Almanzora is a small city in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, Spain. Its name, derives from the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

''al-Mansura'' (المنصورة), "place of victory", and has been passed on from the city to which is shared with a river and to the surrounding Comarca of Almanzora. The area has been settled at least since

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. In 1436, during the ''

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

'', an expedition of Murcians conquered the city from

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

rule. In 1753, the town was the administrative center of the Comarca of Almanzora, and in the 19th century Antonio Abellán y Peñuela was made Marquis of Almanzora. As in many rural areas of Andalusia, there was much emigration during the 20th century. Since roughly the 1990s, there has been an influx of people from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

who have come for the sunny Almerían climate, as well as some return of earlier migrants. The economy has traditionally been mainly agricultural, especially

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to So ...

s, with lemons as an important export crop. The area is also noted for its artisanal breads. Recent immigration from the UK has caused something of a construction boom. There is also a rise in rural tourism (farm stays, etc.)

Places of interest

Palace of Almanzora A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

, dating from the time of the marquisate. A neoclassical building designed by

Ventura Rodríguez Ventura Rodríguez Tizón (July 14, 1717 – September 26, 1785) was a Spanish architect and artist. Born at Ciempozuelos, Rodríguez was the son of a bricklayer. In 1727, he collaborated with his father in the work at the Royal Palace of Aranj ...

, declared part of the Patrimonio Histórico Andaluz. * ''El Púlpito'' windmill, a flour mill disused since the 19th century, used from milling wheat grown near the banks of the

Almanzora River The Almanzora River ( es, Río Almanzora) is a river in the province of Almería in Andalusia, Spain. The Almanzora river rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Los Filabres on the border between the provinces of Granada and Almeria. ...

. The building was originally a military watchtower, one of a series in the river valley, dating back to the Muslim-ruled Kingdom of Granada, intended to defend against the invaders of the ''Reconquista''. * Albox-Almanzora railway station. The best-preserved of the stations of the former Guadix-

Almendricos Almendricos is a village in Murcia, Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_ ...

rail line, closed in 1985. The station chief continued to live there until around the year 2000. It was then used as a band rehearsal space, and later was renovated and converted into a lounge for seniors, with a bar, the "Café-bar La Estación". * Mirador de la Cerrá, a viewpoint constructed by local youths. * Rail bridge over the

Rambla de Albox Rambla may refer to: *Rambla, a synonym of Arroyo (creek) *La Rambla, Barcelona, a street in central Barcelona *Rambla de Catalunya, Barcelona, a major street in Barcelona *La Rambla, Córdoba, municipality in the province of Córdoba, Spain *Ram ...

, a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

to the Almanzora River * ''Las Minas'', iron mines closed in the mid-20th century. *''La Cimbra'', a remnant of an old irrigation system. An artificial spring near ''El Púlpito'' waters the only

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

forests in the area. Such structures were more common in centuries past, with irrigation by similar techniques dating back even before Roman times.

External links

Almanzora
official web site
Palacio de los Marqueses de Almanzora

Photo gallery of Almanzora
pueblos-espana.org {{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Almería