Espejo – Cordoba

After Julius Caesar had emerged victorious from the near-fought Battle of Munda and thus had also decided the Civil War in his favor, he gave the settlement the status of a Colonia. It was henceforth known as Colonia Claritas Iulia Ucubi.

The most remote antecedent of the current population is Ucubi, an Iberian-Turdetan city to which Julius Caesar, after the civil war, in 45 BC. C., granted the category of Roman colony with the name of Colonia Claritas Iulia Ucubi.

This hydraulic construction fell into disuse in the 3rd century AD. In the Muslim period, it received a series of modifications to its original structure in order to increase the water retention capacity, giving it greater functionality. This use has been what has led to the name “Aljibe”, undoubtedly one of the most important Roman sites in the province of Cordoba.

Ducal Castle

The Ducal Castle of Espejo in Cordoba was built at the end of the 13th century. From the so-called Torres de Pay Arias, although the oldest that is preserved is not prior to the 15th century. It currently consists of a crenellated enclosure of very thick walls flanked by four corner towers, equally crenellated and thick.

It has a central (interior) courtyard with large arches, all perfectly visible despite the fact that two of its sides were blinded in the nineteenth century with bricks and windows to protect the surrounding galleries from the elements. In the basement of the patio there is an old and spacious cistern for collecting rainwater, with a lateral elevation well.

At a much higher height of the architectural complex, the powerful Torre del Homenaje stands out, with thick mensulones of an old machicolation. It is an impressive stone mass, from which a dazzling outline can be seen, appreciating from it no less than seven towns around it. At the top of this landmark tower you climb a narrow and steep spiral stone staircase that undoubtedly dates from its construction. At various levels of its ascent, two wide chambers open whose fate is unknown.

Las Calleras

Oponym derived from Calle Eras with which it was formerly called the current Paseo de Andalucia. It is a kidney-shaped square, where already in the late eighteenth century it began to be detected as an urban space where the higher-ranking social classes to establish their residences. It is a very sacred space, because at both ends of the square there are two churches.