Interior_ingles 2:Guia Gadix 27/04/11 10:27 Página 12
can still today offer a perfect blend of aristocratic and popular, secular and religious architecture, in an urban environment with no end of contrasts to surprise the visitor at every turn. The monumental and institutional focal point, side by side and forming the frontier between the old and the modern city, is the porticoed square, the Plaza de la Constitución and the Cathedral. These are two architectural complexes of enormous artistic and historical value. The Plaza de la Constitución is the main square and the heart of the city, with the elegant balcony of the Town Hall (previously the balcony of the Corregimiento) being a fine example of its architectural quality and prestige. Just beside it, the Cathedral forms an outstanding medley of artistic styles and history. At the very first glimpse, it conveys surprise and a sense of domination, with its dazzling facade and its soaring tower. Entering the historical city centre, with its winding streets and hidden corners, we find numerous townhouses and palaces, with escutcheons over the doors and corner towers topped with graceful brick galleries. These houses bear witness to the noble Guadix and its aristocratic, cultured past. There is probably no other city in Andalusia with a higher proportion of noble architecture in comparison to domestic constructions, although the scale of the buildings and their external sobriety often make this hard to perceive. Among the notable collection of churches and convents in the city, the Mudejar tradition has left us surprising examples such as the parish church of Santiago, with its capricious doorway and its original internal design, the churches of Santa Ana, San Miguel and the Magdalena, 12
Guadix
and the old monastery churches of Santo Domingo and San Francisco, with splendid polychrome timber framing: here we can sense the religious and festive dimensions of Guadix. Going back in time, an eminent witness to the city’s mediaeval Islamic past, standing tall at the highest point of the city, is the impressive, reddish mass of the Alcazaba fortress. Around it, the streets of small houses are an urban legacy dating back to mediaeval times and to early modernity, with short, no-through roads branching off other very long roads, which are always curved or dog-legged, opening out into different corners, small squares or open spaces, together making up a true labyrinth. But even more surprising than this, and for many people the most exceptional feature of the city, is the famous “Barrio de las Cuevas”, the Cave Quarter, one of the largest areas of its type in Europe. In the past, it was a deprived area, suffering acute poverty, but it is now becoming, not without friction, an alternative area which offers picturesque attractions to the visitor. The recuperation and valorisation of the caves in all of this area has allowed them to be exploited for rural tourism. As well as this, strolling through the streets of Guadix, we find more traces of its rich historical past, such as the Pósito (granary), the Lonja (market) and the Royal Hospital. The Imagen and Mensafíes arches and the San Torcuato Gate, in their simplicity, bear witness to the comings and goings of the people, of their experiences and their devotion. The Ferro Tower and the remains of the city walls in front