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Antequera and El Torcal Natural Park |
Antequera sits on the edge of the 540m high plain of
the valley of Guadalhorce, with rugged mountainous territory to the
east and south. Antequera is a pretty white walled, bustling market town, full of culture, tradition and sites of great historic interest. The streets are full of buildings with original and facinating architecture, mixed with a wide variety of local bars and resturants offering some of the best cuisine to be found in the area.
The town of Antequera has a rich history and was first inhabited around 2000 BC by native Iberians who
erected some of Europe's largest megalithic dolmens (tombs of huge
slabs of rock). In Roman times Antequera was known as Anticaria
(ancient city) and had a substantial population. During the times of the Muslim occupation Antequera
was a popular place for the Emirs of Granada, but in 1410 the town was
the first to fall to the Christian forces. Antequera is also the first town in Spain to
experience the use of gunpowder in Spanish warfare!
Antequera is a town of two parts, the "monumental
quarter" at the foot of the hill that is dominated by the Alcazaba and
the "commercial sector", mainly built during the 19th Century and is the hub of modern
Antequera.
South of Antequera lies the Parque Natural El Torcal, located about 30 km north of Málaga city in the direction of Antequera near the village of Villanueva de la Concepción, within El Torcal Park's 17 square km are some of the most beautiful and impressive limestone landscapes in Europe. Forced upward into the hills and mountain of up to 1,300 meters in height by violent movements of the Earths crust the limestone still maintained its layered horizontal formation. Because of this, over the millions of years the rain and wind have been able to chisel away at these limestone layers to form incredible shapes and a facinating landscpape.
To reach the heart of the park it is possible to drive up to 1.100 m. above sea level along a good access road into the park. Once in the park you will find an information centre and small museum. El Torcal is a walkers paradise with a myriad of walking routes, and for those with keen interests in flora and fauna El Torcal will not disappoint and is home to thirty species of orchid, hawthorn, ivy, wild roses, 82 species of brids including the spectacular Griffon Vulture, and more than 22 species of mammals.
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