Macharaviaya is a municipality in the
province of Málaga in the mountains of the
autonomous community of
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost 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 "historical nationality". The ...
in the south of Spain. It is located in the
comarca
A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march ...
of
La Axarquía.
The village was built upon the ruins of an old
Moorish
The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a distinct or se ...
settlement. Its name is derived from
Andalusian Arabic
Andalusi Arabic (), also known as Andalusian Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken mainly from the 9th to the 17th century in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) once under Muslim rule. It ...
''Machxar Abu Yahya'', meaning "Abu Yahya's Court". It was the home of the noble Gálvez family, whose descendant
Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo had been the viceroy of
New Spain. His son
Bernardo, who was born in the village, became Governor of Louisiana and captured
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...
,
Mobile and
Pensacola from the British during the American Revolution. The historical centre of the village has a preservation order on it. Some Spanish and foreign artists, ceramicists, painters and writers live among the villagers.
Every year in August, Macharaviaya hosts a festival honoring the
patron saint of the village,
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...
.
Main sights
* Church of San Jacinto
* Templete de los Gálvez
* Iglesia mudejar, a local church in Benaque, its tower is the
minaret
A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گلدسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...
of a former
mosque
* Museo de Gálvez
Gallery
File:Benaque.jpg, Benaque in Macharaviaya. Town with Iglesia mudejar church (former mosque) in hill background.
File:Casa_natal_de_Salvador_Rueda.jpg, Benaque church neighborhood.
Twin towns
*
Pensacola, United States
*
Galveston, United States
References
Municipalities in the Province of Málaga
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