# data[].attributes.headline
1 - EOI MARBELLA"PROYECTO DE PATRIMONIO." 2019-2020 C1.1 MIX 

# data[].attributes.subject
1 - EOI MARBELLA"PROYECTO DE PATRIMONIO." 2019-2020 C1.1 MIX 

# data[].attributes.body
Marbella's landmarks historic city centre
The tour started in ALAMEDA PARK where the guide, a nice guy, told us about Marbella´s geographical situation. The tour continued around the old town. He told us about the shape of its early days. It was a FORTIFIED CITY, with three access doors: Sea Entrance, Málaga Entrance and Ronda Entrance.Now they are a small part of what was the defensive structure, which can be seen in an acceptable state of preservation: walls, towers and castle. Historians date the beginning of the construction of the castle around the 10th century. It is very curious that for their constructions Arabs reused materials from Roman building which were nearby. We can see (in Trinidad Street )three Roman capitals, used as simple stones.

# data[].attributes.body
Marbella was surrendered to King Fernando the Catholic on 11 June 1485, the act of handing the Town´s keys took place in the spot named “Cruz Del Humilladero” in Málaga Street. In Christian Marbella, Alonso de Bazán was an important and rich mayor who promoted the construction of "Hospital Bazán", for poor and needy people. Currently is the Museum of Spanish.

# data[].attributes.body
Catholic Monarchs founded in 1485 a hospital for poor foreigners located in Misericordia Street. It was called the “Mercy Hospital” and later “Saint John of God Hospital”, close there is a pretty chapel with a Mudéjar ceiling with the same name.

# data[].attributes.body
The tour continued through Saint Christ Square, a tiny and beautiful place with the Hermitage of Holy Christ of the True Cross and a traditional flamenco stage. I think it is the most impressive place in Marbella, in it you can see old typical mansions.

# data[].attributes.body
CERVANTES AND MARBELLA.
The priest Anton de la Bella belonged to a religious community called “trinitarios”, he was the minister of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Marbella (in the old town) and another outstanding position, he was the “redentor de cautivos” Captive Redeemers. The priest had to rescue Cervantes and other Catholic prisoners in Africa, the majority of whom were in Argel. Not only did he begged money to Cervantes' family, whose mother Leonor de Cortinas and sister, Andre de Cervantes, gave him 250 and 50 ducats respectively, but he also begged for money around Andlusia to release Cervantes. Later the priest Anton de la Bella travelled from Valencia to Argel and tried to release Cervantes and other prisoners, nevertheless Cervantes’ liberty was too much and the priest decided to pay cheaper prisoners and tried later to convince the muslim slaver in order to reduce the ransom amount.
Cervantes had fought in Lepanto, in which catholic kingdoms had won the battleship against the Turkish naval fleet. With injuries in his left hand which resulted in an amputation, Cervantes started to be referred as “The one handed from Lepanto”. After recovering from his injuries, he decided to return to Spain with several king certificates proving his courage and strength. However, muslim pirates had boarded the ship, they had found his king certificates and had fought that he was an invaluable person for the Spanish kingdom. Argel corsairs had requested a pricey ransom for his freedom. In the so referred to as, Argel of robbers. Cervantes had met the priest Anton de la Bella and a childhood friend : the ensign Luis de Pedrosa y Aguilar. Both of them had lived in Marbella.
Legend has it that Cervantes lived in Marbella while recovering from tremendous injuries that he had suffered in Lepanto battleship. How can we know if this really happened?  Why concerned members of the local community have not researched or promoted our astonishing city before? Are there any historic evidences in archives about that in Marbella?

Another hypothesis surrounding the work of Cervantes claims that Cervantes might be written several chapters of Quijote in Marbella. Recent historic researches reveals and illustrate the eternal dilemma and conflation between fiction and reality. Let me tell you three main ideas : firstly the Cervantes’ captivity in Argel, secondly the priest Anton de la Bella, thirdly the ensign Luis de Pedrosa y Aguilar. This information is based on a summer conference in 2017 about Quijote and in addition a book written by two inhabitants of Marbella, or as we call them Marbelli experts during many years hardworking : Vicente Murillo Utor and Fernando Maria Alvarez Cantos.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 - Santiago Hermitage, a curious landmark in Marbella

# data[].attributes.subject
5 - Santiago Hermitage, a curious landmark in Marbella

# data[].attributes.body
Santiago Hermitage is the oldest religious building in the city. It is located in the Orange Tree Square and it is believed that its origin is before the Square. One of the reasons is that the church is not aligned with the structure of the square and the other is that a Muslim door was found during its recent rebuilding. Because of all this, historians think it was a Muslim mosque reconverting in a Catholic chapel with the Reconquest.