(e)tapas of PatasNegras
These (e)tapas of PatasNegras presented here are small portions of the route for you to savour: the Mosque
The natural park, romerias, & a mosque,
the Natural Park
“Founded in 1989 the Parque Natural de Aracena y Picos de Aroche (Natural Park of Aracena and the Peaks of Aroche) accounts for 187,000 hectares divided between 28 districts with a total 40,000 habitants. With the exception of one or two towns, the majority of the communities are small and include a good number of hamlets. The park is characterised by its extensive dense forest, high precipitation, gentle climate, and diverse natural and cultural heritage.”
the pilgrimages
“Each town and village has its own festivals, fetes and holidays but the majority of them celebrate a romeria. (…) The whole population assists in the pilgrimage irrespective of individual beliefs. (…) During the first hours of the morning of the actual pilgrimage, after mass for the pilgrims, lines of horse riders are organised to escort the wagon with the statue from the town to the hermitage. (…)The women are normally dressed in flamenco costumes (and during) the journey ad hoc choirs are formed in which guitars, penny whistles and tambors provide the music to which to dance. Energy is kept up with tapas of hams and cold meats, all accompanied by beer and ´rebujito´, a white wine called manzanilla mixed with tonic water.”
the mosque high in the hills
“The name Almonaster is arabic and comes from al munastir, ¨the monastery¨. This is a reference to the monastery constructed by the Visigoths, which was later transformed into a mosque. (…) There are numerous Roman columns and capitals of the 1st and 2nd centuries as well as interesting Visigoth vestiges (…) (t)hese all bare mute witness to this reuse of the building. During the Islamic era, the building became a mosque. (…)The Mezquita of Almonaster is an exceptional testimony to the first islamic constructions in Spain. It retains the character (so difficult to find) of a mosque in a small town. It is sober, ordered and with the subtle elegance of the Omeya period, whose art unified both the inheritance of the classical era and of eastern influences. “
Quotations from the Patasnegras roadbook ©.
Arriving to the Mosque
Profile of the video 3d flyover.
Climbing up to the Hermitage
Profile of the video 3d flyover.
