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The City Of Almeria Article
The City of Almeria
from:The city of Almeria is located at the foot of a mountain range, which is crowned by the magnificent Alcazaba, an Arab fortress built by the Caliph of Cordoba, Abd-erRahman III with three huged walled enclosures (in the second of which are the remains of a mosque, converted to a chapel by the Catholic kings).
In times of war, the Alcazaba could hold an army of more than 20,000 men. From here, there is a good view of the city's famed cave quarter, Barrio de la Chanca, and of the strange fortified cathedral with its gothic style construction and renaissance facade.
Dating from the 16th century, it was built during an era when the southern Mediterranian was terrorized by the raids of Barbarossa and other Turkish and North African pirate forces. Situated in the center is the great altar with its wealth of priceless artwork including a tabernacle dating from the 18th century, designed by Ventura Rodriguez, paintings by Alonso Canon, a typical Andalusian altar piece made by Araoz and the statue of St Indaletius, the patron saint of Almeria, sculpted by Saizillo. True historians will appreciate the Almeria museum which contains numerous objects discovered by the well-known Belgian mining engineer, Louis Siret.
Gastronomic specialities include "gurullos" (stew with pasta), "trigo" (stew with grains of wheat, pork, bean and herbs), "gachas" (hot and spicy clam stew) and "escabeche e sardines" (fresh sardines in hot sauce).
As well as cultivating tourism over the past decade, Almeria has also cultivated vast areas of plastic covered greenhouses and now produces the bulk of the province's fruit and vegetables, much for export.
All of the coastal resorts of Almeria are superb in as much as they all have white sandy beaches and the resorts of Roquetas del Mar along with Almerimar and Vera are wonderful places to purchase property for investment, rent, holiday or retirement.