Sitio web oficial de la Concejalía de Turismo, Ferias y Congresos del Ayuntamiento de Murcia

Introduction The city, made to measure by its inhabitants, is perfect for walking, meeting up, discovering or rediscovering it everyday. With its great Baroque personality, and treats for the senses, Murcia is unique. The painter Ramón Gaya, to whom the city has dedicated a well-cared for and beautiful museum, says that "Murcia is Murcia and nothing more, she is distinguished by being herself and no other city or thing".

THE MUSLIM PERIOD

Peopled since Neolithic times, although subjected to the floods caused by the rising of the river Segura, the city of Murcia was founded by Abderraman II in 825. In the 19th century it was an emerging place and Capital City, with an important court of artists and scientists. The archaeological remains found bear witness to busy commercial traffic, meaning that from Roman and Visigoth times there were large numbers of people in the area. It is to the Romans that the development of the Huerta can be attributed. Beginning in the Argaric Age, dikes, dams and irrigation channels were built on which the Moors would map the definitive system. The remains of buildings, the city's defensive wall and the irrigation system in the Huerta have all been conserved from Moorish times. Murcia was the capital of the kingdom and the current structure of the city and the layout of the streets are the result of her Moorish heritage. In 1266, Murcia joined the Castillian crown. In Castille, Jews, Moors and Christians would live together during the Middle Ages.

From the second half of the 13th century the city, in which there lived together Christians, Moors and Jews, enjoyed a time of great splendour. King Alfonso X the Wise, who spent long periods of time in the city, was the monarch who established the socio-economic bases of the municipality. In order to repopulate the land he proceeded to distribute it amongst the knights who had helped him to conquer the city and take it from the Moors. He conceded the law of the "Fuero de Sevilla and Toledo" to the city, creating a Council, the Good Men, to represent the noblemen and the people. The city was given a number of privileges by the monarch to encourage commerce and harmony amongst the different cultures and religions living together.

Throughout the 15th century the famous Acts of the Huerta were passed, considered to be the first and possibly the only rural Spanish code. Although they have been reformed somewhat, they are still used today and it is the Council of Good Men that administers the Water Policy based on these Acts. Throughout this century, Murcia enjoyed a period of prosperity. The irrigation system in the Huerta was almost complete and the trades, which today give their name to the streets of the historic quarter, were flourishing.

The prosperity of the Renaissance and the stability which the Catholic Kings gave to their kingdom became notable in Murcia and this prosperity was consolidated with the Austrian kings. Under the rule of Felipe II, the Murcians, led by the Marqués de los Velez, put down the rebellion of the Moors from Granada and gained Murcia the title of "very noble and very loyal". At this time Murcians were dedicated to the cultivation of citrus fruits and mulberry trees, essential for breeding silk worms, resulting in extraordinary production. There were workshops and factories which sustained a prosperous, world-wide business.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the periods of political stability were favourable for cultural and economic development. The economy was based on agriculture with the expansion of the irrigation systems and cereal harvests, citrus fruits and vineyards. Silk commerce continued to be extraordinarily important. Murcia exported silk and agricultural products.

At this time, the Contraste de la Seda and the Almudí were built, along with other buildings, noble structures in which silk and cereal commerce were based.

Nowadays, the Almudí is an arts centre financed by the city Town Hall and is the place in which the historical archives of Murcia are kept.

It was in the 18th century that the city became truly splendid, and it is known as the Murcian Golden Age. During the War of Succession, the city, with its army led by Bishop Belluga, had fought alongside the pretender to the throne and future monarch Felipe V, from the Bourbon House, an action for which Murcia would reap the benefits.

During this time, great urban and administrative changes took place encouraged by great Murcians close to the court and holding responsible positions, for example, Cardenal Belluga or the Count of Floridablanca. They oversaw the construction of the Old Bridge (Puente Viejo) the Baroque facade of the Cathedral and the Episcopal Palace, as well as a good deal of other palaces, monasteries, convents and churches adorned by exquisite altarpieces and finished off by domes covered in blue and green tiles. In its old quarter, Murcia still keeps the Baroque character from those days.

It was also in the 18th century that the Murcian Count of Floridablanca, minister of Carlos III, ordered the first census of the people. At that time there were 63,665 inhabitants, of whom 29,015 lived in the hamlets of the Huerta, tending the crops and 11,927 lived in the countryside in dry lands.

It was in the 18th century that the artistic and intellectual life of the city reached its zenith. It was the time of sculptors of the calibre of Francisco Salzillo, his father Nicolás and Roque López, to name but a few. It was also a great time for painters and goldsmiths who dedicated their work to the ornamentation of churches, convents and the houses of the upper middle classes. There was a rise in the number of trades and brotherhoods who competed in the celebration of processions and religious acts of an artistic character. It was a time in which the city celebrated brilliant acts and festivals, organised by religious orders with the help of the municipal co-operation. The majority of the fiestas were artistic and cultural displays which, luckily, have survived the passage of time. Others are being rediscovered by the different neighbourhoods and citizens' associations. They are examples of the peculiar idiosyncrasy of the Murcians and give the city a great uniqueness. The Murcian Easter or the numerous and different representations of the nativity scene have their roots in the Baroque era which, for the Murcians, as in other European cities, was the Golden Age.

Contemporary Murcia During the 19th century, Murcia suffered directly the instability caused by the War of Independence and the radically changing politics during the wars between the "Carlistas" and "Isabelinos" or by the establishment of the First Republic until the reestablishment of the House of Bourbon. However, in this century, the free university was created as a forerunner of the official university, which would be created in 1915. Gas lighting was installed in the city and in 1893 the first electric light exchange was established. Improvements continued to be made to the city. The central building of Murcia Town Hall dates from this century, and the Casino of Murcia began to be built, a beautiful building in which different architectural and ornamental styles, ranging from Greek classicism to the English style, Arabic to Baroque are represented. Queen Isabel II came to Murcia in 1862 to open the theatre of Los Infantes, today known as Romea theatre, Floridablanca Park and the first railway line linking Murcia with Albacete.

With the creation of the law faculty in 1915, an age of renovation and vitality began. The Murcian Juan de la Cierva invented the precursor of the helicopter. The University was an important influence in literature, art and science as well as research. In the last decades of the 20th century, the city, with its solid political and socio-economic base, saw a spectacular growth and renovation of its streets. The new suburbs were given green areas, the older buildings, squares and streets from the historical quarter were renovated and improved and the infrastructure of the growing city was added to. The Auditorium and Congress Palace and the regional library were built, as was the building which enlarges the old Town Hall, a project of Rafael Moneo. At the same time, new bridges of Modernist design were built over the river Segura, giving the area improved communication between neighbourhoods and towns and the coast.

The great town-planning project in this period was complemented by an extremely important cultural activity. A wide network of museums was created and, throughout the year all kinds of cultural events, concerts, theatrical works, art exhibitions and other entertainment and festivals take place, making Murcia a city in which something is always happening and where everyday brings us the possibility of attending some kind of cultural or leisure activity.

Murcia is a prosperous, modern and dynamic city for Murcians and visitors alike, maintaining its warmth and Baroquism. The Murcians are taking great care of the town and the environment. The new city buildings contrasting with those from other times give the city a modernity which is harmonious with tradition. It is important to point out that one of the symbols of the city of Murcia chosen by its people is the Matron of Almudí (1575), a stone relief on the facade of this beautiful building of a woman feeding another child while her own child looks on. This image symbolises the hospitality of the city of Murcia with those from outside, with all of those who come to visit.