| There are places that complement
their priviliged geographical location with a brilliant and solid unfolding
of events through the centuries. This history, partly written, and in part
obtained from obscure accounts, almost legends, confers to these places
an attractive personality. This is the case of
Huelva,
capital
of the most western province of Andalusia.
Near the Atlantic and embraced
by the mouths of the Rivers Odiel and Tinto, Huelva seems to have its origin
in the legendary Kingdom of Tartessos. Visited frequently by the Phoenician
navigators who arrived at its coast in search of precious metals and built
a temple dedicated to H?rcules in the nearby island of Salt?s, the city
received the name of "Onuba", around the year 1,000 BC, when the Carthaginians
were defeated, the primitive "Onuba" became the Roman "Onuba Aestuaria".
With the Moslem invasion, the city obtained a new Arabian name, that of
"Guelbah" and turned into an important kingdom of taifas up to its reconquest
by Alfonso X The Wise in 1257. Some time later, Huelva would integrate
in the lordship of Niebla. But it would be in the early period of the Modern
Age when the Discovery of the New World left its biggest mark on this land.
The province of Huelva,
bordering with Portugal, offers to the visitor a varied geographical physiognomy.
The coastline of Huelva, more than 120 Kilometres in length -from Ayamonte
to the National Park of Do?ana bordering with the neighboring province
of C?diz,- is a succession, barely interrupted, of magnificent sunny beaches.
La Campi?a, located between the coast and the mythical mining area of El
And?valo, gather in its fertile land extensive wheat fields and strawberries,
weaving hills of olive trees and the vineyards of El Condado. To the North,
bordering with the Extremaduran city of Badajoz, the Mountains of Aracena,
of uneven but smooth foothills, are a splendid counterpoint that defines
the complete variety of landscape in the Andalusian province |
