Siles is a Spanish

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and municipality in the province of Jaén, in the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

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 ...

, located in the region of

Sierra de Segura Sierra de Segura is a mountain range of the Prebaetic System in the province of Jaén in Spain. It is named after the ancient town of Segura de la Sierra and it gives its name to the Segura river. Its highest point is the 1,993 m high Las Ban ...

, bordering the

province of Albacete Albacete () is a province of central Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha. As of 2012, Albacete had a population of 402,837 people. Its capital city, also called Albacete, is by road southeast of Madri ...

. It has a population of 2,451 inhabitants according to the last available census ( INE2011). Much of the municipality is located within the Natural Park of Sierra de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas. Because of its location it is a mostly forest town near the river, farmland focusing mainly

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

grove, in a strip of southwest-northeast direction including the vicinity of the town center and the municipal enclave that owns the town northwest of the region. The economy is based on agriculture (olive) and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

, contributing to it also forest harvesting and sheep farming. Natural spaces are plentiful and varied, which together with diverse flora and fauna gives the municipality an undeniable charm to the tourist.

Etymology

As to its etymology, perhaps the name comes from the many Siles silos found in the immediate Cerro San Cristobal, or Latin Sileo (silence), then, in effect, as the villa is tucked into a quiet valley between hills.

Physical Geography

Siles is 160 km from Jaen, 101 km from Ubeda and 29 km from

Segura de la Sierra Segura de la Sierra is a small village in the province of Jaén, (Spain), that belongs to the region of Sierra de Segura in eastern Andalusia. According to data provided by Spain's national statistics agency, Instituto Nacional de Estadística ...

, Siles being one of the main entrances to the Sierra in the

, entering Riopar. Is represented in two sheets of MTN50: 865 (2001) and 887 (1978). The main population center appears in the worksheet 865.3 Being its coordinates: 38 ° 23'N 35'W 2nd Siles 03gm

History

In times of

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

Siles was a thriving population, mentioned in chronicles as Silis. It had a castle-fortress, which was one of the most important defensive strongholds in the control of the roads from the east. Apart from this castle in his term had other strengths that reinforced its strategic position: Peñafleita, Tasca and the fortified town of Peña Horadada. Silis was part of Saqura District (Segura), belonging to the Cora Yayyan (Jaén). According chronic concern in the Islamic period the

it was populated by numerous villages, places of refuge forts and castles. In the late twelfth century, with the formation of various

Taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...

kingdoms, this square was disputed by the Zirids of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and Almeria King Ibn Sumadih who gripped Silis in 1076-1077, but was soon changed by agreement to Ziries. Siles was conquered around 1230 by the Knights of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; ) is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the patron saint of Spain, ''Santiago'' ( St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgrims on the Way of S ...

in command of the master Pelayo Perez Correa and went to swell the vast dominion of the Order based in

. After the conquest, Siles maintained its strategic importance, of what gives a thorough account of the siege episode Yusuf I of Granada in 1339, with 1,500 knights and 6,000 infantry Moors. Christian army commanded by Master Santiago Alonso Melendez de Guzman, got the attackers to lifted the siege, which if it was successful, it would have jeopardized not only the brand but also the Advancement of Cazorla. Belonged to the

Kingdom of Murcia After roughly two decades as a protectorate of the Crown of Castile, the territory of the Taifa of Murcia became the Kingdom of Murcia (, a territorial jurisdiction of the Crown of Castile) in the wake of its Conquest of Murcia (1265–66), conq ...

and party of Segura, Order of Santiago and depended on the

Chancery of Granada Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Court of Chancery, the chief court of equity in England and Wales until 1873 ** Equity (law), also called chancery, the body of jurisprudence originating in the Court of Chancery ** Courts of e ...

and the

Diocese of Cartagena The Diocese of Cartagena () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in the city of Cartagena, Spain, Cartagena in the ecclesiastical province of Archdiocese of Granada, Granada in Spain.Rodrigo Manrique Rodrigo Manrique de Lara (1406 – November 11, 1476, Ocaña, Spain) was a rebellious Spanish people, Spanish nobility, noble who gained notoriety for his prowess in the Reconquista battles against the Muslim invaders. He sided with the Infan ...

Jorge Manrique Jorge Manrique (c. 1440 – 24 April 1479) was a major Castilian poet, whose main work, the ''Coplas por la muerte de su padre (Verses on the death of Don Rodrigo Manrique, his Father)'', is still read today. He was a supporter of the queen ...

father for a long time. The presence of Don Rodrigo in Siles motivated the population to their strength and they were involved in the noble struggles of the fifteenth century. In the mid-nineteenth century the strength was still standing: the town of Siles was divided into two, the oldest part called Villa was surrounded by walls, which kept up its battlements and three gates. The rest of the village was called New Town.

Places of interest

The most recognized sites by tourism of Siles are Peña del Olivar, Las Acebeas, El Puntal, el Saltador or la Fresnedilla. * La peña del Olivar: Playground, where in addition to preparing a meal outdoors, you can tour the adjacent Botanical Gardens. * Las Acebeas: This place takes its name from rare forest of hollies that populates the place, the wettest of the whole region and the second Andalusian behind Grazalema. * El Puntal: It is located just opposite Siles (1200m) high. At the top there is a booth from which firefighters monitor summer to monitor so that no fire occurs. From there the panorama of Siles, La Fresnedilla, etc. are observed. * Fresnedilla: In which we can observe the Stone Hole. It is fitted with large pine trees and undergrowth. It already lost the olive trees, the breadth of the valley and soft floors, to give the narrow valleys.

References

Siles

Villages

Siles
{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Jaén (Spain)

Etymology

Physical Geography

History

Places of interest

See also

References