HUELVA Information: THE
CITY |
The golden myth of Tartessos, so closely linked to area of Huelva,
is mainly related to the Riotinto copper mines and the proximity of
the sea that makes the mineral trade possible. Even more beneficial
was the Roman presence that founded Onuba, the Latin name for Huelva,
which was provided with a large port from where the copper was shipped.
It was from the Saltes island that Christopher Columbus set sail for
America on 3 August 1492, and to this very same mud bank did he return
on 15 March 1493. The Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which produced such
devastation in Andalusia, almost razed Huelva to the ground, and a
great deal of the city's buildings had to be rebuilt. This legendary
city, with such deep historical roots, conserves a pleasant urban
atmospher in the pedestrian Calle Concepción, a veritable open-air
museum of the spirit of Huelva, in the Plaza de las Monjas, which
everyone passes through or stops in, and in the nearby streets. Because
Huelva was built in a diocese capital, the former convent church of
La Merced was chosen as a cathedral, a seventeenth-century Baroque
work restored after the earthquake. Having secured the Royal Mines
of Rio Tinto in the 1870 auction, in 1917 the English built the workers'
neighbourhood of Queen Victoria (Reina Victoria in Spanish), a group
of family houses built in the English style, with the wise design
feature of employing unique elements in the architecture to avoid
uniformity in the construction. In the Punta de Sebo, on the way to
La Rabida, stands the monument to Columbus (Colon in Spanish), created
in 1929 by the North American sculptress Gertrud. V. Whitney.
Less than ten kilometres away from Huelva is the Monastery of La Rabida,
built on a hill at the foot of which the Tinto and Odiel rivers join.
All the religions that have settled in Huelva have used this spot
to build temples or venerate their divinities: the Phoenicians did
so with the god Baal; the Romans worshipped Proserpine; and the Arabs
built a rlibita, a kind of Islamic hermitage. In the thirteenth century
a Christian hermitage was built here, and in the fifteenth century
the Franciscans built the convent that can be found here today.
It was in the convent where an interview took place between Christopher
Columbus, a sailor who was half tradesman, half visionary and half
pauper, and a Franciscan accustomed to listening to men. To a certain
extent this was the beginning of the discovery of America. In 1929
the Huelva artist Daniel Vazquez Díaz painted a series of excellent
murals here on the Columbine theme. The whole monastery breathes understand
ing, adventure and pride in the American nations. Particularly interesting
are the church, the cloisters and the refectory. |
|
 |
More
about Huelva city |
|
|
| |
| |
 |
CarMalaga car hire provides your vehicle right to you as you arrive
at Malaga Airport Car
hire Malaga Airport
|
 |
The best service |
|
Unlimited Km |
|
No coach needed |
|
No queues |
|
24h road assistance |
|
Full equipe |
|
Credit C. not required |
|
Free extra driver |
|
No waiting time |
|
All taxes included |
|
