Huelva
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Huelva | |||||
 |
|||||
|
|||||
| Portus Maris et Terrae Custodia | |||||
| Location | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location of Huelva |
|||||
| Coordinates : Time zone : |
|||||
| General information | |||||
| Native name | Huelva (Spanish) | ||||
| Spanish name | Huelva | ||||
| Website | http://www.huelva.es/ | ||||
| Administration | |||||
| Country | Spain | ||||
| Autonomous Community | Andalusia | ||||
| Province | Huelva | ||||
| Mayor | Pedro Rodríguez González (PP) | ||||
| Geography | |||||
| Land Area | 149 km² | ||||
| Altitude | 54 m AMSL | ||||
| Population | |||||
| Population | 145.763 (2007) | ||||
| Density | 978,28 hab./km² (2007) | ||||
.PNG/135px-Flag_of_the_City_of_Huelva_(official).PNG)
Huelva is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous region of Andalusia. It is located along the Gulf of Cadiz coast, at the confluence of the Odiel and Rio Tinto rivers. According to the 2005 census, the city has a population of 145,150 inhabitants.
Contents |
[edit] Location and History
A maritime town between the rivers Anas (modern Guadiana) and Baetis (modern Guadalquivir), it was seated on the estuary of the river Luxia (modern Odiel), and on the road from the mouth of the Anas to Augusta Emerita (modern Mérida). (Itin. Ant. p. 431.)
The city may be the site of Tartessus; by the Phoenicians it was called Onoba. The Greeks kept the name and rendered it Ὄνοβα. It was in the hands of the Turdetani at the time of conquest by Rome, and before the conquest it issued silver coins with Iberian legends. It was called both Onoba Aestuaria (Greek: Ὄνοβα Αἰστουάρια, Ptol., ii. 4. § 5) or Onuba (used on coinage) during Roman times, or, simply, Onoba (Strabo, iii. p. 143, Mela, iii. 1. § 5). The city was incorporated into the Roman province of Hispania Baetica. The Arabs then called it Walbah. It suffered substantial damage in the 1755 Lisbon earthquake.
There are still some Roman remains, especially of an aqueduct. The city had a mint; and many coins have been found there bearing the name of the town as Onuba. (Florez. Med. ii. pp. 510, 649; Mionnet, i. p. 23, Suppl. p. 39; Sestini, Med. Isp. p. 75, ap. Ukert, vol. ii. pt. 1. p. 340.)
[edit] Modern Huelva
Tropical Depression Vince made landfall just off the coast of Huelva in October 2005, making it the first tropical cyclone to make landfall in Spain, but no injuries or damage were reported.
The local football (soccer) team, Recreativo de Huelva, is the oldest in Spain; it was founded in 1889.
[edit] Port
In the present time the Port of Huelva is located like one of the Spanish ports of greater activity, competitiveness and growth. It is divided in two sectors: the inner port (in the city) and the outer port (the main one)
Inner port (a wharf). Constructed in 1972, the East Wharf, replaced constructed harbor facilities of inferior quality between 1900 and 1910. At the moment it is the wharf of the city that smaller traffic has but, to the most centric being, is considered like the authentic port of Huelva. It emphasizes a small limited zone in which is the Wharf of the Canoes and that connects Huelva with Shady End in summer by means of a tourist boat and the English garages of locomotives. Also it is necessary to as much emphasize in this complex the market as the Shipyards of Huelva, in the zone from the entrance to the city by the bridge siphon. Outer port (six wharves). In 1965, after the first concessions of the Industrial Pole the works of the Outer Port begin or New Port, to the south of the Tinto River. They began with the Oil Wharf of Tower River sand, culminating itself with the Engineer Wharf Juan Gonzalo, constructed between 1972 and 1975. At the end of years 1960 it is finished to the construction of the Bridges of the Red (1967) and Siphon of Shady End (1969). The Wharves of Tharsis and Río Tinto and the old Fishing boat lost their old activity. In this way, the transference of activity towards the Outer Port experiences a decisive impulse and in 1975, agreeing with the extension of the Industrial estate of the New Port, in Woods of the Border, the Port obtains an extension of its Zone on watch in the Outer Port, consolidating the character of that zone like present and future axis of the harbor activity of Huelva. This situation was confirmed still more with the construction in 1981 of the Dock Juan Carlos I. This same development has taken to the port towards the south and has modified the paper of the East Wharf, that it has now as main traffic the fishing and the movement of clean merchandise, like the paper paste, the copper anodes and cathodes and the tripolifosfatos. At the moment his President is D. Jose Antonio Marín Rite, before President of the Parliament Andalusian, and his director, prestigious engineer D. Enrique Perez
[edit] Demographics
Huelva has a population of 146,173 (INE 2007). The city experienced a population boom in the 19th century, due to the exploitation of mineral resources in the area and another due to the construction of the Polo de Desarrollo in the 1960s. The city had only 5,377 inhabitants in 1787 which had only risen to 8,519 by 1857. From 1887, the city experienced rapid growth reaching 21,539 residents in 1900 and 56,427 forty years later. By 1970 this figure had risen to 96,689. Further rapid expansion occurred and the number of inhabitants had reached 144,479 by 1991.
In the last ten years, immigration both from abroad and from the surrounding area have caused continued growth in the city’s population. In 2007, the city breached the 145,000 barrier whilst the metropolitan area was touching 221,000, encompassing the surrounding areas of Aljaraque, Moguer, San Juan del Puerto, Punta Umbría, Gibraleón and Palos de la Frontera. The 2006 census noted a foreign population of almost 5,000 people in the urban centre, the majority of whom were of Moroccan origin.
