Cieza () is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, in the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...

. It is the capital of the Vega Alta ''

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) 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, mark ...

'', an old form of provincial subdivision). Its current population consisted of 34,889 inhabitants in the year 2018. The

Segura River Segura (Spanish and Valencian: ; ; , or ) is a medium-sized river in southeastern Spain. It has its source in the Sierra de Segura. Course The 325-km (202 mi) long river begins at Santiago Pontones (Jaén Province, Spain, province of J ...

passes by the town. Its economy is based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, mainly in the cultivation of

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and Agriculture, cultivated in China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and the glossy-skinned, non-fuzzy varieties called necta ...

es and

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 ...

s, but industry is also important, since 4,000 people work in that sector. The

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

, transport and tourism are also very important in the local economy.

Main sights

Populated since the

Paleolithic Age The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, the area of Cieza is home to

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

excavations in the such as and La Serreta; and Barranco de los Grajos. There are also Iberian remains (found at Bolvax), as well as

Roman 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 ...

Visigothic The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

, and

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

ic deposits. The Arabs, who inhabited the area from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, and who knew the area as ''Medina Siyâsa'', left behind a mountain fortress. At the dig site of Medina Siyâsa, many decorative

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

elements have been found, such as engraved

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

es and

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

s, and

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery, or sculpture in multiple colors. When looking at artworks and ...

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...

metals A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. These properties are all associated with having electrons available at the Fermi level, as against no ...

, etc. All these discoveries are kept in the museum of Siyâsa. The Ermita ("hermitage") de la Virgen del Buen Suceso is located in the area known as Collado de la Atalaya. The Plaza de España is located in the heart of the city. The modern market was built in 1929 by . El Paseo ("The Walkway") contains pictorial work in glazed tile by , who dedicated the different tiles to several men of letters. The main church is the eighteenth-century Basílica de la Asunción. Inside, there are

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

s and

retablos A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

Rafael Ximeno y Planes Rafael may refer to: * Rafael (given name) or Raphael, a name of Hebrew origin * Rafael, California Fiction * ''Rafael'' (TV series), a Mexican telenovela * ''Rafaël'' (film), a 2018 Dutch film People * Rafael (footballer, born 1978) ( ...

, , , , etc. The Iglesia de San Joaquín, dating from the seventeenth century, used to be a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery in the past. The church-monastery of the

Order of Poor Ladies The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin language, Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Or ...

(''Clarisas''), from the eighteenth century is also an important monument. Other important sites include the main market, which was built in 1929, and "El Muro" (The Wall), built in the nineteenth century in the place where the medieval wall was located.

Facilities

* Sport facilities – In Cieza there are several swimming pools -including a covered and heated one-, several basketball and tennis courts, two football fields, an athletics track, several gyms. * Theaters – There are several theatres in the town (some of them are theatres and cinemas at the same time). They are called Auditorio Aurelio Guirao, Auditorio Gabriel Celaya and Teatro Capitol. * Education – In Cieza there are two secondary schools, seven primary schools, a music college, a special education school, several nursery schools, two catholic schools and two schools which are run by private companies but financed by the regional government. * Health – There is a public hospital which provides health care not only for Cieza but also for people who live in other towns and villages. There are also two public clinics as well as some private ones. * Judiciary – The town is head of a judicial district (in Spanish, partido judicial). As a result of that, there are first instance courts in the town. * Museums – There are some museums and art galleries. The best-known art gallery is Casa Efe Serrano. The most popular museum is Medina Siyasa Museum, which shows objects related to local history.

Climate

Cieza has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''BSk'') bordering on a

hot semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of sem ...

(Köppen: ''BSh'') with mild winters and hot summers. Rainfall is scarce throughout the year, with September being the wettest month of the year, with 44 mm. Frosty days occasionally occur in winter, while temperatures above are common, and can exceed on days of intense heat.

Economy

A third of the territory is utilised for crop purposes and the most widely grown product is the apricot.

Celebrations

The Holy Week celebrations (processions) are the main fiestas. They are Fiestas of National Tourist Interest.

Saint Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

fiestas are also important fiestas, as well as the

Moros y cristianos ''Moros y Cristianos'' () or ''Moros i Cristians'' (), literally in English Moors and Christians, is a set of festival activities which are celebrated in many towns and cities of Spain, mainly in the southern Valencian Community. According ...

Twin towns

Baler A baler or hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, flax straw, salt marsh hay, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. Often, bales are config ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

* Cieza, Spain

References

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Spain Municipalities in the Region of Murcia