The city of Murcia is relatively young by Spanish standards. Founded only in 825 by Abd ar-Rahman II, the Emir of Cordoba, in what by then had been Moorish al-Andalus for over a century. People had lived and farmed fertile agricultural land along the River Segura for centuries before the arrival of Moorish settlers. Unlike nearby Cartagena though, you’ll find few traces of Carthaginian civilisation or any grand Roman ruins.
The Moors brought agricultural expertise, quickly developing a large complex network of irrigation canals to transform the region into one of the most productive areas of the country. Murcia grew wealthy and, as it did, the arts and culture thrived, as did industry. Ceramics were exported across Europe, while the first European silk and paper industries were founded here.
As an important military and economic centre under the Moors, Murcia once had a ring of huge defensive walls. They did not prevent the town becoming a protectorate of King Ferdinand III of Castile in 1243, as the reconquest of Spain gathered pace. An uprising, the Mudéjar Revolt, by the Muslim population against persecution 1264 was crushed by James I of Aragon in 1266. Murcia became a Christian town.
Today, the walls have gone and only agriculture continues to thrive as an industry. The gardens established by the Moors, known as the Huerta de Murcia, still continue those ancient traditions. So much so, Murcia is known as the “orchard of Europe”, and is a major exporter of fruits and vegetables. All that fresh produce makes visits to tapas bars scattered throughout Murcia’s streets and pleasant squares extra rewarding.
One of the first things the new rulers of Murcia did was to build a cathedral and a host of other churches. It took until 1385 for construction of the cathedral to begin on the site of the former Grand Mosque. More than 80 years passed before it was completed, and works continued right into the 18th century. Today, it is an impressive sight dominating the main square. Inside though, it is one of the more restrained Spanish cathedrals I’ve visited.
We had quite a bit of sightseeing planned, but first we made a pilgrimage to one of the most traditional tapas bars in town, Los Zagales. It was lunch and it was busy, but we snagged some stools at the bar and tucked in to several local dishes. Afterwards, we made our way to one of Murcia’s ‘must see’ attractions, the Real Casino de Murcia. A private social club founded in 1847, it still has members but is open to non-members for a fee.
Eclectic architectural styles include everything from massive chandeliers in the French ballroom, to Arabic motifs, to huge frescoes covering entire ceilings, and an English library. The Moorish style patio is said to be covered with 35,000 sheets of gold leaf. We strolled through the town towards the bullring, itself impressive, to find the lovely Museo de Bellas Artes. It was just us and a party of school children in this small but enjoyable museum.
Time was getting on and, after a visit to a few more ancient churches, we found ourselves in the culinary hotspot that is Plaza de la Flores. A buzzing square with so many good tapas places you can do a fairly sizeable tapas crawl and only travel a couple of hundred metres. It was Friday evening and half the town seemed to be out enjoying themselves, the square and streets around it were vibrant and full of life.
We walked back through the winding streets for a quick nightcap in Los Zagales and then to Plaza del Cardenal Belluga to see the cathedral illuminated at night. Directly opposite, also illuminated, was the town hall. Controversial because of its architecture, during the day it looked fairly anonymous, but at night it was splendidly bathed in colourful lights.