[edit] Christopher Columbus
Among the attractions to visit in this province are the Columbus sites . These sites include the city of Huelva itself, Moguer, Palos de la Frontera, and the Rábida Monastery. La Rábida is where Columbus sought the aid of the Franciscan brothers in advancing his project of discovery. They introduced him to local rich sailors (the Pinzón brothers), and, eventually, arranged a meeting in Seville with Ferdinand and Isabella.
Thanks to those meetings, Christopher was able to arrange his first voyage, using resources and local crew (including ship captains). There is a persistent legend that Columbus received advice on how best to undertake a western passage by speaking with Alonso Sánchez, a sailor from the city of Huelva.
In the Huelva area, Columbus exchanged ideas, explored competing theories, and, after a time, put together the political and economic support that had been previously denied to him by other European monarchies.
[edit] Artists
The most outstanding artists in Huelva have been: the poet and prize Nobel of Literature Juan Ramón Jiménez, the sculptor Antonio León Ortega, the writer Nicolas Tenorio Cerero and the painter Daniel Vázquez Díaz.
Other plastic outstanding artists of Huelva are painting José Caballero, Pedro Gómez y Gómez, Antonio Brunt, Mateo Orduña Castellano, Pablo Martínez Coto, Manuel Moreno Díaz, Juan Manuel Seisdedos Romero, Francisco Doménech, Esperanza Abot, José María Labrador, Sebastián García Vázquez, Pilar Barroso, Juan Carlos Castro Crespo, Lola Martín, Antonio Gómez Feu, Rafael Aguilera and Florencio Aguilera Correa.
[edit] Places to visit
- Avenida Andalucía
- Barrio Reina Victoria (Barrio Obrero - Workers' District)
- Bulevar de la Avenida Andalucía
- Cabezo del Conquero
- Casa Colón, House Christopher Columbus
- Casa del Millón
- Cathedral of La Merced
- Cementerio de la Soledad, holds the body of William Martin, a supposed naval commander, known as 'The Man Who Never Was'
- Ciudad Deportiva (Sports)
- Clínica Sanz de Frutos, the former Conservatorio de Música
- Cocheras de Locomotoras, Cocheras del Puerto photos
- Columbus Trail [1] Across the Río Tinto estuary from Huelva, the monastery of La Rábida and the villages of Palos and Moguer are all places connected with the voyages of Columbus to the New World.
- Conservatorio de Música
- Convent of San Francisco
- Convento de las Agustinas
- Corpus Christi Hospital, converted into a theatre
- Ermita de la Soledad
- Estación de Sevilla (Trainstation)
- Nuevo Colombino stadium
- Gran Teatro, on Calle Vásquez López
- Humilladero de la Cinta
- Iglesia de la Concepción
- Iglesia de la Milagrosa
- Iglesia de San Pedro
- Jardines de la Avenida Andalucía
- Jardines de la Casa Colón
- Jardines de Muelle, well-kept gardens located near the port, bordered on all sides by busy roads, with a statue of Alonso Sánchez
- Monasterio de Santa María de la Rábida, located seven kilometres south of Huelva city where the Tinto and Odiel rivers meet.
- Monastery of Santa Clara
- Monumento a Cristobal Colón, a huge monument of Christopher Columbus situated at the Punta de Sebo, overlooking the confluence of the Odiel and Tinto rivers
- Monumento a la Fe Descubridora (Monument to the Faith Discoverer)
- Muelle de Levante
- Muelle de Mineral (Mineral wharf)
- Muelle de Riotinto
- Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes
- Palacio de Los Deportes (Sports Palace)
- Palacio de Mora Claros
- Palacio Municipal de Huelva (Ayuntamiento), city council building
- Palos de la Frontera [2], small village on the River Tinto 10km upstream from Huelva City, this is where in 1492 Columbus Set sail westwards and discovered America
- Parque Alonso Sánchez, a park in the city center consisting of three hills with panoramic views photos
- Parque Moret, major park which houses the sports centre photos
- Parroquia Mayor de San Pedro (Greater Parish of San Pedro) photos
- Paseo Santa Fe y Antiguo Mercado photos
- Plaza 12 de Octubre
- Plaza de las Monjas (Monjas Square) photos
- Plaza de Toros photos
- Polideportivos y Pistas Municipales (sports) photos
- Port Office
- Provincial Museum
- Punta Umbría, [3] the closest beach resort to the City of Huelva
- Queen Victoria Workers' Quarter
- Santuario de Nuestra Señora Virgen de La Cinta [4]photos, a chapel where Columbus is said to have prayed before setting sail
[edit] Events
- Carnaval, fiesta
- Festival de Cine [5]
- Fiestas Colombinas, fiesta first week of August
- Fiestas de la Cinta, between 3rd - 8th September
- San Sebastián, festival Jan 20th
- Semana Santa (Easter Week)
- Virgen de la Cinta, fiesta September 8
- El Rocio
[edit] Nearby
Near Huelva lay Herculis Insula, mentioned by Strabo (iii. p. 170), called Ἡράκλεια by Steph. B. (s. v.), now Isla Saltés.
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography by William Smith (1856).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Información sobre la Sierra de Aracena
- Huelva - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía
- City of Huelva Andalucia Destination
- Huelva municipal government Official Website (Spanish)
- A Travel Guide to Huelva (English)
- City Street Guide [6]
- City of Huelva Andalucia Destination
- Huelva Hoy Daily Events in Spanish
- Huelva Cultura in Spanish
- Port Authority of Huelva Official web page with information about the port, its history and technical characteristics.
- Maps [7][8][9]
- Local Writers [10] in Spanish
- Santa Bárbara de casa Huelva
- Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace - Convento de la Rábida Photo and History page
