with the Christian triumph of the Navy (1212). The strategic importance of this castle, by controlling one of the traditional steps of Sierra Morena, made it an essential objective for any army that would want to cross the area.

The transfer of the border to the Betic Cordilleras marked the decline of Castro Ferral, who lost his role as a watchman for access to the Guadalquivir Valley. The foundation of St. Helena (Ermita de los Palacios), which has made it less important as a reference centre for the small population of those contours, was joined. In an undetermined time, they beat it to prevent it from becoming a jumpers' den.

The castle of Ferral was made up of three defensive enclosures. The first, currently the worst preserved, was a broad emulated in the slope of land that closed the top of the fence describing an almost perfect circle. This defensive line is more solid and pronounced at the North and North-East ends, where the land gap is greater.

In its interior is developed a second enclosure, possibly built in ground tapial on the base of masonry, from which are preserved various remains and two bastions that could protect the entrance to the castle.

The central core of the castle is made up of a rectangular enclosure of argamase tapial, in which the underground remains, possibly aljibes, are visible.

With regard to the faunistic species that inhabit the environment, mention the wolf, the lince, the otter, the imperial eagle, the royal eagle or the azor.

Location: To the north-east of the town, in the heart of the Natural Park of Despeñacolos.

Distance: 16 km.

Medium: Tourism vehicle.

Access route: Departing from the village by the highway of Andalusia in the sense of Madrid and taking, to the right and after going about 6 km, the road J-6.110 towards Aldeaquemada.

In the central region of Sierra Morena, on a substrate of slate and sandstone, this protected space is located characterized by its accidental relief.

On the south-west side the river Guarrizas appears, creating strong slopes. On the contrary, the declives on the southeast side are softer. The napping of the river forms waterfalls, the most spectacular and beautiful being that of Cimbarra.

The flora is characterized by its heterogeneity. It abounds the mixed forest of oak and alcornoques, with an abundant Mediterranean bush. There is also an area of oak and repopulations of pineapple and black pine. The fauna is also rich and varied.

Among the medium-sized predators the fox and the gin abound, while numerous rapaces fly over the skies of this natural area of 534 hectares of extension, highlighting the royal eagle and the eagle.

The seizure of the fortress of Salvatierra, the province of Ciudad Real, by the Almohades in September 1211, prompted Alfonso VIII of Castilla to organize a campaign for the summer of 1212 with which to destroy the Almohade military capacity, inciting Innocent III to enact a bull that turned the campaign into a crusade. This is a decisive act, as it brings them together with the company across Europe and gentlemen of the different military orders.

On June 20, 1212, three troops left Toledo: Aragonese and Catalan under the command of Peter II of Aragon; Castilians with his king Alfonso VIII; and Ultramontans; Leonese and Portuguese under the orders of Don Diego López de Haro, lord of Vizcaya. The troops of López de Haro, in their advance, take the castles of Malagon (24 June) and Calatrava (1 July), the latter by capitulation. The lack of booty and the course of events began to create unrest among foreign combatants, most of whom decided to return to their places of origin.

The Almohad Caliph Muhammad al-Nasir in whose army were integrated fighters from the Maghreb, from sub-Saharan territories and from Turkish troops, set in motion his men who leave Jaén with the aim of blocking Christian troops in Sierra Morena.

Between 4 and 6 July Alfonso VIII continued his progress by taking several fortifications, including that of Alarcos. With the arrival of Sancho VII of Navarra the total of Christian armies is gathered at the foot of the castle of Salvatierra, from where they continued in search of the Almohade army.

On July 12 advanced from Don Diego López de Haro took the Puerto del Muradal, with the fortification of Castro Ferral. Two days later, after being blocked in the passage of the Slayer, they camp in the place known as the King's Table, from where they go to the battle that took place on July 16, defeating the Alphade army that will withdraw from the fortresses that defended the entrance to the Guadalquivir Valley. On July 19 they occupied Baeza and a day later they besieged Ubeda, who would eventually capitulate.

After the campaign was completed and access to the Guadalquivir Valley was assured, Christians withdrew to their kingdoms in the north.

Archaeological investigations seem to confirm some of the sites where the written sources placed the contenders' camps. The results obtained by archaeological prospecting in Mesa del Rey corroborate the presence of a camp occupied not only by the troops, but also by higher-ranking characters of the Christian army, having identified areas within the internal organization of the camp, such as that intended to change the horseshoes of the beasts. It can be proposed that the King's Bureau be the place that occupied the troops of King Alfonso VIII of Castile, but not all of the Christian armies.

Similarly, in the surroundings of the castle of Castro Ferral, the great concentration of weapons material can be interpreted as the vestiges of the assault by Alfonso VIII's troops to the fortress. Parts related to daily life have also been documented in El Ferral and its military function (horsemen, furniture elements, garrison of clothing, tools, nails and passers).

The set of recovered pieces points to the existence of a large concentration of materials related to the battle, despite the intense expolity suffered throughout the area for more than a century.

LEYENDAS

The pastor of the Navas de Tolosa. In July 1212 the Christian hosts, on their way to the heart of al- Andalus, were to cross Sierra Morena through the natural passage of La Losa, a narrow throat in the port of Muradal, defended by the fortress of Castro Ferral. Alfonso VIII sent Don Diego López de Haro to take the castle, but despite his conquest, the road remained strongly defended.

At the Christian camp came a man from the place, a connoisseur of those border lands, who showed them an alternative path between the mountains, leading Don Diego López de Haro and his troops to a high-level, ever since known as the King's Table. In it, the Christian camp was set up to launch its offensive against the Almohad army, on July 16, 1212, a confrontation that would open the door of al-Andalus to the Christian armies. The man who showed them the way was called Martin Halaja, a shepherd for some, a hunter for others and for the most pious of the same Saint Isidro.

From the nearby viewpoint you can see this monument, whose origin is surprising. 500 million years ago the whole area was covered by the sea, though with little depth, so it was filled with sands and clays brought by the rivers that were flowing there from the Iberian plateau. It was 300 million years ago that the forces of the land made these lands emerge and since then, the erosion of the river, the rains and the wind have been sculpting the relief, creating beautiful forms like these organs. On these rocks, oaks, alcornoques and shrubs have found their substrate, forming a Mediterranean forest in which they inhabit ginets, chickpeas and numerous rapaces.