Antequera

Antequera

Antequera, city, Málaga provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Andalusia, southern Spain, northwest of Málaga, at the foot of the Sierra del Torcal. Neolithic dolmens (Menga, Viera, and El Romeral) attest to prehistoric occupation of the site. The city, known to the Romans as Anticaria and to the Moors as Madīnah Antakira, was reconquered for Christian Spain by the infante Don Fernando (Ferdinand, regent of Castile) in 1410, after which it served as a religious and seignorial centre. Examples of its 16th-century architecture include the churches of Santa María la Mayor of San Francisco and of San Sebastián, which houses works of the great Spanish painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

Agriculturally based, Antequera produces olives, cereals, asparagus, fertilizers, sugar, ice cream, Christmas candles, woolen blankets, and cotton goods. El Torcal Nature Reserve, known for its massive and distinct limestone rock formations, lies 9 miles (15 km) south of Antequera. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 44,547.