España - Málaga - Teba - Castillo
ENGLISH
High on a rocky saddle in the mountains east of Ronda, some 15km north of Ardales, the small (pop: 4,000) town of Teba has one of the most extraordinary historical connections of any of Andalucía's pueblos.
Like many of its neighbours - although Teba doesn't have that many neighbours in this wild, semi-agricultural mountain region - Teba has a history stretching back to Roman and Neolithic times. Its true to claim to fame, however, is in the events of 25 August 1330. In the thick of the Reconquest, that year Teba was under siege by the armies of King Alfonso XI of Castilla, determined to take this important strategic site from the occupying Moors.
That day in 1330, Alfonso's forces received unexpected police backup from the army being led to the Crusades by Sir James Douglas, or Black Douglas, a fearsome warrior whose name was invoked against misbehaving children for centuries afterwards. Douglas had helped Robert the Bruce defeat Edward II and the English at Bannockburn in 1314. When Robert the Bruce died in 1329, his heart was cut out and placed in a small silver casket, said to be one of the king's favourites, and was taken by Douglas on his Crusade, ostensibly to give cheer to the soldiers.
En route through Spain, Douglas encountered Alfonso's army, and presented himself and a letter of introduction from then King Edward III. The bloodthirsty Crusader eagerly threw his forces behind those of Alfonso's, and in an attempt to inspire his men into even greater bravery hurled the locket containing Robert the Bruce's heart into the fray, plunging in after it.
The locket was retrieved but, alas, Black Douglas wasn't. The locket was returned to Melrose Abbey, where the new king, David II, son of Robert, wanted it buried. During archaeological investigations in 1996, a small container was found in the alleged site of the burial. It was found to contain a small conical casket about ten inches high by four in diameter at its base, tapering to a flat lid at the top about one and a half inches across. Although worn with age the casket was still in good condition and bore a legible inscription: 'The enclosed leaden casket containing a heart was found beneath Chapter House floor, March 1921, by His Majesty's Office of Works.' The casket containing the heart was not re-opened on this occasion, but buried again during a private ceremony at Melrose Abbey on 22 June 1998.
This was by no means Teba's only unlikely collision with Scottish history. The Moors repelled Alfonso and the unfortunate Black Douglas that year. A later passing Scottish Crusader army, led by the Earl of Selkirk, also engaged Teba's Moorish rulers, leaving behind a one-ton slab of Dumfriesshire marble, which is nowadays a commemorative plaque in the town's central Plaza de España, renamed Plaza de Douglas in the Crusader's honour. Alfonso's force s finally took the town in 1389.
Teba's earlier history is less dramatic. There is evidence of Neolithic settlements here and nearby in the Pilarejoarea and in the Palomas caves. The Romans considered it an important settlement, building the first defensive settlement at the hilltop site they called Attegua but now known as Teba la Vieja (Old Teba). It is said to have been the site of a famous battle between Julius Caesar and Pompey. In the 8th century invading Moors reinforced the Roman site with a walled interior precinct, or bailey, but shortly after the Moorish invasion the settlement was moved below the abandoned castle, and the settlement renamed Ostipo.
In its remote situation, Teba 'sat out' much of post-Reconquest history, perched above vast, dramatic sweeps of largely uninhabited farmland owned by the so-called latifundistas, basically, absentee landlords. Its wealth can be seen in the many mansions and handsome town houses lining its streets.
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ESPAÑOL
Teba es villa y municipio de la provincia de Málaga, en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, España. Está situado en el noroeste de la provincia, en la comarca de Guadalteba y dentro del partido judicial de Antequera.4
Su término municipal está atravesado por el río que da nombre a la comarca y ocupa una extensión de 142,95 km² que se extienden sobre un paisaje alomado de campos de cereales y olivar, a una altitud media de 555 msnm. Tiene una población de 4.001 habitantes, según la revisión del padrón municipal de 1 de enero de 2014.
El núcleo urbano de Teba se compone de casas blancas de arquitectura vernácula andaluza y viviendas señoriales y palacetes, presididos por un castillo andalusí y una iglesia barroca del siglo XVIII.5 La economía del municipio se sustenta en la agricultura y la ganadería, especialmente en la cría de porcinos y el cultivo del trigo y el olivo.
Los distintos yacimientos del municipio indican que el territorio de Teba estuvo poblado desde el Paleolítico y que fue un asentamiento íbero, romano y andalusí. Fue incorporado a la Corona de Castilla en 1330 por Alfonso XI, siendo instaurado el Condado de Teba en 1522 cuando la localidad y sus tierras ya estaban dominadas por el clan de los Guzmanes. Durante los siglos XIX y XX Teba destacó entre su entorno por la fuerza con que arraigó el movimiento obrero.
El término municipal de Teba tiene una extensión de 142,95 km². El casco urbano se encuentra situado a una altura de 555 metros sobre el nivel del mar. El terreno es predominantemente montañoso y abarca los cerros de Román y Gordo, que lo separan del municipio de Campillos; el de la Higuera, que limita con Ardales; el de Altamira, junto al límite con Almargen; los de San Cristóbal, la Camorra y el Camorrillo en la denominada Sierra de Teba o de La Camorra, la loma de La Lentejuela en la Sierra del mismo nombre y el de Enmedio en la Sierra de Ortegícar. Las mayores alturas las alcanzan el Cancho de Enmedio con 895 msnm y la Sierra de la Camorra con 750 msnm.
Todo el municipio se encuentra en la cuenca del río Guadalhorce, siendo los ríos principales el río Almargen o de La Venta y el río Guadalteba, el primero afluente del segundo, que a su vez es afluente del Guadalhorce. Los restantes cursos de agua son arroyos de escasa importancia que vierten sus aguas al mencionado río o directamente al Embalse del Guadalteba.
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