Íllora is a municipality in the

province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropi ...

, located in Andalucia. Spain. It is surrounded by the following villages: Moclín, Pinos Puente, Valderrubio, Moraleda de Zafayona, Villanueva Mesía, Montefrío, and with the municipality of Alcalá la Real. The municipality consists of Íllora, Alomartes, Tocón, Escóznar, Obéilar- also known as La Estación de Íllora–, Brácana, Ventas de Algarra, Vallequemado and La Alhondiguilla. The main source of income is the rural economy, especially the

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

Demography

Number of inhabitants in the past few years:

Toponymy

Íllora comes from the term “Illurco” or “Ilurco”, which according to Wilhelm von Humboldt seems to be of Basque origin or of some Pyrenean town before the Iberian and Celtic settlement. Hence, its name, “Ilurquense”. All historical references from the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, showed the word “Yllora”, written with Y instead of be written with I.

Symbols

Íllora's council traditionally comes using a shield based on Felipe's weapons since 1720, although its official approval does not appear. This symbol was adopted when the area passed into the hands of the royal state under his kingdom. This shield includes the barracks of

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

, Aragón-Sicilia,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Modern

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, Old Burgundy, Brabant and

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

with the Borbón-Anjou shield and the collar of the Toisón de Oro's necklace. As differential elements, there are some sort of agile heads in the upper corners, a star in the middle of the upper border and the inscriptions “Hillora” and “year D'VII” above and below the shield, respectively. The mention of 507 is a doubt for historians, who consider that perhaps it is referred to the year in which the town's foundation took place. On the unusual place-name written with H, several hypotheses are also proposed, among which it stands out that the letter could have been added simply for the same number of letters and number of syllables.

History

Some archaeological discoveries have been found in Íllora belonging to the prehistory, the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and mainly of the

Copper Age The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in dif ...

. Towards the year 600 BC the

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

landed in the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

imposing their authority on the

Phoenicians Phoenicians were an ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syrian coast. They developed a maritime civi ...

and, with a clever policy, consolidate the foundations of their empire, including Illurco. With the arrival of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

the colonies settle in already existing villages. Of them, Plinio points out among the most celebrated of the interior to Illurco. During the

Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests **Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia ***Muslim conq ...

there are few data on Íllora; nevertheless, it is deduced from the Christian chronicles that it must have been an important town with fortress and suburbs. Precisely in June 1319 infants Pedro and Juan of Castille seized the town of Íllora and its suburb when they went to devastate the

Vega de Granada The Vega de Granada is a ''comarca'' (county, but with no administrative role) in the province of Granada, in Andalusia, Spain. The name refers to the basin near the city of Granada. This comarca was established in 2003 by the Government of Anda ...

, and according to the

Alfonso XI Alfonso XI (11 August 131126 March 1350), called the Avenger (''el Justiciero''), was King of Castile and León. He was the son of Ferdinand IV of Castile and his wife Constance of Portugal. Upon his father's death in 1312, several disputes en ...

, if they had stayed another day they would also have taken his castle, although the infante Pedro did not want to stay there any longer, because his will was to besiege Granada and keep it surrounded «until they win it, or die on it», as recorded in the Grand Chronicle of the same king, although shortly after both infants died in the Disaster of the Fertile valley of

, happened the 25 of June 1319. In June 1319, when the

was being devastated, the town of Íllora came into the possession of the infantes

Pedro Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meanin ...

and Juan de Castilla. If they would have stayed one more day, affirms the Chronicle of

, they would have also taken its castle. The infante Pedro did not want to stay anymore, as his main ambition was to isolate Granada until they seized it. However, both infantes were killed in the valley of Granada disaster, which occurred 25 June 1319. In the spring of 1486 King Ferdinand of Aragon resumed the war against

beginning with the place of the current Loja, whose surrender of the city was the key that would open the conquest of the fortress of Ilurquense. On June 8 of that same year the

Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Isabella I of Castile, Queen Isabella I of Crown of Castile, Castile () and Ferdinand II of Aragon, King Ferdinand II of Crown of Aragón, Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of ...

conquered Íllora, who later named

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman. He led military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars, after which he served as Viceroy of Naples. For his e ...

the Great Captain, as their first Christian warden, hence the name of the local school. After the Reconquest, the manors did not reach similar dimensions to those of other areas of the country. Although they played an important role in the beginning of the new period, little by little it was disintegrating and losing presence in the configuration of the town. The access to the property was produced by the abandonment of the original Muslim owners, passing into Christian hands. Economically, this period will be based on

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow crops on smallholdings to meet the needs of themselves and their families. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements. Planting decisions occu ...

