Discover Lopera: Castle, Festivals and Nature

History

Castillo de Lopera consists of two complexes: an outer walled area and an inner castle-palace complex. The latter includes two large towers connected by two defensive walls.

After the Castilian conquest, Lopera was handed over to the Military Order of Calatrava in 1240–1241. The fortress played an important role in Castilian expansion through the Campiña of Jaén and served as a frontier fortress in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Admission to Castillo de Lopera includes a guided tour of the interior, the town interpretation centre and the arms courtyard.

Casa de la Tercia also offers an insight into the history of the town. It was bequeathed by Gómez Manrique as a pósito, probably built in the second half of the 16th century, and is connected to Castillo de Lopera by an underground passage. This passage was excavated in the 1960s.

Various cultural events take place on the upper floor of Casa de la Tercia; it is also home to the Museo de Pedro Monje.

The historical reenactment of the Battle of Lopera takes place in April and brings together history, culture, tourism and remembrance.

Culture and Religious Buildings

Iglesia de la Purísima Concepción is a 16th-century building in the Late Gothic style. Its portal is designed in the Flamboyant Gothic, or Isabelline Gothic, style.

The church also contains a Renaissance tomb of the Purísima by Juan de Reolid, dating from 1547.

Ermita de San Roque is a Baroque chapel from the 16th century. Its furnishings include, among other things, a Sagrado Corazón and a depiction of the Virgen del Amor Hermoso.

Evidence of the Spanish Civil War has been preserved in Lopera. This includes machine-gun nests, Republican trenches, an anti-tank fort, as well as cellars and caves that were used as air-raid shelters.

At the entrance to the town are eleven Cuevas Refugio. They were used as shelters during the Spanish Civil War and date from 1828.

Bodegas Herruzo is considered a living museum of traditional craftsmanship. Traditional crafts still practised in Lopera include chairmaking and woodturning; beech and chestnut wood, among other materials, are used for this purpose.

Festivals and Customs

The religious year is marked by several firmly established dates. Every year on 8 December, Lopera celebrates a solemn festival in honour of the Immaculate Conception, the Inmaculada Concepción.

La Candelaria is celebrated with traditional bonfires on the night of 1 February. The Romería de San Isidro includes a procession with floats and horses that ends at the Ermita de San Isidro.

The Feria y Fiestas de los Cristos includes processions of Cristo de la Vera-cruz and Cristo del Humilladero. The San Roque celebrations include an evening event on 14 August and a procession with blessed bread rings on 16 August.

During the procession on Día de Jesús on 14 September, the streets are decorated the night before with carpets made of coloured paper and sawdust. During the Corpus Christi procession, residents decorate the façades along the route and lay mats made of rushes on the streets.

At Christmas, some Nacimientos and Belenes are put on public display and can be visited. Carnival preserves the tradition of Cascarones: hollowed-out eggs are filled with coloured paper, ash or flour and used for pranks.

Los Mayos are decorated wooden structures carried through the streets in processions and presented for birthdays or name days.

Landscape and Cuisine

Paraje del Pilar Nuevo is located less than one kilometre from Lopera. The area includes a tree-covered meadow, a livestock watering trough dating from 1875 and the Ermita de San Isidro Labrador.

Lopera’s gently rolling terrain is suitable for walking routes in close contact with nature. The varied townscapes and festival dates offer different highlights from the historic interiors of the castle or religious buildings.

Traditional dishes are also part of the local character. In Lopera, Gachas with Tostones and anise are eaten on All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Trigo Pelao is a traditional dish from Lopera in which garden vegetables are combined with anchovies, clams and wheat grains.

Other places: Los Villares, Beas De Segura, Jódar, Mancha Real, La Hueta, Campillo De Arenas, Solera, Cazorla

To the higher-level travel overview: Jaen.