Gaucín () is a town and municipality located in the mountains of

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

in the

province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to the east. The province ...

in southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is inland from

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

Puerto Banús Puerto José Banús, more commonly known simply as Puerto Banús, is a marina located in the area of Nueva Andalucía (Marbella), Nueva Andalucía, to the southwest of Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol. It was built in May 1970 by José Banús, ...

and

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

and not far from

Ronda Ronda () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliffside location and a deep canyon that ca ...

. The village has a population of approximately 2,000. It lies about 600 metres above sea level in the Sierra del Hacho, dominated by the Castillo del Aguila (Eagle's Castle), originally a

Roman 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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

stronghold, expanded by the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

Tourist appeal

Gaucín is known for its views of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

and

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, as well the surrounding mountain scenery. It can be used as a base for visits to the so-called ''

pueblos blancos The White Towns of Andalusia, or ''Pueblos Blancos'', are a series of whitewashed towns and large villages in the northern part of the provinces of Cádiz (province), Cádiz and Málaga (province), Málaga in southern Spain, mostly within the ...

'' of Andalusia. The village is reached by a 24 km climb up a mountain road and presided over by a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle. The population is augmented by a growing international community. Gaucin region

Gaucín has been the inspiration of a number of artists and writers, and has been referred to as the "balcony of the Ronda Mountains, where the Holy Child appeared to St.

John of God John of God, Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, O.H. (; ; born João Duarte Cidade Help:IPA/Portuguese, �ʒwɐ̃w̃ duˈwaɾ.t siˈða.ðɨ March 8, 1495 – March 8, 1550) was a Portuguese People, Portuguese soldier turned healthc ...

: the illustrious, always noble, very hospitable village of Gaucín." Gaucín offers visitors to the region a panoramic view to the Mediterranean including the rock of Gibraltar. In Gaucín fossils can be found in the stoneworks of city building and street constructions.

Cultural life

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

includes a procession to the church. A widely attended

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

vigil takes place the night before.

Easter Sunday Easter, also called Pascha (Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek language, Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, de ...

celebrations include the traditional 'toro de cuerda', where a bull is released on a cord in the morning and sold in the afternoon. A large

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

features ''chirigotas'', costumed groups that sing of current events in a humorous way. A party held on the main square with an orchestra goes on until dawn. The village holds a 'cultural week' in late July, with wine and meat tasting, as well as live musical performances in the main square. The

feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

, which lasts three days, is a celebration of the town itself and is held annually in early August. It is complete with a variety of carnival rides and games booths. The festivities also include a large

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

where visitors can eat, drink, and watch musicians perform and a procession of horse riders competing for an award for the best presented. The

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

of the Holy Child is a ''

romeria Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to sit ...

'' on the last Sunday of August. The image of the Holy Child is taken in procession from the castle to the site of his supposed apparition, now a hermitage, for a ''rociera'' (

flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

) mass followed by dancing, singing, eating and drinking until dawn. A feast in honour of the Holy Child takes place on 7 and 8 September. Over nine days townsfolk climb to the castle for a

novena A novena (from , "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the ...

, held in the Chapel of the Holy Child.

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

is celebrated and guest preachers preach. A party is given in the main square with processions, food, drink, music, and dancing.

External links

Municipal website
in Spanish, with many pictures

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaucin Towns in Spain Municipalities in the Province of Málaga

Tourist appeal

Cultural life

See also

External links

References