Teba

Location

Guadalteba

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Interesting Facts of Teba

Surface Area: 143 square kilometres

Population: 4,253

What the natives are called: Tebeños or Tebanos

Outstanding Sights: La Estrella castle, “Una Cruzada en el Guadalteba” Visitor Centre, Santa Cruz Real church, San Francisco convent, Museo Parroquial (Parish Museum), Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum)

Geographical Location: in the GuadalTeba area of the western part of the Antequera region, of which it is geographically a part. The village is 555 metres above sea level and is 87 kilometres from the city of Málaga. The average annual precipitation is 500 litres per square metre and the average temperature is 14º C.

The extensive municipality of Teba, in the western third of the Antequera region, stretches from the Guadalteba reservoir in its southern part to the border between Málaga and Seville, into which a small corner protrudes. It is in general a land of gentle hills mostly covered by olive trees and grain fields.

The village of Teba stands virtually in the centre of this municipal territory and is surrounded –almost hidden, actually– by the San Cristóbal, La Camorra, El Camorrillo and El Castillo hills. This last hill, where the La Estrella castle is located, commands a view of an enormous area with the village as the primary point of reference. The Peñarrubia mountains mark a change in the topography of the region, a reminder of the relative proximity of the rugged Ronda highlands.

It should be understood from the beginning that this village in the province of Málaga has no relation, despite what the similarity in names may suggest, to the cities in Egypt and Greece with almost the same name. This is not a gratuitous explanation since more than one visitor has wondered about the possible connections between those historic cities and this Málaga village. With that fact made plain, however, it must be said that remains discovered at the Cueva de las Palomas (Las Palomas cave) and at El Pilarejo-stone and bronze tools-show that there were human settlements since very remote antiquity in this area. It was not until the arrival of the Romans, however, that Teba acquired a certain importance.

Ancient Attegua, as it was then known, was in fact one of the places where civil strife between the followers of Caesar and those of Pompey took place, according to the description by Caesar himself of the surrender of Attegua in the year 45 B.C. The city is also mentioned by Hircius, the chronicler of the Battle of Munda, and even by Suetonius, the Latin historian of the first and second centuries and author of the famous The Lives of the Caesars.

Nevertheless, these important historical notes do not pertain to the Roman ruins found at Teba la Vieja (Old Teba), which are quite sparse and aside from part of the masonry structure of the castle amount to no more than a few coins from the time of Vespasianus and some shards of urns and clay vessels.

With the settlement of the Muslims in this area, the village was relocated from its former site (Teba la Vieja) to the present one. It would be named Ostipo, although at times it was also called Ostebba, from which the village’s present name surely comes. The Arabs strengthened and extended the old Roman fortress and used it as a defensive stronghold until the city was conquered by Alfonso XI of Castile on 20 January 1389, as recounted by Father Mariana in his General Chronicle of Spain.

In contrast to other villages, which passed back and forth between Muslims and Christians either as the result of sieges or of compromises in their best interests, Teba did not fall into the hands of the Muslims again despite being besieged more than once, especially in the time of Juan II. One of the most spectacular historic events ever to occur in this village happened in the very battle that Alfonso XI unleashed against the Muslims during the taking of the castle: one of the soldiers who died in the struggle was Sir James Douglas, a knight of King Robert I of Scotland. It is not clear just how it came about, but this knight presented himself for service at Teba and it was to be his lot to participate together with the troops of Alfonso XI in the attack on the castle in which he lost his life.

This event is commemorated by a stone tablet in Teba that was sent from the Scottish village of Melrose by the descendants of that gallant British knight. For that reason that Scottish locality and the village of Teba are united in brotherhood.

Road Directions

From any point on the Costa del Sol, take the Mediterranean Expressway (A-7; N-340) to the city of Málaga and there take the A-45 expressway towards Antequera. Without entering that city connect with the A-92 expressway in the direction of Seville, and about 6 kilometres after getting onto the A-92 you will see the turning for Campillos by way of the A-384. In Campillos the MA-468 begins, and will lead directly to Teba.

Full graphical path: http://bit.ly/tec6St

Tourist Info

Teba
Ayuntamiento, Plaza De La Constitución, 13
Teba
Málaga
29327

Tel: +34 952 74 80 20

Fax: +34 952 74 84 22

Send an email

Website:

Documents

Socios

What to See in Teba

The typically Andalusian urban design of the village of Teba, which has been designated a Historic and Artistic Complex, houses a series of pavilions and aristocratic houses-good examples are the façade of the house of the Empress Eugenia de Montijo and the pavilion of the Marquise of Greñina)- that make a protracted visit highly recommended.

The Castillo de la Estrella (La Estrella castle), designated a National Monument of Historic and Artistic Interest in 1931, is without a doubt the best demonstration of the historic importance of the village. It is situated on a hill of the same name at an altitude of 600 metres, and is an excellent vantage point commanding the broadest views in the municipality. The fortress was built by the Romans and extended by the Arabs, and covers an area of 25,000 square metres, with two walled compounds. The exterior one, which is reinforced by a barbican, has 18 towers plus one with an octagonal base. The fortress, properly speaking-the space occupied by the nobleman in command at the time-has been subjected to numerous enlargements and transformations over the years.

