Pizarra

What to See in Pizarra

The San Pedro church is this locality’s most interesting religious structure. It was erected as a parish church in 1652. The baptismal font, from 1630, is its most valuable item, and it also has a coffered ceiling of great historic value. The exterior is noteworthy for the splendid square bell tower.

The Palacio de los Condes de Puerto Hermoso is very close to the parish church. As has been stated, it was built over the foundation of the manor house whose construction was ordered by Diego Romero in the late fifteenth century. The present palace is of fairly recent construction (early twentieth century) and is in the neo-Mudéjar style, with an indisputably lordly aspect. It was in this palace that the Pizarra Conference was held in 1922.

The Hermanas de la Cruz (Sisters of the Cross) convent is a beautiful eighteen-century house that has been remodelled on several occasions depending on the uses to which it was being put. Several Baroque seventeenth and eighteenth century images can be viewed in its present chapel.

The Nuestra Señora de la Fuensanta chapel, which is hewed out of rock, was adapted for this use in the eighteenth century. It was built over a tenth century Mozarabic church and was designated a Monument of Historic and Artistic Interest in 1983. Its Baroque gesso artwork will attract the attention.

The Museo Municipal de Pizarra (Pizarra Municipal Museum) located in the Cortijo Casablanca (Telephone: 952 483 237) houses the collection of Gino Hollander, an American artist who took up residence in Pizarra in 1968. His passion for Spanish culture led him to amass a valuable antique collection (Roman and Iberian ceramics, metal items, coins, etc.) that is exhibited today in the museum, and which is complemented by a collection of traditional items such as farm tools, chests from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries and an interesting assortment of nineteenth century furniture.

Besides these noteworthy buildings, the visitor can also travel to the distant past visiting the Castillejos de Quintana hill, where he or she will find a series of dwellings carved out of the rock and some graves as well. The most outstanding structure is a huge hole in the rock that experts have not found what it might have used to. In Pizarra there is also the foundations of an Arab tower on the hill of Gibralmora. Given its strategic location, it could have been a watchtower to keep watch for the approach of enemies from the Guadalhorce Valley. At Castillejos de la Luna there is a prehistoric necropolis from the Bronze Age made up by some half dozen tombs. Local people believe that the Roman pool had special properties that used to draw such important people as a Moorish queen, a fact that decided Pizarreños to name this site in Arroyo de la Ahumada as Bañaero de la Reina (the queen’s bath).

A very special place visitors cannot miss in Pizarra is the La Raja Ancha Park, a peculiar ravine that has been developed to receive visitors at this narrow, steep-sided valley. There is a scenic viewpoint and a recreational area. There is a trail that departs at the town centre and goes down to the bottom of the valley. Tourists must go on foot only, as it is a protected natural area.

 

The Pizarra Tourist Board offers guided tours of three sites in the municipality: Monumental Pizarra, Natural Pizarra and the River Guadalhorce by bike. The site

www.pizarraturismo.com has prices and times.

On a walk around Pizarra, visitors will find "cascareros," farming structures where citrus fruit was dried in the old days to make gunpowder, dyes or medicines. The "cascareros" are high, strong structures with saddle roofs.

Pizarra’s Fiestas and Gastronomy

The first fiesta to be celebrated in Pizarra that has roots in popular tradition is that of St Blaise in February. It is the custom at this time to go to the convent with a rosca (type of pastry) to be blessed by the saint. On 28 February, Andalusia’s Day, a pilgrimage is held to El Santo, a place in the Gibralmora Mountains, where the image of the Sagrado Corazón de Jesús (Sacred Heart of Jesus) is kept. After a mass, the villagers enjoy a day of pleasant fellowship.

On the eve of the day of San Juan (23 June), the Los Cafeteras club organises the "burning of the Judas" accompanied by a series of musical performances, and on the next day there is a rural outing on the banks of the river. The aforementioned Los Cafeteras club also organises the Festival de Cante Flamenco (Flamenco Song Festival) in August.

The patron saint fiestas in honour of the Virgen de la Fuensanta (Virgin of La Fuensanta) are held from 14 to 18 August. In the mid-morning of the first day, a pealing of bells and shooting of fireworks announce the opening of the Real Feria de Pizarra (Royal Pizarra Fair). The patron saint is brought down from her chapel –this ceremony is called the "bajá´"– to the parish church that afternoon, and after a solemn religious ceremony the floral offering to the Virgin begins. That night the procession is held, but it takes place at the high part of town one year and at the low part the following year. There is the curious tradition of the raffle, by which at the cry of "Stop!" the villagers take turns as bearers of the patron saint’s throne. With the religious activities over, the fiesta continues with great animation until 18 August.

Semana Santa

The next day the procession of Cristo del Perdón (Christ of Forgiveness) starts at the same spot that the Nazarene did, while the procession of the Virgen de los Dolores (Solitude) departs from her Casa Hermandad. These two thrones also meet in the square, with a fervent public witnessing the act. In the pre-dawn hours of Holy Saturday the entourage of Cristo Yacente de la Paz y la Unidad (Recumbent Christ of Peace and Unity) departs from the interior of the parish church, with the throne of Nuestra Señora de las Penas following this one. The first throne is carried by men, and the second by women.

Pizarra’s Gastronomy

Pizarra’s most typical dish is "sopa aplastá", a variation on the sopa perota of Álora (a soup made of bread, peppers and tomatoes). Tortillas de patatas (potato omelettes) are also a very traditional item of Pizarreña cuisine, as are gazpacho (a cold soup), conejo (rabbit) and empanadillas (meat pies). Roscos and rosquillas (spiral pastries) made from pan de higo (fig roll) are the best examples of the local confectionery.

(Holy Week) begins on the morning of Holy Wednesday with the transfer of María Santísima de los Dolores y Misericordias (Holy Mary of Suffering and Mercy) from her parish church to her Casa Hermandad on Progreso Street, and in the afternoon the image of Nuestra Señora de las Penas (Our Lady of Hardships) is transferred from the convent to the parish church. On Holy Thursday, Jesus Nazareno (Jesus of Nazareth) is borne in a procession by both men and women, and there is also the procession of María Santísima de los Dolores. This day’s climactic moment is the "meeting" of the two thrones on the church plaza.

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