Pág. 1 The village of Hornachos was one of the most important mudejar and moriscos (name given to the Moors who remained in Spain after its restoration) settlements of the Castillian Crown during the Modern Age. Its city centre lies along the sun-light face of ‘La Sierra de Hornachos’ (the Hornachos mountains) in between the Moorish Valley and the Christians Valley. It has an altitude of 538 meters. The cave paintings of ‘La Silla’ and ‘La Sierra de los Pinos’ (the Pine mountains) show existence of human life all around this area from the Neolithic and Calcolithic Periods to the present. Six panels of pictorial illustrations can be found in the most hidden part of ‘La Sierra de los Pinos’ (the Pine mountains). These cave paintings are schematic and represent a great amount of human figures (anthropomorphous) along with animal forms (zoomorphic). We can also see the shape of a chart, showing an unusual element in the Extemenian cave painting tradition. The name of Hornachos derives from the Latin word ‘fornus’ which was used to melt metals like ‘galeana pratensis’, and which was extracted from mines throughout the area in the past. Shortly after the year 711, Hornachos was occupied by the Muslims. They built a magnificent fortress along the crest of the mountains. This castle had a significant value since it was located on the route between Mérida and Córdoba, which was the capital city of the caliphate and emirates of that time. Some time later, the fortress would become the border between the Taifas kingdoms of Badajoz and Toledo and subsequently would be territory front of the orders of Alcántara and Santiago. After the Christian conquest in 1234, the majority of the population of Muslim origin, now mudejars, chose to remain in Hornachos in order to preserve the religious customs in exchange for the payment of taxes to the King and the order of Santiago, to which Fernando III gave the village in 1235. At the end of the 15 th century, Hornachos had the most important mudejar population of the Castillian Crown.
Pág 2. From this time is one of the most emblematic buildings: ‘el pósito’, which was used as a grain warehouse from the beginning of the Modern Age. It is a building built from two naves covered by brick barrel vaults, sustained by four arches upon lame and brick pillars. This building is now the Interpretation Centre of Moorish Culture. The Catholic Kings ordered a forced conversion of all mudejar people to Catholicism in 1502. The ones who didn’t accept the conversion would be expelled from the kingdom. The majority of the population decided to be converted to Catholicism and stay in Hornachos from that very moment. The Christian authorities put into practice a series of measures to try to christianise the mudejar population, now called Moorish. In 1511, the works on the parochial church of ‘La Purisima Concepcion’ started. The floor of the construction is made in a basilica way, with three naves covered by an amazing mudejar coffered ceiling sustained over lime and brick pillars. It is, with no doubt, one of the best mudejar constructions in Extremadura. In addition the worship to the ‘Virgen de los Remedios’ began in the 12th century, whose chapel was destroyed and rebuilt in 1884, acquiring practically the appearance it has nowadays.
(Pág 3) The foundation of the Franciscan Convent of St Ildefonso, created in 1530 by the Grand Inquisitor and Archbishop Manrique, was another measure directed to the conversion of the moriscos. This building has a nave covered by a barrel vault and keeps a rich set of altarpieces, paintings and sculptures dated back from the XVI to XVIII centuries. Also from the moriscos’ time are its traditional fountains, all dispersed along the Christians and Moorish valleys, such as Palomas, Cuatro Caños, Ribera and San Francisco. Today we can still find a great number of orchards and gardens surrounding the village which are irrigated by a system of ditches, reservoirs and fountains based on Islamic hydraulic engineering. There are also plenty of terraces, made by the farmers who eliminated the obstacle of the slope in order to cultivate the land. Throughout the XVI century the coexistence between the moriscos and christians deteriorated due to religious and political intransigence. Eventually, in 1610, King Philip II decreed the expulsion of the moriscos. More than 3000 men and women from Hornachos were deported from Seville and were resettled in the city of Salé by the river Bu Regreg, Morocco. There they found the Republic of Rabat, from where many pirates attacked Spanish ships. In 2004 Hornachos and Rabat agreed to become twin towns in order to increase ties of friendship, respect and mutual knowledge.
(Påg 4) Hornachos’ mountain range, situated in the center of the province of Badajoz and with a maximum height of 945m, has been declared Nature Reserve for the protection of birds (Z.E.P.A.) and Area of Regional Interest (Z.I.R). It is also part of the Red Natura 2000. The main rivers which flow along the area are the Palomillas river, the Matachel and the Guadåmez, all declared as places of Communal Interest (L.I.C.) The most characteristic element of the landscape is the dehesa or meadow of holm oaks and cork oaks, which is typical Mediterranean vegetation characterized by droughtresistant plants. Some examples are the retama sphaerocarpa, the genista hirsuta, the erica australis and the narrow-leaved cistus. In the highest part of the Sierra you can see the juniper (Juniperus oxycedru) which appears in great abundance. Within this region, there is also a rare and endemic plant called the Erodium mouretii, which only grows in certain areas of Extremadura, Andalucia and north of Morocco. This mountain range is an ideal setting for plentiful animal life, being significant the great variety of birds of prey. Within the Z.E.P.A. area more than 228 different species have been found, a high number taken into account the limited zone (12.000 ha). The Spanish imperial eagle and other large birds such as the vulture, the eagle owl, the buzzard, the falcon and the kite are native to these mountains. During the autumn and winter the mountains also provide shelter for migrant birds such as the robin or the pyrrhula. In addition, wild boars, foxes, ferrets, common genets are also easily found in these forests. Lastly, another appealing nature location is the reservoir of Los Molinos, where species like the black bass, the barbel or the carp are abundant.
MAP 1. TURIST OFFICE 2. CASTLE 3. PALOMAS PILLAR FOUNTAIN 4. MOORISH FOUNTAIN 5. MUDEJAR WAREHOUSE 6. PURE CONCEPTION CHURCH 7. ST FRANCISCO CHURCH 8. ST FRANCISCO PILLAR FOUNTAIN 9. CHRISTIANS PILLAR FOUNTAIN 10. CUATRO CAÑOS FOUNTAIN 11. LADY OF REMEDIES CHAPEL 12. FUENTECITA’S NATURE PARK
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USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS - TOWN HALL 924 533 001 / 924 533 111 - LOCAL POLICE 676 986 450 - CIVIL GUARD 924 533 002 - HEALTHCARE CENTRE 924 534 189 / 924 534 020 - RED CROSS 924 533 517 - CHEMIST’S 924 533 523 / 924 533 357 - FIRE STATION 924 533 311 - BUS STOP 924 533 048 - TOURIST OFFICE 924 533 533 - INTERPRETATION CENTRE 924 533 518