History

Tradition: The legend of Mureda

Owing to the Proclamation announced by the Catholic Monarchs in 1502, Muslims were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula. Among some descendants of the Muslim inhabitants who were converted to Christianity, there was a little princess, daughter of a rich merchant who was appointed governor by the Caliph. Due to the hard battles between Muslims and Christians, the governor and his wife died. Nevertheless, the princess stayed in the region where she remained hidden but protected by a knight.

The beauty and personality of the Muslim princess was the origin of the place being known as the “House of the Moor”, which led to the name “The House of Mureda”, in Spanish “La casa de Mureda “, and today known as “Mureda”.

La casa de Mureda owns all the characteristics of the Mudejar Art or Moor Art. It was developed in the Christian Kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula but using elements of Moorish origin. This style is exclusively from the Castilian territory and took place between the 12th and 16th centuries as a fusion of the Christian and Muslim artistic styles. A new material appeared in this time: the brick, and also appeared a new grid: the bricklaying (In Arabic: Alarife)

This is a 15th century house that was originally built in stone and earthenware bricks. Its walls are nearly a meter thick and there is a Mudejar coffered ceiling made of logs of savin which is a typical wood of the continental landscape.

Environment and culture

Nearly 1.200 hectares of vineyards, which make up the lands of Mureda, are framed between Campos de Montiel, Sierra de Alcaraz and Campos de Calatrava , in a very beautiful environment that must be considered the birthplace of the History of Spain and inspiration to numerous cultural expressions.

This historic region, which belongs to the present Autonomous Region of Castilla- La Mancha, is located in the south-east of the province of Ciudad Real, and South-East of the province of Albacete, forming the Southern part of the Plain of La Mancha.

At the beginning of the 12th century, and for almost six centuries, this region set up a political unit in the territories ruled by the Orden de Santiago, lands which were given by the Crown of Castilla.

Together with the Orden de Santiago, the Orden de Calatrava, whose headquarters were located in Almagro, was entrusted with the surveillance and protection of the South-East part of the Plain from the Muslim troops.

In 1573, King Felipe II appointed Villanueva de los Infantes as the region seat, and in 1785, this area was located in the province of La Mancha.

It was in these lands where Miguel de Cervantes set the beginning of the great deeds of his most world-famous character: Don Quixote de la Mancha “… and began to traverse the ancient and famous Campo de Montiel; which in fact he was actually traversing”. (Chapter II, Don Quixote de la Mancha).