Hornos de Segura

Hornos de Segura – Cazorla, Segura y las Villas Natural Park

Hornos de Segura belongs to the  Cazorla, Segura y las Villas Natural Park and it is located over a rock boulder with a view to a beautiful valley, nowadays covered by the waters of the Tranco de Beas Reservoir . As well as its city centre it has small villages such as Cañada Morales, El Tranco, Guadabraz, La Capellanía, El Carrascal, La Platera, and Hornos el Viejo, Fuente la Higuera, El Majal and Tobar. The municipality limits with Segura de la Sierra, Villanueva del Arzobispo and Pontones.

Hornos de Segura has been over the last times a rich area in human remains, if we go back to the Prehistory, we can find, the remains of a necropolis, from the Neolithic Age, dated in 4.830 B.C.

From the Bronze Age we can find some Argáricos sites where the cist burials and the trousseaus, with axes, spearheads, daggers, etc., are their main characteristics.

In order to study the Prehistory in Hornos, it was carried out an archaeological excavation in the site of this town, where we can observe several stages, from the start of its founding connected with an Almeriense Neolithic culture, and the imports Campaniformes from the Final Copper to the Old Bronze and finishing with the contacts of the Mundo Argárico in the development of the Full Bronze.

From this period, the territorial demarcation of Hornos is classified like a preiberian stage, where we can emphasize an ethnic group who belonged to a Levantine focus. With the Celtic emigrations, it took place some mixed races over the Iberian town of Sierra de Segura.

During the Tartessos Period, this area belonged to the Tartessos kingdom, where there were formed groups in Phoenician, Celt and Iberian tribes. With the destruction of Tartessos by the cartagineses in 500 B.C. the empire is dissolved in small Iberian independent tribes, who will be subjugated, being Hornos under the control of La Bastetania.

This subjugation will occurred in 237 B.C, carried out by Amílcar. When he died, and with the arrival of Aníbal, Hornos is going to consolidate its economy, based on the mining industry, cattle farming and agriculture, at the same time that there are built routes, roads and fortifications.

This economic, road and defensive consolidation will be changed due to the numerous battles against the Romans. The large period of wars will favour the return of the banditry in these lands. From the Roman Period we can observe many remains of tombstones, coins, pieces of pottery, etc. in the site of La Laguna.

The Islamic Period in the area around Hornos and in the mountain range will suffer periods of uprisings against the consecutive authorities that tried to impose. The population was Muladi, Syrian and other less important Arab families.

La Madinat (town) de Furnus (Hornos) will be during XI and XII century an area at its peak, consolidated a frontier region from where warlike expeditions would depart against the Christians. Apparently Hornos was hins, a small village whose location high up on the rock made it inaccessible and a walled enclosure, maybe with some defence in the upper part. From the Moslem art it is preserved and restored, part of the walls with an interesting layering door.

We have to emphasize the vase that comes from the Church of Hornos de Segura, similar to the one of La Alhambra with glazing, blue and golden motifs over a white enamel background, with a decoration arranged in vertical strips separated by blue lines alternating Kufic (an Arab calligraphic) inscriptions and floral themes with atauriques (plaster decoration) in the neck and in the only handle that is preserved. Nowadays it is located in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, like a real gem of the Moslem Art.

The town was conquered in 1239 by Rodrigo Iñiguez, grand master of the Orden de Santiago and was attached to the Encomienda de Segura de la Sierra, dependent on the spiritual area to the diocese of Cartagena and disappearing all the Moslem structure above all in the pre-eminence of the agriculture, that was followed by the livestock farming and in the administrative connection.

La Orden built the actual Castle of Hornos. In the higher place built the fortress and inside the Homage Tower and a well. This last and the other three towers of the enclosure seem to be older, from the Almohade Period.

But this was not the only fortification, since for the location of Hornos in the flank of the mountain range; inside its territory there were built several fortifications.

To the south of the town, in an islet of the reservoir El Tranco, sometimes cut off because of the waters, we can observe the Castle of Bujaraiza, with polygonal enclosure and Homage Tower. Between the towers that had its territory we can emphasize the one of Bujarcaiz, nowadays cover by waters. In later centuries, Hornos will be part of the disorders that happened in Spain.

The XV and XVI centuries will be economically important, due to the large town-planning that undergoes. Hornos was one of the places, together with Segura de la Sierra, in which some members of Manrique family’s took part in the Castilian politics of the XV century.

This family was as a general rule brought into conflict the Kings Juan II and Enrique IV, since they always controlled the major part of the forces and resources of the Orden de Santiago, from which Rodrigo Manrique, commander of Segura was declared Grand Master, resisting and defeated in Hornos to the troops sent against him by Juan II and his court favourite Álvaro de Luna.

In XIX century, put an end to the military orders and the lordships, we will find in this territory a new modern body that exploit in régime of monopoly the area and specifically its timber sector.

The period of great expansion in the town was from the middle of XIX century to the middle of the XX century. During the first dates the town had reached 604 inhabitants, at the end of XIX century it had 1.796, and in the middle of XX century it had 3.012 inhabitants. During these dates it was carried out the demarcation of the town within Jaén, after a stage of ascription and “property to Murcia”.

From the middle of XX century we can observe a decrease stage until this town had 649 inhabitants. This Serrano town, placed in a cliff, and with medieval air, in 1985 it was declared Historic-Artistic Site and before 1990 it was part of the Biosphere Reserves and Nature Reserve Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas.

Hornos de Segura Monuments

• Historic-Artistic Site of Hornos de Segura
• Salero de Hornos
• Roman Baths
• Vase of La Alhambra
• Puerta de la Villa
• Castle of Bujaraiza
• Castle of Hornos
• Church of Ntra. Sra. La Asunción

Gastronomy

In Hornos de Segura we can taste the traditional dishes of the sierra, like the fried breadcrumbs, ajopringue, ajoatao, andrajos, pipirrana, mushrooms, snails, etc.

The town was part of the production area of a high quality product: the Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

How to get there

From any place in Andalucía, you have to take the road N-322 towards Úbeda, Villanueva del Arzobispo until Puente de Génave where we will take La Puerta de Segura, Cortijos Nuevos and Hornos de Segura.

From Madrid, you have to exit the Motorway of Andalucía in Manzanares towards La Solana and in Villanueva de los Infantes and Albaladejo until you arrive the N-322 and continue until Puente de Génave, where we exit in order to go La Puerta de Segura, Cortijos Nuevos and Hornos de Segura.

From Levante, (a) Elche de la Sierra, Fábricas de Riopar, Siles, Benatae, Orcera, Cortijos Nuevos and Hornos de Segura, or from Siles and without arriving Puerta de Segura you are going to turn off towards Cortijos Nuevos and Hornos de Segura. (b) Caravaca de la Cruz, Puebla de Don Fadrique, Santiago de la Espada, Pontones and Hornos de Segura.

Distances

Jaén 138 km
Úbeda 81 km
Pontones 30 km
Villacarrillo 50 km
Beas de Segura 26 km
Segura de la Sierra 21 km
La Puerta de Segura 21 km
Villanueva del Arzobispo 42 km

El Aguilon Viewpoint