Huelva Spain

There is no doubt that the Monastery of Santa Maria of the Rábida, is the monument most emblematic to the New World Discovery Spirit. The modest Franciscan monastery, joined to Huelva by the bridge that crosses the River Tinto, is a pilgrimage site, essential for those who want to follow the footsteps of Christopher Columbus.
Located on a hill surrounded by pinewoods and flanked by beautiful gardens and the Iberoamerican Forum, it was inaugurated in 1991. La Rábida does not enclose vast material richness, however, the visitor can feel the full strength of the weight of the history that was initiated in its interior. Among the rooms is (especially interesting), the Vázquez Diaz Room, decorated with pictures from the Huelva artist, on which is narrated in a magnificent manner, the development and beginning of the first discovery trip. The Mudéjar Patio, the Conference Cell, the small Gothic Mudéjar Church and the Flag Room, are the more interesting items of this monastery in which, finally, Columbus received attention and approval for his momentous navigation project.

Five kilometres from La Rábida is located the village of Palos de la Frontera, with its port on the River Tinto, today covered over. It was the starting point of the first Columbian trip, initiatied on the 3rd of August of 1492. Palos still preserves many traces that recall the departure of the caravels Pinta, Niña and Santa María. The Gothic Mudéjar Church of San Jorge, was the stage in which the Royal Pragmatic was read which ordered the ships to be turned over to Columbus; the Fontanilla, under a small temple of Mudéjar style neatly restored, was the place where the discoverers supplied themselves with water. The Pinzón Brothers House, Vicente Yánez and Martín Alonso-All of these things remind us of the fundamental presence of these sailors from Palos on the first Columbian trip... However, there are only a few remains from the historical dock, which were probably a part of the old pier.
The beautiful village of Moguer, located seven kilometres from Palos de la Frontera, encloses an ample catalogue of artistic monuments. Among them stands out the Convent of Santa Clara, founded in the XIV Century by Alfonso Jofre Tenorio. With magnificent cloisters, Santa Clara gathers in its Church the tombs from the Portocarrero family, altars with Triana tiles from the XVII Century and several interesting pictures and sculptures. In this convent from Moguer, Columbus made a vigil after his first trip to the Indies, to fulfil a vow made during the journey.
The Church of Our Lady of the Granada, with its slender tower which brings to memory the Giralda, in the Convent of San Francisco, are other brilliant examples of the religious architecture of Moguer. Among the secular buildings are the City Hall, of neoclassic style, and the Museum-House of Juan Ramón Jiménez, where a rich legacy of the poet from Moguer and from his wife, Zenobia Camprubí, is preserved. Among its funds, the museum has a complete collection of the first edition of his poem book Platero and I, and personal effects of the writer and poet, awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1956.

THE ARACENA MOUNTAINS

Valverde del Camino, in the geographical center of the province of Huelva, is an industrial town half way between the capital and the Aracena Mountains. Close to Valverde whose name recalls the genuine fandangos of this land of song, are found the mining centers of Tharsis, Río Tinto and Nerva. Here in the horizon is felt the closeness of the Huelva mountains. Aracena, capital city of the mountain range with the same name, is a very interesting village with a sharply defined steep cluster of houses. In its group of monuments the old castle stands out, and the annexed Knights Templars Gothic Church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, elevated on the hill that overlooks the city. Under this mountain, the fascinating Gruta de las Maravillas, offers impressive formations of stalactites and stalagmites, "like tears buried in this Andalusia of such passionate brightness".
The mountain villages of Huelva surprise the visitor by their profound charm, by "the harmonious and divine serenity that lives in the unending horizon", as said Juan Ramón Jiménez, Almonáster, "whiter than the whitest bright star", has a beautiful Castle, of the Caliph period, that overlooks the daily chores of farming and cattle raising of its inhabitants. From the Peña de Arias Montano, in the green Alajar, the most impressive panoramic views of the province can be seen. And Jabugo ad Cortegana, along with Cumbres Mayores, have such clean air they are able to provide, say the experts, the best ham in the world.
 
 

THE BEACHES

Ayamonte, on the border with Portugal, marks the beginning of the splendid beaches that line the coast of Huelva. Isla Canela, Cabeza Alta, Isla Cristina, La Redondela, La Antilla, Punta Umbría, El Rompido, El Poril, Mazagón and Matalascañas are the most important and crowded of the Huelva beaches. Fine, white sand together with the clear blue of the Atlantic, which they face, are their most common characteristics.
Ayamonte, Isla Cristina, El Terrón, Punta Umbría and Huelva, have ports with sport facilities, boat moorings with several complementary services and, common to the whole Huelva coast, the practice of windsurfing and sport fishing.

DOPANA

In addition to what it offers to the tourist who searches for sun and sand, the province of Huelva provides first class naturalistic potential, offering extensive green and rural tourism and hiking. In Huelva we find protected zones such as the Natural Park in the Marismas de Odiel (Marshes), and the Aracena, Aroche, and the Doñana surroundings that lead to the National Park of the same name.
With more than 50,000 hectares that have dune-beaches, shrubbery, and marshes, the National Park of Doñana, is considered the biggest biological reserve of the European continent, a fundamental ecosystem that makes possible the intercontinental migrations of more than 250 species of fowl. In its interior are living together an infinity of protected species, birds, amphibians, mammals and reptiles, among which are found some near extinction, such as the Iberian lynx, and the imperial eagle. Its coastline, an immense beach of more than 30 kilometres in length and practically untouched, extends from Matalascañas up to the mouth of the River Guadalquivir, in front of the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in the province of Cádiz..