Right within this castle there is the "Una Cruzada en el Guadalteba" (A Crusade Across the Guadalteba) Visitor Centre recounts an event that took place in 1330 when during the offensive of the Christians on the castles on the border of the kingdom of Granada, Sir James Douglas, who was carrying the heart of the first king of Scotland, was killed. The Visitor Centre offers information on the battle and its effects in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Opening hours: Tue-Sat, 11:00 a.m.a-2:00 p.m. and 4:00-8:00 p.m.; Sun, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Closed on Mondays, except public holidays. The staff belongs to the Red de Patrimonio Guadalteba (Guadalteba Heritage). For more information, call (+34) 952 713 455.

The church of La Santa Cruz Real was built between 1699 and 1715 by the master builder of the Seville Cathedral, José Tirado, and is the most outstanding religious monument in Teba. It has a basilica floor plan with three naves, and its interior is noteworthy for the eight metre tall columns carved from red marble that came from El Torcal in Antequera. The façade displays a semicircular arch and the tower is crowned by a graceful pyramidal roof. Only the beautiful façade remains from the old San Francisco convent, which was built in the fifteenth century.

A visit to the Santa Cruz church should be followed by one to the Museo Parroquial de Teba (Teba Parish Museum, 52 Grande Street; telephone: (+34) 952 748 095), which is devoted to sacred art. The collection is made up of gold religious artwork, objects of worship, historic fabrics and the documentary archives of the parish church. Some of these pieces are still being used in religious services as the Christmas Mass. The best item in the gold work collection is exhibited not in the exposition galleries but rather on the church’s main altar. This is a processional cross of gold-plated and engraved silver that was made in the sixteenth century and is attributed to the goldsmith Alfaro of Seville.

The museum displays an excellent collection of 13 chalices, the oldest of which is of pure silver and in the Plateresque style. Among the historic fabrics should be noted a set of priestly garments given by Isabel the Catholic, with its cope, baptismal cap, chasuble, and dalmatic. The most interesting document is a Misale Romanum from 1679.

The Museo Arqueológico or Sala Arqueológica (Archaeological Museum) is located in the Casa de la Cultura (House of Culture, 13 Plaza de la Constitución; telephone: (+34) 952 748 367) and opened in the mid-1970’s. It is noteworthy for its Neolithic collection from the Las Palomas cave, items that date from the third and second millennia B.C.; ceramic relics from Los Castillejos (ceramics from the El Algar culture of about 2,000 B.C., both Punic and Iberian). Furthermore, Roman materials were found at the El Tajo archaeological site, the most important ones being the busts of Tiberius Caesar and of Julius Claudius Nero Tiberius. From this sites were unearthed the pieces that are on display at the Archaeological Museum. These are not the only sites of archaeological interest in the municipality. Cueva de las Palomas, from the late prehistory, Cerro Íbero (Iberian hill) at Los Castillejos and the Roman site of Cortijo del Tajo, both designated Assets of Cultural Interest.

In the village centre there are landmarks like the Mansion of the Marquis of Greñina, which features a spectacular façade that recalls the historical significance of its former owners. Equally impressive is the façade of the Count’s Residence of Eugénie empress of France, born Eugenia de Montijo. The two main columns of the portal have been preserved intact.

Teba
has two interesting samples of religious architecture, the Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno chapel, the seat of the fraternity bearing the same name, and the Nuestra Señora del Carmen chapel, also the seat of the fraternity of Our Lady.

Tourist Info

Teba
Ayuntamiento, Plaza De La Constitución, 13
Teba
Málaga
29327

Tel: +34 952 74 80 20

Fax: +34 952 74 84 22

Send an email

Website:

Documents

Socios

Teba’s Fiestas and Gastronomy

This locality celebrates its Fair in honour of its patron saint, the Virgen del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary) in the first week in October. After the celebrations that are customary for such days, on October 7 the patron saint is borne in a procession through the village streets, which fill with people watching the passage of the Virgin. The bank of the River Guadalteba is the place selected by the Tebeños for celebrating the San Isidro pilgrimage on 15 May. This event is attended by numerous villagers who enjoy a day in the country amid good food and drink and, of course, devout commemoration of the saint.

The Virgen del Carmen (Virgin of Mount Carmel, 16 July) festivities also have a long tradition in Teba despite the fact that this is not precisely a maritime village. A month later the locality celebrates its summer fair, which is usually attended by casual visitors and also by a number of villagers who reside elsewhere and return to the village in the summer.

Halfway between gastronomy and festival is the Handmade Cheese Show of the Guadalteba district, held in October. The fair is aimed at fostering the different types of Andalusian handmade cheese. More than 30 dairies from Andalusia showcase their products every year in this trade show in Teba. The Andalusia’s Cheese Competition is held as a parallel activity during the trade show.

Teba’s Gastronomy

Porra tebeña
(the local variety of a cold soup) and cordero a la pastoril (a lamb dish) are the most traditional dishes of the local cuisine, to which might be added dishes based on espárragos del monte (wild asparagus) and queso de cabra (goat cheese). No one should leave the village before trying the local wine.