Fuente de Piedra
Municipality of the Antequera Region

[History] [Places to Visit] [Shopping] [Gastronomy] [Festivities] [Additional Information]

AREA: 90,10 km. ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 443 metres AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 490 l/m²
AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 15’5 ºC POPULATION CENSUS 1994: 2.041

History and Landscape

The municipality of Fuente de Piedra is situated in the western half of the Antequera region, and extends from the lands of Campillos until the limits of the province of Málaga with Seville. Its landscape has a smooth relief and is covered with olive and cereal fields and is dominated by the enormous Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, to which the ecological interest for the important flamingo colony is added to the beautiful landscape of the extensive sheet of water. Even in dry years, when the level of the lagoon diminishes, the showiness of the area doesn’t disappear.

The presence of the lagoon must have determined the settlers in the area since prehistoric times. According to the remains found, it seems that man was here before and since then remained in the lands until the arrival of the Iberians. These became an authoctonous culture and maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians and Carthaginians.

When the Romans occupied the lagoon in the 2nd century B.C., it received the name of "Fons Divinus" - divine fountain - in recognition of its medicinal waters. The proliferation of sites mark the area’s importance during the High and Low Empire.

In 1461, Don Rodrigo Ponce de León , Señor de Marchena, and Luis de Pernía, captain of the Osuna garrison, take possession of the place after the battle of Madroño and expel the Moors who inhabited it. Thus it was left abandoned until 1547 when Antequera decides to create an area to accommodate the renal sick, who arrived in great numbers to drink the waters of the fountain.

The importance of these waters contributed to a commercial zenith in the area, as they exported it to the New World and to the Naples kingdom. After the prosperity of the 16th and 17th century, the next two centuries were of crisis, as the continuous droughts of the Laguna Salada favoured the spread of epidemics which devastated the population and caused a bad name. Then, the reason of the epidemic was blamed on the vapours which emanated from the fountain’s stagnant waters because of the lack of current, until they decided to bury it in 1969. They have tried to recuperate it since 1983 and have now managed to do so.

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Places to visit

It is a town with a classical Andalusian structure of the plains, with straight streets and whitewashed houses with lintelled doorways and balconies of forged iron, as well as the odd large house or mansion belonging to a noble family or landowner, such as the palace of the Marquess of Fuente de Piedra, which dates from the 19th century and is built in a neo-classical style.

The only religious building which exists is the parish church of the Virgen de las Virtudes, patron saint of the town. It was built at the end of the 19th century (1891) in neo-mudejar style and on the outside is the outstanding principal facade, with a rectangular doorway with lintel, over which there is a double arched large window reminiscent of the Gothic style. Cut into a bevelled edge, the corner of the front on the side of the Gospel, the belfry rises with double arches.

A visit to the lagoon is a must although it must be organised previously as it is a protected place with an exceptional ecological value.

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Shopping

There is no handicraft apart from the home-made pastrymaking, such as 'mantecados' (traditional Christmas sweet made mainly from lard).

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Gastronomy

As in practically all the towns in the Antequera region, pork products from the home slaughtering of the pig or the skilled production of small industries are the basic local gastronomy and area served all year round, as with breadcrumbs fried with garlic, etc. In the spring, the key piece for any dish, or on their own, are broad beans or asparagus, and during the hot summer, the 'porra' is the most tasted dish, as is the 'gazpacho' (cold summer soup). As for the confectionery there is the "bienmesabe" and 'mantecados'.

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Festivities and traditions

The second Sunday in May they celebrate the pilgrimage of the Virgen de las Virtudes. On the 2nd of February, Candlemas, and on the 8th of September the patron saint's festivities. The fair and the main festivities are from the 22nd to the 26th of July.