Description
The Plaza de Santa María corresponds to part of the space occupied by the old Alcázar of Aryuna, of which barely the antewall remains, an imposing canvas of sloping wall made of large masonry of pre-Roman origin, heir to a vast defensive system that would have its maximum splendor in the Islamic era (9th century). The square acts as an excellent viewpoint of the fertile and extensive Giennese countryside and its spaciousness makes it an ideal space to start the literary route.A square, which Juan Eslava Galán describes in this way in The Templars and the Table of Solomon: “(…) Upon arriving I phoned Pepe Alcántara, Councilor for Culture, friend of Juan, and met him at the highest part of the town, the Santa María square, an esplanade from which you can see a vast and beautiful landscape of the olive-growing countryside, with the Sierra Morena to the north and the Peña de Martos and the Jabalcuz mountains to the south. (…)” The Templars and Solomon's Table. Chapter 1. In the Templar Tomb, the Plaza de Santa María is used to contextualize the location of the Sanctuary of the Holy Relics (Sanctuary of the Saints or Santuario del Alcázar in the work), as well as the Iberian origin of Arjona. "(...) -Wow! -exclaimed Íñiguez-. We are on an Iberian citadel. These sloping walls and these stones are an Iberian wall, quite similar to that of Puente de Tablas. (...)" Taking advantage of our stay in the square, it is convenient to come and observe an element that has a lot to do with Juan Eslava Galán: the “Piedra de los Deseos” or “Las Casualidades”. It is a ritual or ceremonial stone, since they were considered divinities associated with the fertility of the earth or women and is archaeologically called Betilo. From a geological point of view, the “Piedra de los Deseos” is a sandstone/limestone sphere that is highly eroded, with small concavities that dot its surface, giving it a lunar appearance. Currently there is a ritual in the town that consists of placing the 5 fingers of one hand in holes of similar size and making a wish. The “Piedra de los Deseos” comes from an excavation that was carried out on a site near the old Gothic Cathedral of Jaén and that arrived in Arjona at the hands of Juan Eslava Galán, as he himself specified in The Templars and the Table of Solomon. (…) – Is it the sphere of the Jaén cathedral? How the hell did he get here? – Juan brought it. Twenty years ago it appeared under the foundations of the Sanatorio bar, in the basement of the primitive cathedral of Jaén. (…) The Templars and Solomon's Table. Chapter 1. In the square, next to the Iglesia de Santa María del Alcázar, there is also a monument to Ibn Alhamar, founder of the Nasrid monarchy, the work of the Granada sculptor Cayetano Aníbal González. It is a bronze bust, placed on a stone pedestal, as well as two more pedestals with readings alluding to the character and the inauguration ceremony.
