Cazorla

The oldest traces of settlement at Cazorla go back to the early river terraces of the Cerezuelo, with a Bronze Age village recorded on a nearby hill called the Loma del Bellotón. Iberian culture took strong root here, and the Romans followed, calling the surrounding mountains *Mons Argentarius*, the silver mountain, for the silver and salt they extracted. Roman remains have turned up within the town itself.

During the Muslim period the town and its neighbours were fortified. After the Reconquista, Cazorla became a significant frontier stronghold. In 1231, Fernando III granted the village of Quesada and its settlements to the Archbishop of Toledo, creating the Adelantamiento de Cazorla, a lordship that generated centuries of legal battles between the Crown and the Church over jurisdiction and revenues.

The lordship changed hands more than once. In 1518 Cardinal Croy handed it to the Flemish nobleman Charles de Lannoy, who sold it on to García de Villarroel for 1,500 ducats. The townspeople rose against Villarroel in August 1520, forcing him to take refuge in the castle.

The Comunero movement briefly suspended him from his post in January 1521, though the order carried no legal weight. The Church's civil jurisdiction finally ended in 1811, when the Cortes de Cádiz abolished it, though ecclesiastical ties to the Archbishopric of Toledo lasted until 1954. During the Peninsular War, Cazorla's resistance was recognised on 1 April 1813, when the Cortes granted the town the title of city with the distinction *Muy Noble y Muy Leal*.

The main church of Santa María was destroyed in that conflict and never fully rebuilt. Later, Alfonso XII rewarded the town's loyalty during the Carlist wars by elevating its council to the rank of *Excelentísimo*.

The two most prominent structures in Cazorla both sit on the Cerro de Salvatierra. The Castillo de la Yedra was built on Roman foundations, with successive Arab and Christian additions from the 11th to the 15th centuries, and shows clear Mudéjar architectural influence. Archbishop Pedro Tenorio thought highly enough of it to mention it in his will.

The castle is in good condition and houses the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs of the Upper Guadalquivir, split between a history section in the keep and an arts-and-customs section in an adjacent building. Above it, the Castillo de las Cinco Esquinas crowns the same hill with a distinctive pentagonal plan. Down in the town, the Fuente de las Cadenas is a landmark fountain built around 1605 in honour of Philip II.

In Herreran style, it has three spouts, a relief of a chain on the lower section, a central shield with an inscription referencing Philip II, and two shields of Cazorla on either side. The ruined church of Santa María de Gracia is a 16th-century Renaissance structure, one nave, lateral chapels, a barrel-vaulted presbytery with coffering, and one surviving tower. A flood in 1694 may have contributed to it never being completed.

Since the 19th century it has been used as an open-air auditorium and venue for events including civil weddings. Other monuments include the Casa de las Cadenas, the 18th-century Town Hall and Palacio de la Merced, the Church of the Virgen del Carmen with its octagonal tower, the Convent of San Juan de la Penitenciaría, the Monastery of Montesión, the 17th-century Palacio de la Vicaría, four hermitages, and a bullring built in 1928 with a capacity of 3,500.