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Campillos.
The
municipal territory of Campillos stretches over a region of
broad plains, which is only interrupted by a few low hills
that provide topographic relief to the landscape, and also
in a way mark its boundaries.
They
do not rise to great heights-Barrancos, the highest hill,
has an elevation of 663 metres-but they do lend a certain
variety and some points of reference to the surroundings.
These lands, then, are very suitable for raising grain and
olives, and these crops in fact do occupy most of the municipality
except for the hilly zone, where low brush and scrub grow.
In the southern part of the municipality, the scenery is enriched
by the Guadalteba and Guadalhorce reservoirs, under whose
waters lies the now extinct village of Peñarrubia.
This collection of reservoirs, which extends into adjoining
municipalities, gives to this territory a very different perspective
from what is usual for dry land farming districts.
A protected area of 1,946 hectares near the village centre
consists of a collection of shallow lakes (Dulce, Salada,
Capacete, Camuñas, etc). Although these wetlands are
dry for many months of the year, they have been designated
a Reserva Natural (Nature Reserve) by the Environmental Agency
of the Assembly of Andalusia due to their high ecological
value.
Campillos’
favourable location as a middle point between Eastern and
Western Andalusia, between the Mediterranean and the Guadalquivir,
and equally distant from towns of the historical importance
of Ronda, Antequera and Osuna (province of Seville), has encouraged
the passage of people and goods over these lands since very
ancient times. Thus, judging from remains found in different
places in the region (Castillones, Capacete, Capitán,
Moraleja, La Mezquita, Aljibejo and Romeroso, among other
sites), human settlements have followed one after the other
practically without interruption since the Neolithic age.
Especially large numbers of Roman coins have been found, belonging
to the ages of Octavius, Claudius, Trajan and Constantine,
showing the existence of a number of settlements that must
have been destroyed by the Germanic invasions.
Despite
all these antecedents, however, the first note we have of
the origin of present day Campillos is that in 1492, under
the repopulation policy of the Catholic Monarchs, the village
was founded by people who had come from Teba and Osuna.
Not long afterward, in the second half of the sixteenth century,
the population had increased to the point that it was necessary
to extend the urban nucleus. This time it was done in a more
orderly manner, that is to say by laying out the new streets
in straight lines. The population of Campillos came to exceed
that of Teba, to which it was legally subordinate, and in
1680, it was granted the privileged status of royal burgh.
Recently, in 1975, the territory that until then had belonged
to the municipality of Peñarrubia, the village that
disappeared beneath the waters of the Guadalteba reservoir,
was incorporated into the municipality of Campillos.
Outstandings
Visits:
The Nuestra Señora del Reposo church is the most noticeable
monument in this village. It was built in the early sixteenth
century (1506) and modified in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Its magnificent baroque façade is considered
one of the most interesting and showy of the entire Antequera
region. The interior is divided into three naves, with exuberantly
decorated chapels. The main altar is remarkable. It is made
of pine, with eight Ionic columns, and is overlooked by the
statue of the Virgen del Reposo (Virgin of Repose), a notable
figure by the seventeenth century Granadino School. The clock
in the bell tower was made in 1631 by the Carmelite Friar
Miguel del Santísimo Sacramento of Antequera.
The San Benito hermitage, built in the seventeenth century
and modified in the eighteenth, the eighteenth century Nuestra
Señora de Belén hermitage, that of Santa Ana
(sixteenth century) and of San Sebastián (seventeenth
century), the last of which was financed by the local livestock
producers, complete the historic and artistic itinerary of
Campillos.
People who are interested in archaeology can make a visit
to the sites of Capacete (a Roman villa and bathhouses), Castillón
de Gobantes (from the Roman epoch), Cortijo La Cuesta (a Roman
necropolis) and Los Castillones, where there are ruins of
a Roman town.
How
to Get There:
Leaving from the city of Málaga, capital of the Costa
del Sol, take the A-357, which leads straight to Campillos
without the necessity of a single change. If you come from
Antequera or from some other point in that region, you only
have to take the A-92 and then connect with the A-384. The
first village this latter road passes through is Campillos.
Interesting
Facts:
Surface Area: 187.8 square kilometres
Population: about 8,000
What the natives are called: Campilleros
Monuments: the Nuestra Señora del Reposo church, the
hermitages of San Benito, Nuestra Señora de Belén,
and Santa Ana, and the Roman archaeological sites of Capacete,
Castillón de Gobantes, Cortijo La Cuesta and Los Castillos
Geographical Location: in the western part of the Antequera
region, 30 kilometres from that town and 70 from the provincial
capital. The village centre sits 500 metres above sea level.
The average rainfall is 510 litres per square metre and the
annual average temperature is 15º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Avenida Santa María
del Reposo, 7 (29320). Telephone: 952 722 168; Fax: 952 723
105