Previous page Next page

Breakfast already swallowed, we take the road for the visit of the day: Almería!

Almería, capital of the province of the same name, with almost 200,000 inhabitants, is a large port in the Mediterranean.
The city has existed since antiquity, founded by the Carthaginians. Scipio the African took it and renamed it Portus Magnus (Grand port). The city was then occupied by the Vandals, the Visigoths, the Byzantines, again by the Visigoths, then by the Arabs, who named it Al-Mariyat ''the watchtower''). The Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Rahman III built the citadel, the Alcazaba, in 955. Plundered in 858 by Hasting, Viking chief, the city rocked between different Arab hands and the king of Castile. It was in 1489 during the famous Spanish Reconquista that she definitively returned to the fold of Spain. Since then, it has served as a military place until it was transformed into a tourist and archaeological site.

We start the city tour through the Alcazaba, where a statue of Abd al-Rahman III welcomes us at the start of the steps to reach the first door.

The entrance to the Alcazaba: the door of justice.

Here we are in the jardines, the interior gardens of the first enclosure, with a sort of water garden and fruit trees (figs, almonds, mandarins ...). And a glance by the ramparts in direction of the city.


We also look at the rampart of jairán, with a statue of Christ.

A small Moorish fountain.

Here we are at the top of the ramparts of the second enclosure, which was dedicated to the inhabitants of the fortress.

There is a source of water supplying the basin with lots of goldfish and water lilies, and then the water gardens of the first enclosure.

Always cats! He keeps the toilet.

In one of the Arab houses (since the place had been built by an Arab, as a fortress), we have a mini-museum with excavated pieces from the ruins of the second enclosure. And another terraced house with the living layout as at the time. again with everyday objects found on the excavations here.

In the ruins there is a hammam, several dwellings, and even species of large balls.

Then here we are in the 3rd and last enclosure, the military bastion of the citadel.

From here, the view is really beautiful over the city, you can see the port at the bottom. There are even prickly pears (the famous cacti) on the side of the slope.

The dungeon has two beautiful cannons!

We descend quietly from the citadel, we pass by a wing of the ramparts for a small explanatory video of the history of the Alcazaba (its foundation, its evolution, its role ...), we also find the old water reserves .

New passage through the fruit and water gardens of the first enclosure before leaving the Alcazaba.

We descend further down into the city, and after turning for a few moments, with the car parked, we are at the tapas bar. On the menu this afternoon, a tapas ''mini-burger house'', croquettes of the sea with cuttlefish ink, and the paella they were making when we arrived. All washed down with Tinto de verano, beer and cider. (With a very skeptical Sam about what to eat first in his paella ...)

After this well-deserved break, we walk around the city a bit. A passage through the main rambla, the main avenue. There are gigantic magnolias here!

Shortly after we arrive at the Catedral de la Encarnación d'Almería. Construction began in 1524, following the earthquake that destroyed the old temple. Completed in 1562, it is no longer a simple temple, or even a cathedral, but here now stands a cathedral-fortress. Designed as a place of worship, but also as a stronghold to help protect (and protect oneself) from barbarian and Moorish pirates. There are high thick ramparts, crenellated towers, cannon posts up to the roofs. But the part dedicated to worship is also very important.

Paleontological point: the soil slabs are composed of fossiliferous rocks!

The interior of the cathedral is very large, there are several chapels, more or less decorated. Including the funeral chapel of Bishop Fernández de Villalán.

Opposite the altar is the chorus, with its 75 carved walnut seats on two floors, overhung by two large organs facing each other like battleships. There are even balls of decorations that look like Jupiter!

Leaving, we continue to walk, and at the bottom of Calle Puerta del Mar, Sam shows me a statue. It is the famous Indalo. Symbol of the region which was painted in large quantities in the surrounding caves dating from the Neolithic. Today considered lucky charm for the region.

Being close to the sea and the beach, we decide to go for a walk. We pass under a wide gauge railway that went to the water.

Near the sea is a memorial for all the inhabitants of Almería who died in Manthausen.

The sea is close, we really need to bathe in it... today, we will just walk there.

New passage under the railway, with a photo stop next to the Deutz power train.

The fatigue of walking through the city (and the slight lack of water) begins to be felt, so we take the way back to the car.

On the way, we pass a church where part of the film Indiana Jones and the adventurers of the Lost Ark were filmed.

Instead of going home, we make a detour to el Corte Inglés which is in El Ejido. It's a big shopping center with something very very nice in it, but I'll talk about it later, in another day of the report. We take a well deserved refreshment and with Sam's family we do some shopping.

The day ends quietly at Olivier and his parents, with a meal full of good things, ham with a knife, homemade marinated anchovies, good wine and beer!

In fact, no, the day does not end right away... We take advantage of the roof and the clean air with not too much light pollution to have fun taking beautiful pictures of the sky with the milky way. (Well, there are still some monstrous spots that light up... the sky... instead of the ground...)

It is past 2am .. I think we're going to have a good big nap!

Previous page Next page