Martos
Encyclopedia
The city of Martos is located in the province
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...

 of Jaén in the autonomous community
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...

 of Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

 in south-central Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

It has a population of 24061 inhabitants, making Martos the fifth largest municipality in the province. The city is located on a western peak of the Sierra Jabalcuz mountain range.
It belongs to the metropolitan Area of Jaén, of which it is considered to be the second most important city after the capital.

Its economy is based on agriculture, in particular the cultivation of the olive tree
Olive Tree
The Olive Tree was a denomination used for several successive centre-left Italian political coalitions from 1995 to 2007.The historical leader and ideologue of these coalitions was Romano Prodi, Professor of Economics and former leftist Christian Democrat, who invented the name and the symbol of...

. Martos is considered to be the first producer of olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...

 of the world. Also important are various industries, especially those related to the treatment of plastic.

History

The city has been linked to the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 settlement of Colonia Augusta Gemella, and starting in the 8th century was ruled by the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...

 under various Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic states for over 500 years. In 1225, King Ferdinand III
Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Ferdinand III, T.O.S.F., was the King of Castile from 1217 and León from 1230. He was the son of Alfonso IX of León and Berenguela of Castile. Through his second marriage he was also Count of Aumale. He finished the work done by his maternal grandfather Alfonso VIII and consolidated the...

 of Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

 and Leon
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

 captured
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...

 the city from the Moors and incorporated it into his kingdom.

During the Middle Ages, Martos became a strategic place, and its defences were reinforced with the construction of numerous fortifications in the city.
At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, Martos underwent significant economic and urban development (reflected in the city's architecture), in large part due to the wealth derived from the industrial production of olive oil. Martos thus became one of the most prosperous cities of eastern Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...

.

Economy

Since already it has been said, Martos possesses an agricultural immense richness thanks to the culture of the olive grove
Olive Grove
Olive Grove was Sheffield Wednesday F.C.'s first permanent football ground, home to the club for just over a decade at the end of the 19th century...

, which places the city in the summit as for production and quality of what is named a “liquid gold ".

Nevertheless in the last years, the industry has done a great act of presence in the economy of this city, especially the relative one to the plastic, the industry of the car, metallurgists, the construction of roads, etc.
Among all the existing factories in the city, it is necessary to emphasize the French multinational Valeo
Valeo
Valeo is a French automotive components manufacturer.-History:The Société Anonyme Française du Ferodo was founded in 1923 in Saint-Ouen, a suburb of Paris...

, dedicated to the production of projectors and lighting of vehicles, on which many other factories depend.

Festivals

Among the numerous festivals carried out in the city it is necessary to highlight:
  • Holy week: Considered of tourist interest of Andalusia.
  • San Bartolomé's festival: Principal festival. August
  • Carnival
  • San Amador: On May 5
  • Virgin of the Villa: On the first Tuesday after Holy Week
  • Saint Martha: On July 29
  • Romería of the Virgin of the Victory: last weekend of May
  • Festival of the olive: on December 8

External links

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