Crypt of Baron of Velasco

This family funerary crypt, neo-Byzantine style, was built by order of Fernando Ruano Prieto, Baron of Velasco, under the patronal Chapel of his family in the Church of Saint John. The design, by architect Antonio Flórez Urdapilleta, highlights its resplendent golden tesserae, the apse presided over by a Pantocrator, surrounded by four cherubs and three statues sculpted in Carrara marble by the Valencian José Capuz, representing the Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope and Charity).

The most unique thing is its ingenious movement mechanism through rails to access the mortuary niches. These were hidden behind the statues and were activated when someone had to be buried. This is the space that Juan Eslava Galán had chosen to hide the Templar Tombstone in his work, which in fiction he calls the Crypt of Baron of Velillos. The author also recreates the damage undergone during the Spanish Civil War.

(…) They entered a narrow room. To the right began a monumental flight of descending staircase, made of Carrara marble, badly destroyed and full of rubble. They descended with the flashlights on. The staircase described half a circumference and ended in a tiny underground room in the shape of a Greek cross. One side of the cross was occupied by a small altar so thoroughly smashed it was almost unrecognizable. They focused the flashlights at the ground. In the center, three monumental Carrara marble sculptures, two meters high, were piled up, one on top of the other, impeding the passage (…)

Arjona Town Hall

The building that houses the Arjona Town Hall is a traditional Andalusian-style house from the 19th century that Juan Eslava Galán describes very precisely:

(…) The Arjona Town Hall was an Andalusian-style house with a bright, beautiful inner patio with marble flooring and surrounded by columns. Along the walls, a beautiful tile plinth ran halfway up. There were pots of aspidistras in the corners; on the walls, notice boards and large, faded aerial photographs of the town. At the end there was a marble staircase that led to the upper floor. (…)

The Arjona Town Hall is one of the last places that Pío Exposito, the protagonist of the novel, visits in the city. He only intends to return an umbrella to the secretary, but he will come across a surprise.

Once inside the building, it is convenient to visit the room called the Sala de la Antigua Alcaldía, which is used as a reception place for official visits and has a historicist decoration with Islamic medieval reminiscences, with typical elements of Mudejar, Nasrid or Caliphate artistic styles and, thus, differentiated from the rest of the townhall. This decoration was originally located in the palace-house owned by the Baron of Velasco, Fernando Ruano Prieto.

The Templar Tombstone

The Templar Tombstone, the element that gives the novel its title and that generates its plot, is a marble stone that is located in an unexpected place that the author reveals at the end of the novel.

(…) He was on the third rung when he discovered her.

There it was, embedded in the wall to the right, under the inclined plane of the second flight of stairs. (…)

The Tombstone has the enigma of the Table of Solomon engraved on its external face, by means of a geometric mandala,, which hides the encrypted key to the dominion of the world, the “Shem Shemaforash”.

In its search a curious and strange group, conformed by an ex priest, a university professor and a librarian, compete; the Masonic lodge, “the twelve apostles”; two factions of the Vatican, among which the Vatican secret services; the Jewish Lubavitch sect; and the Israeli secret service, the Mossad.

A series of elements, which, after a frenetic action throughout the novel, surprises with an unexpected outcome.

Finally, the Templar Tombstone appears in the Arjona Town Hall itself, taken there by a neighbor who bought it from a gypsy from Granada and donated it to the Town Hall.

(…) On the white marble tombstone, occupying its entire surface, the remote hand of the marble maker Remigio Cobo had carved a series of concentric circles that started from a central checkerboard. Cutting the circles, the fine chisel had drawn a twelve-pointed star. The set formed a geometric network of straight lines and curves that contrasted with the empty smoothness of the margins in which three solitary Hebrew letters were distinguished, one on the top and two on the sides, the Three Mother letters of the Kabbalah. (…)

Juan Eslava’s literary corner

A place of special interest and very directly linked to the writer is the “Juan Eslava Literary Corner” in the Municipal Public Library.

In it you can find all the works published by the author and ordered by publication date. The works have been donated in their entirety by Eslava Galán and mostly signed.

Along with the literary works, the corner has the table in the former office of Juan Eslava Galán, the same one that, together with the typewriter, were used by the aforementioned author for the writing of the Planeta Award “In Search of the Unicorn.

The literary corner also has other pieces donated by the author such as caricatures of great artists on his figure, literary trophies and notes and various documentation used for the books.

Viewpoint and monument to Jorge Manrique

Next to the Puerta Nueva, one of the entrances to the walled enclosure of Segura de la Sierra and which is adjoining the town hall, you can find both the monument to Jorge Manrique, and viewpoint that bears his name.

The statue, the work of the renowned sculptor Don Miguel Fuentes del Olmo, represents the illustrious writer in his two main facets: that of a man-at-arms, wearing a warlike dress and with his right hand on a dagger; and that of a writer, who, calmly, holds and reads a book in his left hand. Therefore, an excellent way to illustrate the warrior poet.

At the foot of the statue, a plaque reads: “Segura de la Sierra to its most illustrious son,” Jorge Manrique. Year MCMIC.

The statue invites you to enjoy the great views offered by the Jorge Manrique viewpoint, with the help of an orientation map where the visitor can identify the different landscapes that he has before his eyes: the Trujala river, Cerro del Pavo, Puerta de Segura , etc.

Undoubtedly, a space where you can enjoy reading any work by Jorge Manrique, contemplating the same landscape that the poet must have glimpsed centuries ago.

