Culture
Cultural heritage in the municipality of Juviles is largely composed of its monuments, its urban design, its folklore, its typical cuisine and its popular fiestas.
Typical Cuisine
Typical dishes in Juviles are made from healthy nat-ural products, and include its celebrated and much sought after cured jamones. Setas con jamón (wild mushrooms with ham), cooked with garlic, eggs and olive oil are a particular delicacy, and even more so if they are washed down with a good local wine.
History
The first known information about Juviles dates from the 8th century, at the beginning of the His-pano-Muslim period, and comes from an alcázar, or fortress, which was built at that time. Its location was chosen for strategic purposes, and in times of strife it provided protection for neighbouring villages.
In this fort – known as El Fuerte – a group of rebel Mozarabs and Muladies who remained faithful to Omar ibn Hafsun took refuge and were besieged by Abd al-Rahman III (Abd ar-Rahman ibn Muhammad) in the summer of the year 913. After a siege which lasted for a fortnight, the Andalusian Muslims begged for pardon from the Emir, promising to deliver to him the Christians protected within the walls of the stronghold, whose throats were cut. Under Nasrid rule, Juviles was the capital of the district known as the Taha de Juviles, which included as many as twelve towns and villages as well as various hamlets.
In the long campaign of Granada, Juviles put up a strong resistance to the Christian armies, and for this reason, when the fortress was finally captured, King Ferdinand the Catholic ordered it to be completely destroyed, so that it could never again serve as a refuge for the rebels.Later on, Juviles took the side of Abén Humeya and paid very dearly for having done so: more than a thousand Mudejar captives were killed by the Marquis of Mondéjar, in an area of open ground, which from that day onwards has been known as the Huerto de los Mártires (Garden of the Martyrs). Once the Morisco inhabitants had been expelled, following the military victory of John of Austria, it was repopulated, like the rest of the region, by old Christians.
The fort is located in the south of the municip-ality, facing the Eras de la Cruz. In this site you will see scattered prehistoric and Roman remains, including evidence of murals and water cisterns. There are various other archaeological sites in the area, such as the Cerrillo de la Vega, which was home to a Copper Age settlement, possibly for-tified, and also contains remains from the Middle Ages, and the Yacimiento del Peñón as you head towards Tímar, below the fort, a Roman site on a very steep hill, which bears witness to the antiquity of human population of the area.