Guadix

Guadix (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaˈðiks]) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, in the province of Granada, autonomous community of Andalusia.

Guadix
Municipality
Coat of arms
Guadix
Location in Spain
Coordinates: 37°18′N 3°8′W
Country Spain
Autonomous community Andalusia
ProvinceGranada
ComarcaComarca de Guadix
Judicial districtGuadix
Government
 • MayorInmaculada Olea (PSOE)
Area
 • Total317 km2 (122 sq mi)
Elevation
913 m (2,995 ft)
Population
 (2018)[1]
 • Total18,718
 • Density59/km2 (150/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Accitanos, Guadijeños
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
18500
WebsiteOfficial website

The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres,[2] on the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is located on the Madrid-Valdepeñas-Almería railway.

The city was once famous for its cutlery; but its modern manufactures (chiefly earthenware, hempen goods, and hats) are relatively unimportant. It has some trade in wool, cotton, flax, corn and liqueurs. The warm mineral springs of Cortes y Graena, much frequented during the summer, are 6 miles west.

History

Ancient
Main article: Acci

Guadix el Viejo, 6 km northwest, was the Roman Acci (also Accitum) mentioned in Pliny's Natural History and as Akki by Ptolemy, who placed it among the Bastetani, whose capital was Basti. It is not known for certain whether it is of Phoenician or of early Spanish origin. According to Macrobius, the primitive inhabitants paid homage to Mars under the name of Neton. Julius Caesar established the Roman colony called Julia Gemella. According to tradition, it was the seat of the first bishopric in Hispania, in the 2nd century.

From the Moors to the Reconquista

After 711 it rose to some importance as a Moorish fortress and trading station, renamed Wadi 'Ashi ("the Wadi of Acci").[3] During this period, Guadix was home to Ḥamda bint Ziyād, one of medieval Andalucia's foremost women poets. Guadix was the site of the Battle of Guadix in January 1362 in which a small Castilian army was routed by the forces of Muhammed VI, Sultan of Granada.[4] It was surrendered without a siege to the Spaniards, under Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1489.

Modern

The novelist Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, author of El sombrero de tres picos, was born in Guadix in 1833.[5] The 19th and 20th centuries saw a period of economical crisis for the town. Currently Guadix is a center of production of fruit (strawberries), cereals, vegetables, as well as a minor tourist center.

Main sights
Troglodyte cave dwellings
Plaza de la Constitución
  • Guadix Cathedral (16th-18th centuries), built over a Moorish mosque in Gothic-Renaissance style. The façade is in Baroque style.
  • Church of St. Augustine (18th century),
  • Church of Santiago (1540), with a Plateresque portal
  • Convent and church of the Conception
  • Alcazaba, a Moorish fortress commanding the town
  • Barrio de Santiago, a neighborhood characterized by troglodyte houses carved in tuff rocks.
Panoramic view of Guadix

Notable people

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Spain
Twin towns — Sister cities

Guadix is twinned with:

Guadix has also reached a "green-twinning" agreement with Piaseczno, Poland.[8]

See also

References
  1. Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. "Predicción por municipios. Guadix (Granada)". AEMET. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. Stillwell, Richard (1976). "Acci (Guadix), Granada, Spain". Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  4. Mérimée, Prosper (1848). "Histoire de Dan Pédre". Revue des deux mondes (in French). Au bureau de la Revue des deux mondes. pp. 280–281. Retrieved 2013-07-15.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. Rubio Cremades, Enrique. "Biografía de Pedro Antonio de Alarcón". Fundación Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. "Celanova colabora con Guadix para instalar un monumento a San Torcuato". Ideal. 22 February 2019.
  7. "L'Arboç se hermana con Guadix". Diari de Tarragona. 30 September 2019.
  8. "Acuerdos de hermanamiento o twinning" (PDF). green-twinning.eu. 2012.
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "article name needed". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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