Lebrija () is a city and municipality of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

located in the autonomous community of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

, most specifically in the Province of Sevilla. It straddles the left bank of the

Guadalquivir The Guadalquivir (, also , , ) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from the Gul ...

river, and the eastern edge of the marshes known as Las Marismas. According to a 2008 population census, it has 26,046 inhabitants, and has an area surface of 372 km², making it one of the biggest municipalities in the province. The nearest municipalities are El Cuervo and

Las Cabezas de San Juan Las Cabezas de San Juan ( es, Saint John's Hillocks) is a village and municipality located in the Bajo Guadalquivir ( es, Lower Guadalquivir) comarca, in Seville province, Andalusia, Spain. According to the 2009 census (INE INE, Ine or ine may re ...

, in Seville and

Trebujena Trebujena is a city and municipality located in the province of Cádiz, part of Andalusia in southern Spain. The area is known for its labor movement and its vineyards. Population and geography As at 1 January 2015 it had 7,072 inhabitants. Its ...

and the city of

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

in the province of Cádiz. The main productive activity is agriculture, with

beet The beetroot is the taproot portion of a beet plant, usually known in North America as beets while the vegetable is referred to as beetroot in British English, and also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet, dinner beet or golden beet ...

, cotton, wheat and various fruits its main products.

Winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

activities are also prominent with Manzanilla and other finos too. Lebrija is also known for its

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

and earthenware heritage, including '' búcaros''. The farmers of this area were the first to cultivate corn brought over from the Americas.

History

There has been human presence in the area since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, although the founding of Lebrija, possibly did not take place till the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

ns arrival, who baptised the settlement as ''Lepriptza'', then to be renamed ''Nebrissa'', during Tartessian times. Originally, it was a port on the shores of the

Lacus Ligustinus The Guadalquivir Marshes (in es, Marismas del Guadalquivir or simply ''Las Marismas'') are a natural region of marshy lowlands on the lower Guadalquivir River. The ''Las Marismas'' zone forms a large part of the province of Huelva, province o ...

, a large inner lake surrounded by the Guadalquivir River and its tributaries and coastal sand bars to the South. The lake later filled with sediment, and gradually gave way to the current Guadalviquir marshy lowlands or, in Spanish, ''las Marismas''. Lebrija is also the ''Nabrissa'' or ''Nebrissa'', surnamed ''Veneria'', of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

; by Silius Italicus. According to local historian José Bellido, the word "veneria", (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''"that which venerates (worships)"'') makes reference to the mythical foundation of Lebrija by the god

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Roma ...

(Bacchus): "Where special veneration is given to Bacchus, there where the swift

satyr In Greek mythology, a satyr ( grc-gre, σάτυρος, sátyros, ), also known as a silenus or ''silenos'' ( grc-gre, σειληνός ), is a male nature spirit with ears and a tail resembling those of a horse, as well as a permanent, exa ...

es and the menades, at night celebrate the mysteries of that god, with their heads covered up with a deer skin". ''Nebrishah'' was a strong and populous place during the period of Moorish domination (from 711); it was taken by King St Ferdinand in 1249, but again lost, and became finally subject to the Castilian crown only under

Alfonso the Wise Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, León and Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the election of 1257, a dissident faction chose him to be king of Germ ...

in 1264. Lebrija was the birthplace of

Antonio de Nebrija Antonio de Nebrija (14445 July 1522) was the most influential Spanish humanist of his era. He wrote poetry, commented on literary works, and encouraged the study of classical languages and literature, but his most important contributions were i ...

(1444–1522), also known as ''Antonius Nebrissensis'', one of the most important Renaissance leaders in Spain, author of the first grammar of a

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...

, the tutor of Queen Isabella, and a collaborator with Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros in the preparation of the

Complutensian Polyglot Bible The Complutensian Polyglot Bible is the name given to the first printed polyglot of the entire Bible. The edition was initiated and financed by Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517) and published by Complutense University in Al ...

(Lebrija) Hoefnagel-Lebrija-Settenil (cropped)

Lebrija was granted city status by letters patent in 1924.

History of the ''Jornalero'' movement

In 1903, the first general strike was recorded and documented by Spanish writer Azorín. During the

Spanish Second Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

, Lebrija was always a Frente Popular stronghold, as it has been an Anarchist one in the previous century. A process of

Agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...

was started with some

collectivisation Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...

of farms and

expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

of land from absentee landlords. This was put to an end with the army rebellion, which led to the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

and ultimately to the

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

ist victory. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lebrija, together with Jerez and

Morón de la Frontera Morón de la Frontera () is a Spanish town in Province of Seville, Seville province, Andalusia, South-East of Seville. Situated in the south of the province, it is the center of the region that bears the same name and is the head of one of the 85 ...

