Culture
Discoverer's HuelvaColumbian sites
It is impossible to escape those feelings when visiting the Monastery of La Rábida, at which location the discoverer Christopher Columbus planned his trip, safe in this refuge belonging to the Franciscan order. Built during the 14th and 15th centuries its Gothic-Mudejar style contrasts with the frescoes of painter Vazquez Diaz and is a key to understanding the Discovery that would change our perception of the world.
Very close to the monastery, in front of the Botanical Park José Celestino Mutis and at the mouth of the estuary of the Tinto river you can find, moored in the sand, en el Muelle de Las Carabelas, replicas of the three ships that discovered America: the caravels Pinta and Niña, and the vessel Santa Maria. All this in a unique natural setting that will make you feel a part of that glorious adventure.
Palos de la Frontera and a little bit further, surrounded by pines and strawberry fields, Moguer, will enchant you with their cultural heritage and hospitality, and offer you the opportunity to get acquainted with the environment where the details of this historical feat were conceived.
Except for reliving the Discovery of the Americas, walking around Moguer is also a moving experience due to the spirit and verses of its most famous ambassador, the Nobel-prize winner Juan Ramón Jiménez.
On the opposite shore of the Tinto River you will find San Juan del Puerto. A town that actively participated in Columbus's first trips to the New World due to its geographical location. Here you can enjoy its unique natural environment next to the marshes and Muelle del Tinto.
Mining Huelva A trip to the heart of the region
Already in antiquity, civilizations as important as the Tartessians, Phoenicians and Romans, had laid eyes on the area, from where they started their extraction of precious metals. Another strong influence was the Dominican culture, with its traces still visible in Pozuelo, Zalamea.
To the north of the province, and very near important protected natural areas, such as the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche or the National Hunting Reserve Pata de Caballo, this region offers visitors cities rich in tradition and renown for their delectable sierra cuisine.
A multitude of architectural relics and all kinds of mementos that show the development of the area from the Victorian era to the late nineteenth century and in all its Anglo-Saxon splendour during the Industrial Revolution. Of note here is the colony settled at Riotinto, where you can still enjoy the old customs surviving from those times; an example of this being that the area holds the title of being the birthplace of football in our country.
Places full of history in a spectacular, almost otherworldly setting that cannot be missed.
It is criminal not to also view the old logging and mining sites, under the open sky, on a nice train ride to the heart of the region.
Enjoy the landscape with its ochre and red hues, in a setting that's highly popular within the film industry; this goes some way towards explaining the red-coloured waters of the Tinto River crossing the region, and which are presently the object of NASA studies.
El Rocío Magical encounter
Four roads lead to the village: the road Sanlúcar from Doñana, Los Llanos from Almonte; Moguer road to the west and Ajola road to the east. From all four corners, Rocío represents, in the most profound way for the people of the county, the faith and beating heart of the locals, combining the religion and faith of the people of the county with the vivacity and joy of our fiestas, processions and other local traditions.
Each year, for the Pentecost more than a million people pilgrimage to worship the Queen of the Marshes, the Virgin of Rocío. They come here with hearts full of dreams and hopes, joys and prayers, as they feel this place to be unique in the world, full of spirituality and magic. Another Rocío, Chico, is celebrated in August, and every seven years the Shepherdess is moved to her beloved Almonte, providing travellers with moments of devotion, passion and unforgettable memories.
Although El Rocío is the most known pilgrimage in our province, Huelva is full of culture and traditional festivals and processions. Our ancestral Andevales festivals are not to be missed.
Bull territory
Our province is not only the ideal habitat for breeding bulls, but also has certain particularities that make it stand out from other areas: its connection with Latin America and the cultural and natural heritage of the >Sierra.
Apart from bull breeding, there are many attractions of great interest to tourists in Huelva. Touristic itineraries are comprehensive and include our wine heritage, Columbian heritage, the natural heritage of Dona and Huelva ham, among others.
Teritorio Toro (Bull Territory) consists of nine tour packages created to present you with the essence of Huelva and the world of bullfighting so you can experience and enjoy a vast array of bull-related activities in the environment of our province:
Livestock farms
Historical niebla
Knowing the History of this place in the peninsula is going in depth into the only city of Huelva that possesses more than two kilometers of an Almohad walled enclosure that closely protects Niebla’s “Castillo de los Condes” (Count’s Castle) (15th century), Santa Maria de la Granada’s Parish Church built on top of the andalusí style Aljama de la Labla Mosque, the ancient Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles Hospital, architectural jewel from the VIth century, and the remains of a very special building, San Martin Church (15th century) where the façade and the apse are separated by a square.
Niebla, county city, has a crimson river –Moorish blood as people say- that licks its walls. At sunrise, being the Maiden’s Door still closed, the olive trees on the banks dye the pink haze with a pale greenness. The cascades in which the river breaks are pink, violet and mauve foam and the walls turn into a reddened gold with Dawn. East façades and the Orient presage the first gold of the day on their summits.Balada, a fragment, by Juan Ramón Jiménez.
Niebla is a welcoming city; it is friendly with its visitors, as well as hospitable with travellers, warm during any season of the year. However, summer is the best season to visit it and enjoy its remarkable Theatre and Dance Festival, altogether with November the 1st “Tosantos” (All Saint’s Day), when the city travels backwards on time and it turns into the Middle Aged Niebla.
The dramatized visits by the hand of Niebla Tourism will make your visit to our city unforgettable by all and forever. Any kind of public audience has its stage in the more than sixteen hectares enclosed within these walls. Its five Arabic doors invite the visitant to get into its historical heart, staring Walabonso prayers, knowing the Roman past of Ilipla, learning about the different Visigoth remains, enquiring into Ellen Mary Whisaw’s life, the “stones lady”, and at last, gazing at that unique Sunrise in the surroundings of Tinto River.
Roman City of Turóbriga Enjoy archaeological tourism in Huelva
If you go to the town of Aroche by travelling on 2, 3 or 4 wheels, you will undoubtedly take a trip over 2000 years back in time. There you will find the Roman City of Arucci/Turobriga, founded in the time of Augustus (15-10 BC), northwest of Baetica.
By strolling through the sections and spaces which made it up, you will experience the culture of the Roman Empire settled in Baetica. The Roman Forum, the Macellum, the Peristyle House, the Campus, the Wall and Necropolis, the Thermal baths, the North House and the House of the Column are the places where you can amuse yourself and see the significance that this city had because of its resources and location.
It is currently a very important space for heritage conservation of the Roman legacy, as well as a source of cultural activities which unite the town and its visitors, such as the Diana Festival, an event held in honour of the Goddess Diana, goddess of hunting and nature and who is present in the archaeological site of Arucci Turobriga. If you want to live an authentic recreated Roman experience full of fantastic adventures, gastronomy and lots of fun, this is a must!