Village
Chipiona is a coastal town on the Costa Noroeste of Cádiz, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, with around 20,000 inhabitants that summer tourism can multiply up to 200,000. Its name is linked to the Turris Caepionis, a Roman lighthouse that, according to Strabo and Pomponius Mela, marked the dangerous mouth of the river. Legend attributes to disciples of Saint Augustine the arrival by sea of the image of the Virgen de Regla, hidden after the Islamic conquest in a cistern over which the Humilladero de la Virgen was later built. Conquered by Ferdinand III in 1251 and reconquered by Alfonso X in 1264, in 1297 Ferdinand IV included it in the Señorío de Sanlúcar of Guzmán el Bueno; it received its Carta Puebla as an independent town in 1477. It lives off beach tourism, fishing and the cultivation of muscatel grapes.
Monument
Landfall lighthouse at the Punta del Perro in Chipiona, on the site of an ancient Roman lighthouse, the Turris Caepionis, which Strabo almost compared to the legendary Lighthouse of Alexandria: it was ordered built in 140 BC by proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio, and Chipiona's name derives from his. The foundation stone of the current lighthouse was laid on 30 April 1863 and it was lit for the first time on 28 November 1867; it has only gone dark twice, in 1898 because of the war with the United States and for nearly three years during the Civil War. At 62 metres, it is the tallest in Spain, the sixteenth in Europe and the twenty-first in the world; built of sandstone and ostionera stone ashlar, it marks the entrance to the estuary of the Guadalquivir. Since 1998, visits to its interior have been organised.
Monument
A temple built over an Augustinian convent granted to the hermits of Saint Augustine in 1399, which was founded on an earlier fortress and hermitage, the work of Alonso Pérez de Guzmán; the current building, in Neo-Mudéjar style, dates from the early 20th century. Restored in the 17th century, it fell into ruin after the 1852 disentailment and was rebuilt between 1835 and 1882 with the help of the dukes of Montpensier, which encouraged the establishment of Franciscan missionaries. It houses Chipiona's patron saint, the Virgen de Regla, whose name recalls the castle that Isabel de Guzmán received as a dowry in 1303 along with the towns of Rota and Chipiona. In her honour, the Velada de Nuestra Señora de Regla is celebrated every 8 September, with antecedents documented since at least 1608.
Monument
Parish church of Nuestra Señora de la O, in Chipiona (Cádiz, Costa Noroeste). Built in 1578, it was rebuilt in 1794 after the damage caused by the Lisbon earthquake. Notable features include its Renaissance doorway and a side doorway with a flamboyant Gothic arch.
Historical milestone
In 1477 Chipiona received its Carta Puebla and was established as a town, after decades under the Lordship of Sanlúcar de los Guzmán, to which it had been annexed in 1297.
Food and drink
A sweet wine made from muscatel grapes sun-dried in the so-called 'jardines' or drying yards next to the coastal vineyards of Chipiona (Cádiz), from the muscat of Alexandria variety, a historic winemaking tradition of the municipality within the framework of the Jerez denominations. It is an artisanally made wine that has come close to disappearing, among other reasons because of competition from the construction sector for farmland: in 2006 only three wineries and one cooperative remained, together producing around 640,000 litres, sold mostly in bulk in the town itself.
Curiosity
The Rocío Jurado Interpretation Centre opened on 2 July 2022 on Avenida de Granada in Chipiona, inside the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos, dedicated to the singer Rocío Jurado (1946-2006), who was born in the town. Across several rooms it brings together personal belongings of the artist and traces her professional career. Chipiona is also home to her mausoleum.
Monument
A chapel in Chipiona linked to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake: tradition holds that the image of the Cristo de las Misericordias spared the town from greater harm during the tsunami. Since then it has been carried in procession every 1 November in remembrance.
Historical milestone
The 1755 earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused four deaths in Chipiona and damage valued at 238,815 reales of the time, including the church of Nuestra Señora de la O, which had to be rebuilt and was not finished until 1794.
Historical milestone
Ferdinand III conquered Chipiona in 1251, and Alfonso X definitively reconquered it in 1264. In 1297 it passed into the orbit of Guzmán el Bueno within the lordship of Sanlúcar, and in 1303 Isabel de Guzmán received it as a dowry, along with Rota, upon marrying Fernando Ponce de León.
Nature
The Chipiona coastline has five beaches: Regla has held the Blue Flag continuously since 1989, and Cruz del Mar-Las Canteras since 1993. Camarón-La Laguna beach preserves a dune habitat where the common chameleon survives.
Nature
A municipal stone pine forest that serves as the setting for the local pilgrimage and as the area's green lung, with trails through the woods and along the coastline.
Activity
A popular pilgrimage that takes the people of Chipiona to the Pinar de la Villa, with carts and horsemen, traditionally held on the first Sunday of June.
Food and drink
The mantis shrimp (Squilla mantis), a crustacean caught along the Chipiona coast, is one of the most prized items of local seafaring cuisine and a regular feature of its culinary routes.
Activity
A festivity that closes the summer festive cycle in Chipiona in honor of the patroness, Nuestra Señora de Regla, with a municipal fair tent and religious events at the sanctuary.