, with

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

constituting the population's food base. During the first half of the nineteenth century Íllora will live a stage of stability that will be interrupted by the Napoleonic invasion and the subsequent

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. The French provoked the rejection of the people, who supported the Grenadian uprising against Godoy in April, and even enlisted many people as soldiers against the French takeover of Granada. The region was in a situation of decadence due to the looting that the Napoleonic troops carried out. With the return of King Fernando VII Íllora regained its economic and social impulse to be again altered negatively with the clashes between absolutists and realists, who will have in the passage of the General called Rafael Riego Montefrío and its support for certain sectors of the population of Íllora its contact element to subsequently suffer repression in the area. Before the uprising of Loja, the ilurquenses remained faithful to the authorities and even collaborated with the Army to capture fugitives from that city. Circumstance that will not be repeated in the democratic six-year term when Íllora will be added to it.

Culture

Museums

* Pósito del Trigo – has a neoclassical style, built in 1738 * Molino – Alomartes' museum

Historical heritage

In the center of the village, at the top of a rock, there are the ruins of the old castle of Íllora, although there are hardly any remains of the

wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or serves a decorative purpose. There are various types of walls, including border barriers between countries, brick wal ...

s. This castle dates from the Caliphate period (9th-10th centuries) and is structured in three areas: the villa, the citadel and the suburb. Associated to that castle, there are a series of optical towers, among which the Tower of Brácana stands out. In Tocón, there is another tower, in this case a farmhouse or rural castle. All of them are works from the

Nasrid The Nasrid dynasty ( ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; ) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the foun ...

period. Moreover, there are some towers: The Torre de Brácana, for example. In Tocón there is another tower which is a rural castle. All of them belong to the

period. Illora, furthermore, counts with another important historical-artistic monument (which was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1980) is the church called Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación designed by

Diego de Siloé Diego Siloe (anglicized) or Diego de Siloé (c. 1495–1563) was a Spanish Renaissance architect and sculptor, progenitor of the Granadan school of sculpture. He developed the majority of his work in Andalusia. Biography Siloe was most likely ...

who is also known for building Granada's

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in the 16th century, with the intervention of some disciples like Juan de Maeda and Diego de Pesquera.

Music

The most important musical event which is celebrated in Illora is Parapanda Folk festival. It was declared to be of National Tourist Interest and takes place during the summer holidays, in the last week of July. It is performed by some national and international ethnic groups. This activity is considered to be culturally relevant.

Festivities

The local festival in honor to Saint Rogelio takes place on the third weekend of August. Even though the actual day of San Rogelio is 16 September- which is also a festive day in the village. The local faire is from the 8–12 October. A long time ago was considered to be one of the most important of all Spain. Easter is one of the most important weeks of the whole year culturally and religiously. Beginning with his proclamation, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday there are many events and celebrations scheduled by the Parish of the Incarnation and the four existing brotherhoods: the Patronal de San Rogelio, the Christ of Youth, the Our Father Jesus Nazareno and Maria Santísima de los Dolores, and the brotherhood of the Most Holy Christ of Veracruz.

Sports

The Sports Union of Íllora (UD Íllora) is the main football team that the municipality has. His field is in the Sports Complex La Laguna. Since 2011, the Antonio García Football Field "El Calvo" has been a 2-star artificial turf (the maximum number of FIFAs is 5). The lower categories of that team are called UD Parapanda. There are also futsal teams, whose field is the municipal pavilion of Íllora. There is an association called Gallipatos de Parapanda, which is dedicated to mountain biking and competitions.

Gastronomy

Among the traditional cuisine, one of the main highlights is the conservation method for the food. The meat maintenaiment in olive oil is the principal way of cooking the well-known guisos. Some main dishes are the

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

in sauce.

Well-known figures

*Saint Rogelio (ninth century), monk and martyr. *Juan Bautista Sánchez González (1893–1957), a soldier who fought in the War of Morocco and the Spanish Civil War. He became Captain *General of Aragon, the Balearic Islands and Catalonia. *José Francisco Lorca Navarrete (1944–2000), professor. * José Eduardo González Navas (1951), politician. *Nicolás Jiménez Molina (1896), politician. *Guillermo Campos Jiménez (1965), artistically known as Morenito de Íllora. Flamenco singer.

References

1. Erbez Rodríguez, José Manuel
«Símbolos de Granada. Íllora. Escudo del municipio»

ine.es
(1 de enero de 2017)
«Población de Íllora»
3. Instituto Nacional de Estadística. «Nomenclátor: Población del Padrón Continuo por Unidad Poblacional ». Consultado el 29 de diciembre de 2017. 4 «Morenito de Illora». http://www.flamencaymas.com/. Consultado el 5 de julio de 2018. 5.
Asociación cultural Arturo Cerdá y Rico
1787, p. 39. 6. Catalán, 1977, pp. 314–315.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Illora Municipalities in the Province of Granada

Demography

Toponymy

Symbols

History

Culture

Museums

Historical heritage

Music

Festivities

Sports

Gastronomy

Well-known figures

See also

References

References