Jorge Manrique’s family house

After visiting the viewpoint, you have to go to the house where Jorge Manrique was born, which you will find just a few steps away.

Although it is not documented that Jorge Manrique was born in that house (it is thought that in the case of being born in Segura de la Sierra, the option is that he most likely was born in the castle), it was the home of the Manrique family.

In front of the house, take look at its façade, which still preserves the coat of arms of the Feria House (after Mencía de Figueroa, his mother), which shows that it was the property of the Manrique family.

The building belongs to the civil architecture of the 16th century and on its façade there is a semicircular arch decorated with plant motifs, flanked by carved pilasters and complemented by small Ionic columns.

Behind a cornice, in the upper area, the noble coat of arms of the Figueroa family was carved in stone -in gold field, five sinople fig leaves placed in sotuer-, maternal family of Jorge Manrique, together with a Cross of Santiago , which denoted the connection with the order issued by Rodrigo Manrique.

XXV

Now Don Rodrigo was

Much loved by people for

His rectitude;

The master was renowned

Castle of Segura de la Sierra (Interpretation space of…

The Castle of Segura de la Sierra is undoubtedly one of the main cultural attractions, not only of Segura, but of the entire environment, with portentous panoramic views of the entire mountain range.

The castle was built between the 13th and 14th centuries to defend the order of Segura, by the Order of Santiago (it became the residence of the Grand Master of this Order), over the bases of previous defensive and palatial constructions (in the 8th century there was already a fortification that protected the Saqura farmhouse, from whose time the archaeological remains of the Arab Baths are preserved).

Structurally, it consists of two differentiated enclosures: the castle, defended by five towers, including the marvelous donjon, where Jorge Manrique’s interpretation centre is currently located; and the outer enclosure, built in masonry and that has two wells dug into the rock and an upper barbican that gives access to the main door.

The Castle consists of several themed spaces, providing a recreation of medieval trades in the parade ground; the interpretive environments related to the Order of Santiago are located in the chapel and the first and second floors of the donjon; finally, you can find the interpretive space on Jorge Manrique on the third floor of the donjon.

This interpretation space consists of several exhibition scenes of the warrior poet’s family environment, ranging from sounding reminiscences recreating the conversation that Jorge Manrique has with his father, Don Rodrigo, on the stage of the Verses on the Death of his Father, as well as other interpretive speeches more linked to the artist’s poetic work.

After visiting Jorge Manrique’s interpretive centre, you might want to climb the battlements of the donjon and shudder at the spectacular views it offers: the Yelmo, with its more than 1,800 meters of altitude and symbol of the Sierra de Segura; Segura La Vieja (Iberian town), the Cerro de Góntar, the Peñalta viewpoint and thus an endless number of landmarks that, together with a relaxed reading of Manrique’s poetry, will create an emotional state that will connect you forever with Segura de la Sierra .

Mural dedicated to Jorge Manrique

Start your itinerary in Chiclana de Segura enjoying the interpretation made by the renowned graffiti artist Miguel Ángel Belinchón (Spanish plastic artist known in the world of art as Belin) of Jorge Manrique.

The large-format, freehand painted mural, which demonstrates an incredible spatial vision, is made on the majestic rock wall that has historically protected this town, which defies an impossible geography.

The entrance tunnel to the town was built in 1950 by the engineer Manuel Tercero Sánchez. Inside, there are 2 plaques commemorating this extraordinary feat of engineering.

The impressive graffiti was made in the First Festival of the Encomienda, in 2010. In its upper part you can see the waiting of Guiomar de Castañeda, the poet’s wife, with a close-up of her eyes and in the lower part of a Quixotic Jorge Manrique with Chiclana in the background.

Palace of the Encomienda, home of Jorge Manrique

After contemplating the graffiti, enter the Historic Center of Chiclana through the audacious tunnel excavated in the imposing rock and approach the nearby Palacio de la Encomienda, where the Manrique family was housed, as Commander of the Order of Santiago.

It is located a few meters from the Belin mural, entering the Historic Center of Chiclana through the tunnel excavated in the rock and which leads to the Plaza de la Constitución, the nerve center of the town and where one of the most distinguished monumental buildings, the Church of San Pedro, from the 17th century, is located.

Continuing through the square towards Calle Real, we come across Palacio de la Encomienda (Palace of the Assignment), named so since it was intended for administration functions of the Assignment, in addition to being used as a home. The Manrique family is thought to have been staying here for some time.

This palace is also known as the House of the Inquisition, since it was also the seat of this religious court.

Architecturally speaking, the palace presents a portal in the lower body, with a semicircular arch with a raised key, smooth jambs and grooved pilasters and capitals on basements ; on the second floor, a lintelled balcony, boxed pilasters, a split pediment, little pinnacles with balls and, topping the upper floor, a cornice. The good ashlar masonry and the rectangular patio are also striking due to their footings, wooden beams and Doric columns.

Interpretation Center “Mirador de Jorge Manrique”

The Interpretation Center “Mirador de Jorge Manrique” is the only one dedicated exclusively to the warrior poet, with the exception of the Jorge Manrique Museum in Santa María del Campo Rus (Cuenca), where the warrior poet died after being wounded in combat in the vicinity of the castle of Garcimuñoz.

Here you can enjoy a complete vision of the life and work of the author and where you will delve into his facets as a man at arms and poet: family background, the development of his work and the impressions and influences he has had on other authors of the standing of Unamuno, Azorín or Machado.

The Interpretation Center “Mirador de Jorge Manrique” is an element of extraordinary cultural interest for all those interested in the author and, therefore, a must visit.