Murcia

Overview

The city of Murcia is the capital of Murcia region which is an autonomous community in south eastern Spain and its population of about 440,000 stands seventh in the country. It is situated on the river Segura which is in the southeast direction of the Iberian Peninsula. This city is known as the orchard of Europe because of the production and export of agricultural products – fruits, flowers and vegetables.

History

The ancient Iberian tribes originally populated the region of Murcia and these people had extensive commercial transactions with Greeks and Phoenicians and started a number of industries in the coastal area. This Carthaginian colony was taken over by the Moors who built an advanced irrigation facility in this place. It was then taken over by the Moors who graced this part of Spain with an advanced system of irrigation which has made Murcia’s crops famous world wide, even nowadays. The Moors founded Murcia in 825 AD and named it as Madinat Mursiya.

Climate

The average temperatures in a year are as follows.

Maximum – 28 °C in the month of August
Minimum – 11 °C in December to February

Art and Culture

The most beautiful monument in Murcia is the 15th century cathedral Santa Maria. This city has been separated by river Segura and is well known for Baroque Cathedral that is beautiful.

Other places of interest are as follows:

1.Almudi Palace
2.Monteagudo castle
3.The 11th century fortress
4.Veronicas Market
5.Malecon Garden,
6.Murcia University
7.Ramon Gaya Museum – is dedicated to the artist Ramon Gaya who was a native of Murcia; this was inaugurated in 1990 when the artist’s age was 82

Cuisine

Popular food items are – broad beans, chards tossed in oil, grilled meat, lamb, kid cutlets, longanizas, meat pasty, Morcillas, murcian salad, pisto, potatoes with a kind of spicy garlic sauce, rice with small beans, rice with vegetables, small beans with fennels, vegetable stew with chickpeas and spinach and Zarangollo. Popular desserts are – rice pudding, tocino de cielo,  arrope and paparajotes.

Sports and Entertainment

There are more than 200 beaches in its coast and they are shared by two different water bodies – the Menor and the Mediterranean Sea.

Business & Economy

Murcia’s economy is dependent on Agricultural products – lettuce, tomato, oranges, lemons and grapes – and satellite factories that mainly support British companies. Wine is also produced in this town. Of late this town is being chosen by people from Northern Europe as their second home thereby promoting residential tourism.