Tag: Jimena de la Frontera

Discover Amazing Southern Spain Andalusia Day Trip Cadiz Villages   Jimena de la Frontera  A town whose origins go way back in time, enjoyed a boom during the Moorish period, especially as a frontier town in the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada during the 14th and 15th centuries. The emblematic building in this town - its Moorish castle - was built in that period.  At the back of the castle we find the "Moorish Queen's Bath", which is actually a baptismal font from an old Mozarabic church that used to exist there, dug out of the rock. Several dug-out niches have also been recovered nearby, which probably belonged to another humble and ancient Mozarabic church. Together with the walls and the cistern, known as the "Moorish Queen's Bath", it forms a priceless architectural site. Other very attractive elements are the churches of La Misericordia and La Victoria, Los Ángeles Shrine, the Royal Artillery Factory building, the cave paintings in the nearby Laja Alta Cave, and the splendid nature area - the Los Alcornocales Nature Reserve - where the cave can be found. The remains of the medieval Al-Andalus castle in Jimena de la Frontera stand on San Cristobal Mountains, and used to serve as a watchtower for old borders. Several of the castle-fort's elements are preserved in quite good condition: stretches of walls that adapt to the topography of the terrain, with their corresponding towers or watchtowers set out in stretches; the so-called Clock Tower, or Albarrán, and the Alcázar, refurbished after being conquered by the Kingdom of Castile, dominated by the circular Keep. The views over Algeciras Bay and the mountains of Cadiz are breathtaking from here.   Arcos de la Frontera Sitting on a spectacular cliff this picturesque town is full of Arab legacy for wich has been declared Property of Cultural Interest.