We got
our rental car at the Sevilla airport and then headed west
toward Portugal. Along the way, we decided that we would
stop and see the ruins in Niebla, a small city north of the A22
motorway. We had lunch in Niebla, saw the ruins and then
drove on to a deluxe place outside of Huelva, Spain. From
Huelva, we continued west to Villa Real de Santo Antonio just
over the river (border) in Portugal.
The photos below are what we saw.
We had
lunch at a small cafe across the street from the ruins.
The meal was passable, but very cheap. Sadly, it was mid
day and quite hot, which is typical for Andulusia at this time
of year. Niebla was actually in pretty good
condition. The town's history dates back over 3,000 years
due to the proximity of silver deposits (and subsequent mining
efforts) first worked by the Phoenicians. The Romans took
it from the Phoenicians and the Moors took it from the
Romans. In 1262, the Catholics took it from the Moors and
legend suggests that the description of the battle depicts the
use of gunpowder during the battle. If true, this would
make it the first use of gunpowder in Spain. Above is the
entry portal.
No
guided tours here, it is too small a place. The entrance
fee was a whopping 3 euros, so all was right with the
world. The various styles of construction are visible in
the photo above. Clearl, segments of the perimeter walls
are in various states of decay.
In the
restored areas, metal stairs were added which provide a (safe)
way to get to the overwatch.
Some of
the restorations were better than others. Brick and rubble
are above the lintel of the passageway.
There
were old grinding stones in one of the courtyards.
The
interior courtyard was actually quite large. I am still
stunned by the amount of effort that was expended creating
passive defenses. You needed deep pockets and plenty of
materials and manpower to accomplish a task of this
magnitude. And, you needed a great deal of motivation
(also known as "fear") to get the job done.
Note the
key ways chisled into this grinding stone.
The
geared wheel is obviously a re-creation but was used to show how
water was raised from the deep well inside the castle
walls. Failure of your water supply would cause a loss in
battle. Note the decay in the upper parts of the tower.
We left
Niebla and continued west to the outskirts of Huelva.
Kathleen found an awesome hotel rather removed from town.
Huelva, it seems, is an industrial town and a tad
unsightly. Above is the palm-lined driveway to the
hacienda.
The
entrance to the Hacienda Montija was quite grand.
The
interior courtyard was large and elegant. Clearly, this
was used as a venue for large gatherings and weddings.
iPhone photo, thus the distortion.
We only
stayed one night at the hacienda and the next day we took the
A22 west to Villa Real de Santo Antonio. Kathleen got us
rooms at the only 5-star hotel in town right next to the Rio
Tinto river. Once we got situated in the hotel, we headed
out to see the local sights. Across from the hotel, an old
man was walking his dog and the dog wanted to go for a swim.
From the
walkway along the river we could see Spain to the east.
The
river walk was lined with quarried limestone blocks. The
A22 bridge is visible in the distance.
The
blocks used to build the seawall were quite large and if you
look carefully, you can see the drilling holes used during the
quarry process. Lots of holes required for a single block
to be extracted.
We
decided to go to the beach and the path there took us past the
coastal forest.
The path
to the point was narrow and was surprisingly crowded with folks
who were fishing in the river. The bridge is visible in
the distance. The A22 connects Spain with Portugal.
We did
not walk all the way to the end of the breakwater as the top of
the jetty was raw stone and hard to walk on. The photo
above is looking south into the Atlantic.
Looking
across the river to the east, we could see deluxe villas on the
Spanish side. I am sure that these beach-front homes are
super pricey.
There
was a small sailboat race underway on the river.
We
drove back to the hotel and went to the observation deck on
the top of the hotel and got a nice view of the Santo Antonio
marina and the main street.
Looking
to the north east, we could see the ferry port and the police
station.
The
streets in this area of town are cobblestones, narrow and
choked with parked cars.
Walking
along the main street we saw some nicely appointed
homes. This place had twin anchors bolted on the walls.
The
sidewalks in town are made of inlaid cut limestone blocks with
interesting patterns.
From
the marina, our hotel, the "Grand House" was visible.
Guess which building is the hotel. The hotel was
originally called "Hotel Guadiana" and is situated on the
banks of the Gaudiana River and was opened in 1926.
Designed with both art nouveau and baroque styles, it was the
nicest hotel in Portugal south of Lisbon when built. It
fell into disrepair in subsequent years and then was purchased
by new owners who restored it to its original exterior
elegance while also upgrading all the rooms and interior
spaces with contemporary fixtures. It was indeed worthy
of its 5-star rating.
There
was a Portugese Coast Guard boat in port prior to heading out
on patrol.
There
was a large solar storm in progress which was causing northern
lights over most of the northern hemisphere. We went to
the roof overlook to see the lights, but the amount of ambient
light overwhelmed any aurora that might be present. As a
consolation, I pointed the camera at the main street and got
the photo above.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2024, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.