Estepa is a

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' ...

in the extreme south-east of the province of

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. It had a population of 12.631 in 2013. The town is located north of the Sierra del Becerro mountains.

History

Estepa possesses a very ancient past and has well-preserved remains to testify to this. Some date back to prehistory including

flint tools Stone tools have been used throughout human history but are most closely associated with prehistory, prehistoric cultures and in particular those of the Stone Age. Stone tools may be made of either ground stone or Lithic reduction, knapped stone, ...

and

axes Axes, plural of ''axe'' and of ''axis'', may refer to * ''Axes'' (album), a 2005 rock album by the British band Electrelane * a possibly still empty plot (graphics) See also * Axis (disambiguation) An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics ...

. The remains reveal the later accession of Carthaginian people. At least two settlements are known: one situated in Los Canterones, shown by ancient deposits some 6 km from the town of Estepa, and the other under present-day Estepa. Estepa is mentioned in classical sources as Astapa and Ostippo. The Romans destroyed the Carthaginian city of Astapa during the

Punic Wars The Punic Wars were a series of wars fought between the Roman Republic and the Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian Empire during the period 264 to 146BC. Three such wars took place, involving a total of forty-three years of warfare on both land and ...

, as described by

Titus Livius Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

. In the Roman epoch, the town bore the name Ostippo, a free city linked to the Conventus de Astigi (

Écija Écija () is a city and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is in the countryside, 85 km east of the city of Seville. According to the 2008 census, Écija had a total popula ...

). It was mentioned in the

Antonine Itinerary The Antonine Itinerary (, "Itinerary of the Emperor Antoninus") is an , a register of the stations and distances along various roads. Seemingly based on official documents, possibly in part from a survey carried out under Augustus, it describes t ...

.''Historia de Estepa''
, Ayuntamiento de Estepa, accessed 4 July 2011 The Roman city would have occupied the high part of the site, but little evidence remains. Numerous remains of agricultural developments suggest many small populations in the plains to the north of Estepa. Torreon de Estepa

The place continued to be inhabited during the

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 ...

period.''Historia de Estepa''
, sevillainfo.com, accessed 4 July 2011 Under the

Arabs 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 yea ...

it adopted the name Istabba, and the poet Al Zawwali lived there for a while. In 1267, having been taken by Fernando III during the Christian reconquest, the town was handed over to the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

, to take charge of its defence as a frontier position. Its greatest monumental and artistic achievements were attained during the 16th and 17th centuries under the

marquess A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wid ...

es of Estepa; their palace was built on the site of the former Islamic fortress. By the 19th century, although Estepa was expanding, the palace was in ruins and the area was known for banditry.''Breve reseña histórica de la comarca de Estepa''
, Mancomunidad de municipios de la comarca de Estepa, accessed 1 July 2011 The town was granted the title of "city" (''ciudad'') in 1886. During the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

it was soon taken over by Franco's forces. After the war, widespread poverty led to substantial emigration to industrial areas of Spain and other European countries during the 1950s and 1960s; the population remained at a constant level. Social conflict was still present in the area after the return to democracy in Spain, as seen in a strike of agricultural workers in 1990.

Economy

Estepa is well known for its production of Christmas-time sweets, mainly mantecado, or traditional Spanish crumble cake, notable for being based on pork fat. Since 2009 the production of these confections have been protected by a

protected designation of origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

, ''Mantecados de Estepa''.''La Junta admite la denominación de calidad de los mantecados de Estepa''
El Mundo,

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

, 15 September 2009, accessed 3 July 2011 Estepa has 30 such factories,''History and Tradition''
, Regulating Council of Mantecados de Estepa, accessed 24 Feb 2014 15 of which are partners in an export trade association, Coexema A.I.E. The factories produce about 18 million kilograms of Christmas sweets annually, and from September to December they employ in total about 2,000 employees.Reyes Manuela González Relaño, ''Estepa''
accessed 2 July 2011 Over 90% of the workers at these factories are women.
Gaceta de Antropología, Universidad Miguel Hernández (

Elche Elche (, ; , , , ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2024's data, Elche has a population of 234,800 inhabitants,

), accessed 9 July 2011 Other industries are gaining prominence in the area as well, such as Graphic Arts, mechanical constructions, machinery, factories, transport, slaughterhouses, limestone production, etc. South of the mountain range is an industrial estate called "The Heart of Andalucia" with more than 140,000m² of surface area divided into 96 plots. It is financed by Espa and Sodestepa LLC.Alberto Mallado, ''Estepa ... will have a new Industrial Estate''
ABC Sevilla, 29 June 2003, accessed 24 Feb 2014 An important agricultural activity is

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 ...

growing: about 9,500 ha of land within the municipality is planted to olives''Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía: datos de Estepa''
2009, Instituto de Estadística de Andalucía, accessed 10 July 2011 and about 24 million kilograms of a

olive oil are produced annually. Torre Victoria Estepa

Tourism is also a major part of Estepa's economy. Tourists can visit many monuments and historical places, such as ''Convento de Santa Clara'', ''Convento de San Francisco'', a ruined fortress (''Antiguo Alcázar''), the ''Torre de la Victoria'' church tower, the ''Balcón de Andalucia'' viewpoint, and many churches.

Twin towns

Estepa is twinned with: *

Badia Polesine Badia Polesine is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about west of Rovigo. It is part of the upper Polesine, and is bounded by the Adige river, which se ...

, Italy *

Bédarieux Bédarieux (; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie in southern France. The town is surrounded by the Espinou ...

, France * Corrientes, Argentina * Piera, Spain

References

External links

Town Council of Estepa

* Estepa handball club
Mantecados de Estepa
{{authority control Municipalities of the Province of Seville

History

Economy

Twin towns

See also

Further reading

References

External links