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December 6 to 9 Medieval market in Caravaca de la Cruz
Revisit the Middle Ages in the Holy City of Caravaca!
Over the long holiday weekend of 6th to 9th December the 20th annual medieval market is being held in the old centre of Caravaca de la Cruz, specifically in Gran Vía, Calle Canalica, Calle Puentecilla, Plaza del Arco, Plaza Nueva, Calle de las Monjas, Calle Colegio, Paseo de Santa Clara, Calle Mayor, Calle Rafael Tejeo and Calle Santísimo.
The market begins at 11.30 on Friday December 6 with an initial musical parade in the streets, including soldiers from the Medieval Encampment, dancers, druids, knights and many others, and scattered among the 250 stands and stalls there are also workshops and demonstrations of gold and silver smithing, esparto grass weaving, carpentry and candle making.
The 15 musical and drama shows include “Danzas de Arabia” and others devoted to tales of fantastical creatures, elves and dwarfs, an encahnted forest, a young knight and witches’ potions. Some of the venues are the Medieval Encampment in the Paseo de Santa Clara, the children’s fair next to Salones Castillo de la Cruz, the “torture chamber” in the Paseo de Santa Clara, an old weaponry exhibition also in the Paseo de Santa Clara, Witches in the Middle Ages in Calle Colegio, “The Farm” in Calle Rafael Tegeo and the falconry display next to Salones Castillo de la Cruz.
Opening times are from 10.30 to 14.30 and from 16.00 to 21.30, with the exception of the food and drink stalls, which will remain open at lunchtime. The main entrance is at the start of the Gran Vía at the junction with Calle Raimundo Rodríguez.
The full program for the four days can be found online here in Spanish, with over 150 events scheduled during the weekend!
For more local information, including the Holy Jubilee Year as well as local news and what’s on, go to the home page of Caravaca Today.
Address
Calle De Las Monjas, 19, 30400 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZTel: 968 702424 / 968 701003
Oficina de Turismo de Caravaca de la Cruz
More information about the places of interest which can be visited in the municipality of Caravaca de la Cruz, along with what's on and local news can be found in the Caravaca Today.
Caravaca de la Cruz, in the north-west of the Region of Murcia, is one of only 5 Holy Cities in the Roman Catholic world, a centre of pilgrimage, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Santo Toribio de Liebana, and is home to the Cross of Caravaca, the Vera Cruz.
The status of Holy City was bestowed by Pope John Paul II in 1998, granting the City a Permanent Jubilee year every 7 years for perpetuity, the first one held in 2003 and the next in 2024.
The strategic and natural advantages of Caravaca de la Cruz have attracted the attention of settlers for more than 800,000 years, the Cueva Negra yielding remains of Homo Heidelbergensis, forbears of the Neanderthals and the municipality also houses important archaeological remains from the Argaric, Iberian and Roman cultures. many of these can be seen in the Municipal Archaeological Museum.
As a border town caught between the Catholic forces of Castille and the last remaining Moorish stronghold in Spain, Granada, Caravaca had a turbulent medieval history, but it was during this period that the legend of the Cross of Caravaca was born, bringing the religious orders which shaped the structure of Caravaca today, with its impressive hilltop castle and eclectic collection of churches and monasteries, religious tourism today being a backbone of the town´s economy.
Caravaca de la Cruz is a municipality with important natural resources, including extensive forests, part of which have protected status due to their wealth of flora and fauna, and due to the abundant water supplies is also a major area for canned fruit production, apricots in particular being an important crop.
Caravaca is renown for its important May Fiestas, held in honour of the Vera Cruz, which also incorporate the Moors and Christians celebrations and the Running of the Wine Horses.
Caravaca de la Cruz is also the home of Europe´s largest collection of ethnic instruments at Barranda, the Museo de Música Étnica Barranda and is the location of the Barranda festival de Cuadrillas, which celebrates the Region's ethnic music traditions.
The municipality is home to around 26,000 inhabitants and sahres boundaries with Moratalla, Cehegín, Lorca, Puebla de Don Fadrique in the province of Granada and Vélez-Blanco in the province of Almería.
Opening times:
Weekdays: 10.00 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Saturdays: 10.30 to 14.00 and 16.30 to 19.30
Sundays and public holidays: 10.30 to 14.00
Click for map, Caravaca de la Cruz Tourist Office
