Niebla

Niebla was the Ibero-Roman city of Ilipla, an important crossing point of the Río Tinto on the road between Seville and the mining district of Riotinto, where copper was extracted in enormous quantities for Rome. The town flourished under the Moors as Lebla, seat of a small taifa kingdom in the 11th century. Alfonso X of Castile took it after a year-long siege in 1262, aided by the use of gunpowder artillery — one of the earliest documented uses of cannon in Europe.

The town declined in importance after the reconquest but the walls that had made it worth besieging were maintained. In the 19th century the British-owned Río Tinto Company revived the nearby copper mines, and Niebla became a shipping point once more; the stain of iron oxide that colours the river and the stones of the walls dates from this era.

The walls of Niebla, dating from the Roman period and substantially rebuilt by the Almohads in the 12th century, encircle the entire old town and stand to a height of 8–10 metres in most places. Four main gates survive: the Puerta del Agua (water gate, on the river), the Puerta del Buey (Ox Gate), the Puerta de Sevilla, and the Puerta de Aguas (a second river gate). The Roman bridge over the Tinto, partly rebuilt in the medieval period, is still in use.

Within the walls, the 15th-century Church of Santa María de la Granada incorporates the minaret of the mosque it replaced. The castle, adjacent to the church, houses the Archaeological Museum. The streets of the small enclosed old town have the quiet, slightly time-stopped atmosphere common to enclosed medieval cities in Spain.

Niebla is 30 km east of Huelva on the A-472. Regular buses from Huelva serve the town. The walled circuit can be walked in about an hour.

There are a few cafés and restaurants in the old town. The views from the walls are best in the morning when the Río Tinto catches the light. A half-day is sufficient.