Arcos de la Frontera, in the interior of Cadiz Mountains, is one of the few cities considered as magical because of its three conditions: the aerial one, as its high bell towers and the red Arab roofs seem to be touching the sky; ground condition, because of its vertiginous river cliffs of living rock; and the aquatic one as it is bathed by the fresh and crystal-clear waters of the river Guadalete, the natural mirror where this beautiful town looks at itself every morning. But even if it has an impressive exterior, its interior is even more surprising because of its intimism and its wealth of monuments...

THROUGH THE AGES MANY writers, poets, philosophers and painters have come to Arcos looking for inspiration and vital energy for their creativity. Azorin did not hesitate to describe it as the most beautiful village in Spain. In its labyrinth of streets, small squares and courtyards, the lime and the shadows, the clouds and the grilles, the air and the fountains complete a cosmic oasis for those having the chance of living or visiting this paradise.

From Arcos you can look out over the rich valley of Guadalete. Even if it is climbed onto the top of a high river cliff, the old city -the one the traveller is interested in- is close to the modern part of the city through its steep streets and fortified doors. Meanwhile, through its viewpoints you can observe the fanciful valley created by the river Guadalete that rounds off its image of platform linking sky, earth and water.

Traces of the Spanish Inquisition

UNDER THAT lime and stone layer and that light flooding everything, there is a city marked by the traces of the medieval Inquisition, when in the Plaza del Cabildo -heart of the old part of the city- there were stands to celebrate tedious acts of faith and sentences to heretics (mostly Jewish people or Moslem convert to Christianity), that next were lead to the Cerro de la Horca, in the North of the city, dressed up in humiliating clothes, and there they were quite often burnt alive or in effigies.

The church Santa Maria de la Asunción, its most emblematic religious building, looks out onto this square. Previously the temple had been Major Mosque of the Andalusian city, Visigothic basilica and even Roman temple… A “holy” place in the ancient world that has gone on being a holy place with the passing of time and religious creeds. In front of the occidental façade, in the paving of the porch, we can admire a strange stone circle composed of twelve white voussoirs alternating with other voussoirs in red. In this place the neophytes -Jew or Moslem convert to Christianity- were introduced for being exorcised before being baptized (the circle has lost eventually the eye of God the Father which was in the centre). The bells, on the top of the baroque tower, were described by Pascual Madoz as “the best in Andalusia”.

The façades of the tourist office, the castle, the town hall and the tourist hotel face this square too, and from them the traveller can go to the viewpoint with the best general view over Arcos, one of the most spectacular in our country, and recall -with the river Guadalete in the background- the battle in which, in 711, the last Visigothic king was defeated; this changed the history of Al-Andalus.

City labyrinth

HERE the “magical city” is opened. Under the tall arches delimiting the narrow streets whitewashed year after year, the old city appears. Calle Paraiso (Paradise Street) leads, paradoxically, to the Cárcel Real (Royal Prison) that in 1642 was turned into the Convent of the Mercedarias Descalzas. Inside of it we can find the gloomy dungeons that, unlike the other penitentiary buildings, are situated on the top floor: in its façade in calle Boticas (Boticas street) until mid-XIX century, they used to fix the heads of those executed by the Holy Office.

Next to it, we can find the church of Padres Jesuitas (1767), incomplete because of the royal edict of expulsion of the Order by Carlos III and the beginning of calle Maldonado (Maldonado street), one of the most photogenic streets in Arcos, with the Olivares Veas Theatre and the view, over the Arab roofs, of the arcades and bell towers of Santa María and San Pedro. .

The later temple is a perfect evidence of the gothic style (14th century), and was then finished by the baroque artists (18th century). On the inside the major altarpiece stands out. It is flanked by two display cabinets where the incorrupt bodies of the saints Victor and Fructuoso, brought from Rome in 1769 and which are dressed in a silver garment are displayed.

In this area, according to the chronicles, it was the Jewish quarter of Arcos, which disappeared alter the loutish assaults fomented by pogrom in 1391. The synagogue was in the place where today we can find the gothic chapel of La Misericordia, where there is an artistic vault with five-pointed stars painted in the Inquisition green… The Cuesta del Socorro (Socorro Slope) leads us to another beautiful viewpoint, and through the calle Cadenas, downhill, we find the evocation of Pio Baroja, one of the famous frequent visitors of Arcos de la Frontera. We finish this city tour in the little Plaza de Cananeo (Cananeo Square), where the General Inquisitor took up residence.

A long and exciting history

Arcos de la Frontera has more than three millenniums of documented history, therefore is one of the oldest towns in Europe. It dates back to the Bronze Age, although its precedent as developed centre is the colony of Arcenses, a peaceful Roman villa of which we still have some elegant mosaics and tombs. In the nearby Cerro del Moro (Sierra de Aznar) there was a complex hydraulic system with canalization assuring the supply of drinking water. There the Arabs defeated Don Rodrigo’s Visigoths in the Battle of Guadalete (711).

It didn’t take long to the Hispanic-Muslims to christen it as Arkosch, which became an influential place in Cora (province), Sidonia, and it even became, in a ephemeral way, a little taifa kingdom in the 11th century. Its Christian conquest (1264) took place when Alfonso X the wise reigned. During the 16th century impressive palaces, strong churches and peaceful convents were built in the medieval quarter of Arcos and there was an atmosphere of fear created by the Inquisition. In 1706, Felipe V granted the city the titles of Noble and Very Faithful. Later, in 1962, the old part of the city was declared collection of historic and artistic monuments. Now it is deservedly one of the candidates for being declared World Heritage by the UNESCO.