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Description
Lupión is a small municipality in the La Loma region, occupying its north-western tip, and located at the geographic centre of the province.
In addition to Lupión itself, the hamlet of Guadalimar also forms part of this municipality. Its municipal area slopes from east to west down to the Guadalimar river, within the Guadalquivir basin, in the northernmost part of the Baetic mountain range.
It occupies a flat-topped hill, surrounded by olive groves which, along with the olive oil milling industry, are the town's main sources of income, complemented by income from cotton farming carried out in the fertile plain of the Guadalquivir.
From its historical heritage, we can mention the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, its defensive Torreón, and the Fountain.
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Culture
Artistic Heritage Details:
- Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción. Construction of the building began in the 14th century, but successive renovations have obscured its original Gothic style, which can only be appreciated in the presbytery area. Its modest size reflects its medieval typology: a three-nave floor plan of unequal width. The pillars separating the naves vary in plan, and the arches connecting the central nave with the side naves are semicircular, except in the Gothic presbytery area, where they are pointed. A barrel vault covers the three bays of the central nave. The 14th-century presbytery is built of ashlar and roughly hewn stone, though partly whitewashed, and is covered by a rib vault with tiercerons and diagonals. It is accessed through a pointed transverse arch. The exterior is quite plain, with whitewashed masonry walls, and the entrance doorway features a semicircular arch built of ashlar with radial voussoirs resting on jambs.
- Torreón (Tower). Once part of an old medieval castle datable to the 13th century, built of masonry in irregular courses with roughly hewn stone facings. Square in plan on the inside, the oldest part, while round on the outside — perhaps the result of a later modification aimed at reducing the destructive effects of artillery. It has two floors, each covered with brick domed vaults. The terrace preserves its crenellated structure with corbels and the remains of a now-vanished defensive machicolation. Declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1985.
- La Fuente (The Fountain). In the Town Hall square stands an old fountain, built of both regular and irregular ashlar, with a front topped by a cross-shaped gable cornice with curved sides. It has two spouts set above inverted truncated-cone-shaped basins, decorated with tiles bearing religious imagery.
Nature
This is the last town of La Loma de Úbeda and lies in an area between two rivers, namely the Guadalquivir and its tributary the Guadalimar.
Its municipal area slopes from east to west down to the Guadalimar river, within the Guadalquivir basin, in the northernmost part of the Baetic mountain range, where the second largest settlement in the municipality is located: the village of Guadalimar.
Most of the territory consists of rich olive-growing countryside, interspersed with small areas devoted to herbaceous crops and the fertile plains of the Guadalquivir and Guadalimar rivers, where irrigated crops are particularly prominent.
Cotton farming is also of great importance in this area.
Within the municipal area, three distinct ecosystems can be identified: that of the olive groves, that of herbaceous crops, and finally that of the rivers and wetlands.
These ecosystems host great plant diversity, since alongside the olive trees there is riparian vegetation developing along the riverbeds, including white poplars, ash trees, oleanders, elms, brambles and common reed. This gallery woodland, besides enriching the local flora, adds a splash of colour to the landscape as the seasons change, particularly in autumn.
As for wildlife, many species can be found in the municipality of Lupión, some as emblematic as the hoopoe, the red-necked nightjar, the kingfisher, the mallard, the hen harrier, the grey heron, the purple heron, the fox, the European otter, the genet, the deer, the Guadiana barbel-relative fish, the Andalusian barbel, the horseshoe whip snake, the ladder snake and the viperine snake.
Parties and Events
The town of Lupión enjoys the following festivals:
- La Candelaria, on 2 February. Today, this festival consists of lighting a number of bonfires at night, around which locals gather to grill chorizo, chops and more, all while having fun together.
- Day of the Virgen del Lorite, on 5 March. This commemoration has been held since 1918, with a triduum in the preceding days, a floral offering the day before, and a Mass in honour of the Virgin on the 5th itself. Once the religious events are over, a communal paella is shared by all. In the afternoon, a procession takes place with a drum and bugle band, and on the way back to the church the townspeople sing songs in honour of their patron saint. In the evening, there is dancing in the town square.
