Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Route of the Oranges - February 17th

Juan, our regular driver, has given this name to a trip which takes us past Ardales to the town of Teba some 15 kms further on and later includes a visit to Olvera.

We glimpsed the castle of Teba on our trip to Arcos and heard something of the famous connection with Scotland. it was here that Sir James Douglas, known as Black Douglas, fought alongside Alfonso XI of Castille on August 25th 1330. He was carrying the heart of Robert the Bruce to the Holy Land in a casket and saw an opportunity to Crusade nearer to home. Unfortunately for him the Moors won this battle and killed Black Douglas. The heart now rests in Montrose Abbey.
Scottish connections do not end there as a year later the Earl Of Selkirk tried again to oust the Moors and the souvenir of his visit is a one ton slab of Dumfriesshire marble now in the Plaza de Espana. It was not until 1339 that Alfonso reclaimed the town from the Moors.

Today you see an impressive 18th century parish church which contains a 16th century cross given by Ferdinand and Isabella (the conquerors of Granada) and wonderful views out over the River Guadalreba to the dam and lakes below.

Our trip will then move on to Olvera. the start of the Publos Blancos route.
  
The main monuments are the Church and the Arab Castle which was apopular vantage point on our last visit to this lovely town.

Thursday February 17th 2011 at a cost of 30 € which will include our usual stop for coffee and tostado and lunch