Moguer

Moguer

Moguer is set on a hill on the left bank of the Rio Tinto, just 20 km from Huelva, 85 km from Seville, 19 Km from the beaches of Mazagon and close to other beaches on the Huelva coast. It has a population of 16 181 inhabitants. It is capital of the judicial district and its municipality, part of which is in the Doñana Natural Park, has an area of 204 km2. Access by road from Seville is direct by the motorway A-49, taking the exit “Lugares Colombinos”.

Moguer limits with the municipalities of Huelva, Niebla, San Juan del Puerto, Palos de la Frontera, Almonte and Lucena del Puerto.

The name Moguer comes from the Arabic word “Mugar,” which means caves.

The origin of the city dates back to prehistoric times. It has passed under the rule of both the Phoenicians and the Romans.

In the period of Al-Andalus it was called Mugar, which means cave, referring to its numerous caves. At that time it was a part of Niebla.

The Christian conquest was carried out by Alfonso X, at which time Moguer became part of the county of Niebla.

From the fourteenth century, with the donation of the village to Don Alfonso Jofre Tenorio, it began to gain importance becoming a stately village.

Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries it passed from the Marquis of Villanueva del Fresno to the house of Alba, until it gained independence in the nineteenth century.

The participation of the population in the discovery of America was very important. The caravel “La Niña” was from this city. After the discovery Moguer became almost deserted due to the emigration to the New World, and the shift of trade towards the Sevilla-Cádiz axis during the sixteenth and seventeenth century, and also due to the insecurity of constant raids by pirates who roamed these shores.

It was the birthplace of the poet Juan Ramón Jiménez.

In the early 70s it managed to boost its economy by growing strawberries.

Famous People

Felipe Godínez Manrique, writer

Rafael Romero Barros, painter.

Luis Hernández Pinzón, admiral in the nineteenth century.

Manuel de Burgos y Mazo, polítician.

Juan Ramón Jiménez, poet.

Juan Roldán de Ávila, conquistador.

Francisco Garfias, writer.

José Sánchez Mora, writer.

Moguer Monuments

The Castle is a rectangular fortress with four bastions or towers at each corner.  Of its former mud construction there remains intact only two towers and some stretches of wall. Reconstruction work is being carried out.

The Monastery of Santa Clara is a highlight among the main monuments. It was founded by Don Alonso Jofre Tenorio and his wife Dona Elvira Alvarez (1337-1338) for nuns of the Order of Clarisa. It now houses the Museum de Arte Sacro de Huelva.

La Capilla del Hospital del Corpus Christi originally formed part of a Franciscan convent built by the founders of the Monastery of Santa Clara in 1337. Following the relocation of the community to the new Convent of Hope, at the end of the fifteenth century, it became part of the charity hospital of the same name. It was part of the cult of the crucifixion, popularly known as el “Señor de la Sangre”

Felipe Godinez Theatre is a modern and functional building, built on the site of the former Enológica Station, and which has a beautiful facade of Seville tiles of the school of Aníbal González. This magnificent theater, perfectly equipped to host events of great significance, is the main cultural gift of our city.

The Convent of San Francisco or of Our Lady of Hope was built around 1482 by Pedro Portocarrero. From here missionaries left for America during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  The monks left the monastery due to the liberation of Mendizabal. It was restored and strengthened following the 1755 earthquake. Highlights of the cloister, in a Mannerist way, are the Church altar which is of eighteenth century baroque style, and the seventeenth-century belfry.

The Historical Archives and Ibero-American Library is a new building attached to the Cloister of San Francisco. It contains valuable documents about Moguer and the region, and a very well stocked library of Americana, which is of university standard.

The Parish Church of Nuestra Señora de la Granada was built on the site of an earlier church of Moorish style by Jose Alvarez (1777-1783). It is a magnificent temple with five naves. La Virgen de la Granada presides, under a canopy, in the center of the presbytery. Foremost in this temple is the austerity of its architecture and design. In the reconstruction the tower was built in a similar style as “La Giralda” in Seville. “The tower of Moguer viewed closely, appears as la Giralda viewed at a distance” said Juan Ramon.

The Town Hall of Moguer, built in the eighteenth century, is the most beautiful example of municipal architecture of the Huelva plains. It was a project of the Italian architect Tomas Bottani. Its facade features two floors with five arches, with marble columns of the Doric style on the ground floor and Ionic on the top floor. The exquisite interior is in harmony with its architectural style.

El Caserío de Moguer, has some fairly well preserved Moorish patios from the epoch of the Catholic Kings, baroque houses of the seventeenth century, and elegant buildings.

The Museum/House of “Zenobia and Juan Ramon” is a fine example of the domestic architecture of Moguer. It is above all a tribute to the Moguers perennial poet, of universal fame, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956 and lived there from childhood until he was twenty-seven years old.

The Poet’s birthplace, on Calle de la Ribera, has recently been restored. Currently there are various artistic activities taking place there. “Here in this big house … I was born, Platero. How I loved it as a child, and how rich seemed this poor balcony designed by the master Garfia, with its stained-glass stars” JRJ

Fuentepiña House is the place where Juan Ramon wrote “Platero and I” and many of his early poems. Platero is buried under its large pine tree. It is 2 Kms from the City and is now privately owned.

The Tomb of Juan Ramón Jiménez and Zenobia is located in the City Cemetery. His remains were brought there in 1958 from Puerto Rico.

The Monument to Juan Ramón was erected in the Plaza del Cabildo, opposite the town hall in 1981, and is the work of Valencian sculptor Octavio Vicens.

The Monument to the Hermanos Niño can be found next to the park, its inauguration in 1992 coinciding with the anniversary of Columbus’ discovery. It was built by the artist Juan C. Huelva Castro Crespo.

Moguer Gastronomy

The cuisine of Moguer offers the visitor exquisite dishes such as cod with tomato, choco with broad beans, el gazpacho de cilantro, fried and grilled fish fresh from the coast – sole, acedias, corvinas …- or exquisite shrimps and clams, which are able to satisfy the most demanding palate. The wines of the county are the perfect complement to these delicacies. And for dessert, there are the delicious Santa Clara almond cheesecakes, our oranges, peaches and above all, our strawberries, whose cultivation and marketing has become in recent years the real engine of the local economy.

Despite the great openness to new technologies that the market imposes on the municipality, Moguer has managed to alternate progress with tradition, combining the new with the old, technology with craftsmanship. Proof of this are the artesan products for which the municipality is famous: fine pastries made with natural products by the La Victoria confectionery, wine made from oranges, and vermouth from the prestigious firm Saenz.

Directions

Exit Huelva. Take the A-5000. Pass through San Juan del Puerto and follow the signs for Moguer.

Distances from Moguer

Huelva 20 km
Sevilla 85 km
Almonte 35 km
Bonares 20 km
San Juan del Puerto 7 km
Palos de la Frontera 8,5 km
Rociana del Condado 25 km