- San Marcos, on 25 April. It is traditional for the brothers responsible for organising the festival that year to prepare bread rings known as "caridad" ("charity"), made with wheat flour and aniseed. These are paid for by the town and distributed door to door after Mass and the procession. The day ends with a lively open-air dance.
- San Isidro Labrador, 15 May. Farmers honour their patron saint with a festival held on the Camino de la Redonda, beginning the night before with a popular open-air dance. On the 15th, after Holy Mass, a procession is held around the outskirts of the town so that San Isidro can bless the fields. Once it ends, a communal meal is shared by the whole town, with paella and appetisers.
- Fiestas Mayores (Main Festivities). Held on the first weekend of August in honour of the Virgen del Lorite and the Santísimo Cristo de la Veracruz. On Friday morning, Mass is held in honour of the patron saint Nuestra Señora del Lorite, and in the afternoon her image is carried in procession accompanied by the band and the townspeople of Lupión. On Saturday, the same religious events take place, but in honour of the Santísimo Cristo de la Veracruz. In addition to these events, there are many and varied activities, with sporting events being especially prominent. Until recently these festivities were held in September, but they have since been moved to August so that Lupión's residents living elsewhere can attend. As a final flourish to the celebrations, the Town Hall invites all attendees to "Tortas a la Calda", accompanied by good wine.
Gastronomy
Among the dishes of our local cuisine, we find:
- Habas de San Antón (San Antón broad beans). Prepared with dried broad beans, a pig's ear, onion, tomato and cumin.
- Carnival stew. Made with pork and chopped soft pork fat for the meatballs, along with onion, garlic, tomato, parsley, bay leaf, white wine, salt, water, potatoes and flour.
For the festivals:
- Rice with rabbit, a dish served during the patron saint festivities, and Migas, prepared for all attendees on the last day of the celebrations, in the early hours of the morning.
Pastries:
- Hornazos: bread dough with eggs, oil, aniseed and sugar.
- Arroz con DUL (rice with DUL). A dish of mountain origin, likely introduced into local cuisine by families from the Sierra de Segura who settled in the village of Guadalimar. Made with rice, water, saffron, sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, olive oil and a clove of garlic.
- Gachas. Made with oil, flour, fried bread croutons, ground cinnamon, aniseed and water. It is a very old tradition to make gachas on the night of All Saints' Day.
- Mantecados tontos ("simple" mantecados). Made with lard, olive oil, ground sugar, flour, egg whites, cinnamon and lemon zest.
- Roscos de vino (wine-flavoured rings). Made with olive oil, white wine, aniseed and flour.
History
Given its natural conditions — abundant water and pasture — human settlement here was frequent. The earliest dates back to prehistoric times, based on remains found within the municipal area.
During the Roman period it was linked to Cástulo, an ancient Ibero-Roman city, and developed an active and intense trade with Rome, mainly sending oil, cereals, wool, silver, copper and bronze. From this period comes the archaeological site known as "Horno" ("Kiln") on the Guadalimar, where an Iberian kiln was found.
At the height of Roman Cástulo, "Luparia" is mentioned as a residential area. With the arrival of the Visigoths, Lupión was completely destroyed; it has been written that "everything that smelled of Rome was struck down".
During the Islamic period, it must have been one of the small hamlets scattered across the La Loma region, and after its conquest by Ferdinand III, it was granted to Baeza. The Torreón and the small fortifications of "Retamal" and "Castillejos", within the municipal area, date from this time.
It remained under the jurisdiction of Baeza until, during the reign of Charles III, feeling heavily oppressed, it petitioned the king to be freed from that city's authority and for Lupión to become an independent "villa", in exchange for a sum in reales de vellón that would allow it to purchase its independence.
After securing a loan of 6,000 reales, the king granted its independence, but Baeza did not accept this royal decision, and it was not until 1795, during the reign of Charles IV, that Lupión was "exempted, removed and freed from the authority held over it by the aforementioned City of Baeza, making it a villa in its own right and for itself".
As a result of the so-called "Plan de Obras, Colonización, Industrialización y Electrificación de la provincia de Jaén" (Plan for Public Works, Colonisation, Industrialisation and Electrification of the province of Jaén), the settlement of Guadalimar was built in the 1950s. It is now part of the municipality of Lupión.
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