, became a focus of ''Jornalero'' protests (peasants without land) due to their poor living condition and expectatives. As a result, a regime of "communitary work", guaranteeing a minimum salary during a few months every year, was established. Shortly after Francisco Franco's death, on 6 January 1976, around one hundred ''jornaleros'' locked themselves up in the parish church to express their political demands, only to be removed by the Civil Guard, but not before they have voiced their consigns using the church tower loudspeakers several times:

"''We want the miscultivated fields and lands to be given to jornaleros and small owners. We want subsidies for the unemployed all year round. We want collective agreements for the whole sector and a right to retirement at 60. We want trade union liberty and freedom for all political prisoners and exiles...''"

Main sights

The area has remnants of its Muslim past among its old buildings. Its chief buildings are a ruined Moorish castle and the parish church, ''Santa María de la Oliva'', one of the finest churches in the province of Seville that combines a variety of styles:

Mudéjar Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and Baroque,Lebrija
/ref> dating from the 14th century to the 16th, and containing some early specimens of the carving of

Alonso Cano Alonso Cano Almansa or Alonzo Cano (19 March 16013 September 1667) was a Spanish painter, architect, and sculptor born in Granada. The campanile tower was inspired by the Giralda, of the Cathedral of Seville, and it is commonly known as ''"La Giraldilla"'' (''little Giralda''). Santa María de la Oliva was originally a mosque that was occupied as a Christian temple in 1249, following the Reconquista. The ''Casa de la Cultura'' (Cultural Center) was built in the 18th century in Andalusian Baroque style. Originally, it was used as a wheat Storage silo, silo for the Archbishop of Seville and housing for the local Catholic chapter. The Diezmos and tributes paid by the town people to the Roman Catholic Church, church were kept here. In 1982, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in charge of Lebrija City Council at the time bought the property and its restoration began. It was reopened in 1986 as the "Casa de la Cultura", a place dedicated to learning, exhibits, and all sorts of cultural expressions, including dance and music. The Covent and Church of San Francisco (1585) has always been associated to the Franciscan Order. It is located in the Plaza Manuela Murube (also known popularly as ''El Pilar''), one of the most beautiful and artistic corners of Lebrija. In the same square are located the Old Hospital of Mercy (''Hospital de la Misericordia'') and Saint Andrew's Asylum (''Asilo de San Andrés'').

Culture

The ''Cruces de Mayo'' (''Holy Crosses of May'') is the most well-known and popular festivity in Lebrija. It is held during the first two weekends of May every year. It is a community activity where each neighborhood ''raises a cross'', either using a permanent buttercross site or building them from scratch using flowers, forged iron or wood. These places around the town are then used for dancing and singing, particularly a local form of Sevillanas, known as ''Sevillanas corraleras''. The local annual fair is dedicated to the patron saint of Lebrija, Our Lady of the Castle, and held around her nameday, on 12 September. The festivity of the ''Júas'' (Andalusian dialect pronunciation of the name ''Judas'') takes place on Saint John's Eve. Local people get together and make lifesize rag dolls, representing celebrities and local politicians. These rag dolls are left outside of houses so they can be admired by others. At midnight they are set alight, together with a fireworks display, thus ending the festivity. As in Seville and other Andalusian cities, towns, and villages, several hermandades, or religious brotherhoods, march in procession, carrying ''pasos'', lifelike wood or plaster sculptures of individual scenes of the Passion of Jesus Christ or images of the Virgin Mary. Two of the most important hermandades are ''Los Dolores'' or ''El Castillo''. Lebrija is a flamenco centre and the ''Caracolá'', one of the major flamenco festivals in Spain is held there every year in July.

People

Antonio de Nebrija Introductiones latinae 1550

, Andalusian Philologist, grammarian who wrote the first grammar of the Spanish language, was born in this town. *Juan Díaz de Solís, navigator and explorer who reached and named the Rio de la Plata Estuary. *Juan Bernabé (1947–1972), dramatist and theatre director *Lebrijano, Juan Peña "El Lebrijano", flamenco singer. *Juan Ramón López Caro, former manager of Real Madrid Football Club, of the Spanish La Liga *David Peña Dorantes, flamenco composer and pianist *Benito Zambrano, contemporary filmmaker

References

External links

Official website

Lebrija in ''Pueblos de España'' website
*

by Juan Cordero Ruiz, Emeritus Professor of University of Seville {{Authority control Municipalities of the Province of Seville Phoenician colonies in Spain Roman sites in Spain