Moral de Calatrava

The area around Moral de Calatrava has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic, with objects found near the Cueva de la Mora as evidence. Later, a small Roman fishing settlement called Oreto stood near the Jabalón river, and the Romans left further marks on the landscape: a transverse road running from Mérida toward the Levante passed through, and the foundations of the current parish church are thought to be Roman in origin — possibly a public building such as a granary or curia house. The hermitage of San Blas is also believed to have begun as a Roman mansion built alongside that same road.

When exactly Moral de Calatrava emerged as a town is disputed. Some historians argue it existed as a village dependent on Almagro as early as 1212, while others, including Inocente Hervás y Buendía, place its origins later, noting it goes unmentioned in key documents from Alfonso VIII and Pope Honorius III concerning the Order of Calatrava. The earliest firm record is a 1386 licence to build a mill on the Jabalón, though even that document has been questioned.

By the fifteenth century the town had grown in significance, evidenced by the birth there of Rodrigo Téllez Girón in 1454, who went on to lead the Order of Calatrava. Between 1535 and 1544 a formal administrative territory, the encomienda of Moral, was established for it.

Moral's independence from Almagro became clearer through the sixteenth century. In 1565, Philip II ordered the construction of a bridge over the Jabalón, describing the road as a public route between La Mancha and Andalusia — and the fact that Almagro was listed separately among the municipalities required to contribute confirmed Moral's independent status. A dispute over precedence in 1579, settled by a ruling from the Chancillería de Granada in 1581, further defined the town's standing in the region. In 1646, Philip IV granted the town first-instance jurisdiction, a privilege it paid for in instalments every fifteen years.

The parish church of San Andrés Apóstol is the town's oldest and most layered building. The Order of Calatrava raised it over a Roman structure, and for three centuries it served as a fortified tower before becoming a place of Christian worship. Inside, there is a painting by Luis Tristán, a direct pupil of El Greco.

The Hermitage of the Virgen de la Sierra houses the image of the town's patron saint — a Romanesque-style carving of a dark-haired woman holding the Christ child, facing straight ahead without any gesture of tenderness toward her son. She is carried in procession on a hand-carved wooden float made by two local craftsmen brothers, depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin. Coins from the reign of the Visigothic king Wamba were found in the original hermitage building.

The Hermitage of the Virgen de la Soledad was destroyed by fire when its wooden roof caught alight. It was rebuilt toward the end of the nineteenth century but left unfinished after its patron died. For most of the twentieth century it served various non-religious purposes until it was fully restored and blessed by the Bishop of Ciudad Real, Rafael Torija, in August 1994.

The Hermitage of San Roque, co-patron of the town, sits alongside green spaces used for children's recreation and hosts the outdoor celebrations during the town's fiestas in his honour.

The Convent and Hermitage of the Cristo de la Humildad, built by Franciscan friars and located on the Plaza de Piedralaves, is dedicated to the town's patron, the Santísimo Cristo de la Humildad, whose feast day falls on 14 September.

The Hermitage of Santiago or San Blas stands about four kilometres from town on the road toward Santa Cruz de Mudela. A romería is held there on the first weekend of February for San Blas, and it is traditional to buy throat necklaces and pass them over the saint's cloak as protection against throat ailments.

The town also has an Ethnological and Archaeological Museum known as the Museo Ruta Cervantina.