Villages in Jaen

Huesa

Huesa, Comarca Sierra de Cazorla

Huesa is a town that belongs to the Comarca Sierra de Cazorla; it spreads out from the centre of the region until the south of it, in the provincial border with Granada. In its territory we can distinguish a part, to the north and north-east, with a mountainous orography in which, between pine woods, plots of olive trees are inserted in the lower areas. This part of the territory is part of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park.

Huesa limits with the neighboring municipalities of Quesada, Hinojares and Pozo Alcón and with the Granada province to the south.

The rest of the territory has a smoother orography although it is ploughed by precipices that incline towards the River Guadiana Menor, we can observe wastelands with pastures, thickets, thymes and esparto fields. Although we can find minority arable lands, the economic activity is dependent on the cultivation of the olive tree and in lesser measure of the cattle farming and the forest.

From the oldest phases of the Prehistory and the Ancient History is testified the presence of human settlements in the municipal district of Huesa, favoured by the use of the resources of the river fertile lowland of the Guadiana Menor.

During the Iberian Age this territory played an important role when it became one of the movement places of goods among the high plateaus in Granada with the Alto Guadalquivir, especially of Greek pottery. It should be a place with an active settlement because we can find in the boundary of its municipal district with the one of Hinojares one of the most important Iberian oppidum, Castellones de Ceal.

During the Roman Age we can observe a change in its agricultural landscape due to the proliferation of farming cultivations, villae, on of this is the one of the olive grove in Brazo Fuerte, to the east of the town.

During the Islamic Period Huesa was very joined to Tíscar and Belerda. According to the Arab historian Ibn Hayyan the three were attacked and destroyed in the IX century by the troops of the emir Abd Allah.

After the conquest in1231 by the bishop Ximénez de Rada de Quesada y Cazorla, the city centre of Huesa, Tíscar and Belerda, were under the control of Mohammed Handon. In 1275, still without being conquered, Alfonso X ceded them to Úbeda, being a small island inside the Adelantamiento. This situation was solved when, in 1331, Alfonso XI ceded Quesada to Úbeda.

In 1436 it was conquered by Íñigo López de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana reconquered by the Moorish, in 1455 it was liberated by Francisco de la Cueva, ceded it to Enrique IV the title of County.

During the Islamic occupation the location of Huesa was located at the foot of an impressive cliff at an altitude between the 800 and the 900 metres, protected by walls.

The XVI century was a stage of economic prosperity, but like the rest of the province this expansive period was frustrated in the XVII century due to the high costs and epidemics. In XVIII century started the recovery period in the town, in that moment Huesa was belonged to the jurisdiction of Quesada until 1848 that it belonged to Cazorla.

Huesa Monuments

Archaeological Sites
Ruins of the Medieval Castle
Ntra. Sra de la Cabeza Parish Church