Village
Librilla is a municipality in the Región de Murcia, in the Bajo Guadalentín comarca, situated 29 km from the capital, Murcia, with 5,854 inhabitants. The valley of the río Guadalentín shapes its terrain to the south, while to the north rises the sierra del Cura, and the rambla de Orón cuts a deep gash through the town centre, dividing it in two. The earliest population remains, Iberian, are found at El Castellar, and the Romans left behind the site of El Salitre, a control point on the road that ran through the valley. The origin of its fortress dates back to the 11th century; in the 12th, the geographer Al Idrisi already mentioned the fortification of hisn Limbraya, today in ruins. Librilla was established as a town in 1458, incorporated into the estates of the marquises of los Vélez until the 19th century.
Monument
Former fortress that once had seven great towers, of which only one still stands, evidence of Librilla's medieval defensive past.
Monument
The church of San Bartolomé is the parish church of Librilla, dedicated to the town's patron, San Bartolomé Apóstol, and located in El Plano, the square next to the town hall where the patronal festivities were traditionally held. Its origins go back to an early church already documented between 1447 and 1458, although the current building, in the shape of a Latin cross and built of brick with vaults and a hemispherical dome over the crossing, dates from the 17th century, with Neoclassical decoration with Baroque echoes added in the 18th and 19th centuries. It held images by Salzillo, Roque López and Sánchez Tapia, mostly destroyed during the Civil War and later replaced with new altarpieces and images. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 1986, it was restored between that year and 2006.
Monument
Manor house with stables linked to the Fajardo family, whose stalls appear to date from the time of the Catholic Monarchs; it forms part of Librilla's historic civil heritage.
Activity
Librilla's main festival in honour of San Bartolomé Apóstol, whose most traditional event is 'Las Pitanzas', the throwing of thousands of round bread rolls from the balconies of the town hall.
Monument
Remains of the castle of Librilla (Bajo Guadalentín, Murcia), declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). The origin of the fortress dates to around the 11th century; the geographer Al Idrisi already mentioned it in the 12th century as hisn Limbraya, confirming that the fortification existed at that time. It passed through several hands: Alfonso X granted it to García de Villamayor, after which it belonged to Manuel de Castilla and, from 1382, to the Fajardo family, under whose marquises of los Vélez it remained until the abolition of the seigneurial regime in the 19th century.
Nature
El Estrecho del Sapo is a curious geological formation located in the Barranco de los Infiernos, in the municipality of Librilla (Bajo Guadalentín, Murcia). Its name comes from a local legend linked to the place.
Activity
Las Pitanzas de Librilla, a tradition unique at regional and national level in which loaves of about 200 grams are thrown by the thousand from the balconies of the town hall every 22 August. The event, of medieval origin, commemorates a great drought that once struck the whole Guadalentín valley, and is part of the patron saint festivities of San Bartolomé (Saint Bartholomew), held from 18 to 24 August.
Activity
The festivities of San Bartolomé (Saint Bartholomew) in Librilla, known as Las Pitanzas, are held every 22 August with the throwing, from the balconies of the town hall, of thousands of round bread rolls weighing about 200 grams, marked with two cross-shaped incisions before baking. According to local legend, the tradition goes back to a medieval year of severe drought, when the town's rulers gathered all the available flour to share the bread equally among the residents. Before being thrown from the town hall, the tonnes of pitanzas prepared are blessed by the parish priest and then distributed among the crowd gathered in the square; the festivity is recognised as a Bien de Carácter Inmaterial (a Spanish designation for intangible cultural heritage).
Monument
The hermitage of the Virgin of Bethlehem of Librilla, in the Lower Guadalentín, is the destination of a biennial pilgrimage held every 8 September which, depending on the year, sets out alternately from Librilla or from Sangonera la Seca.
Activity
The Pilgrimage of the Virgin of Bethlehem is one of the most deeply rooted religious traditions of Librilla, in the Lower Guadalentín. It is held every 8 September, every two years, and its route alternates the starting point depending on the year between Librilla and neighbouring Sangonera la Seca, until reaching the hermitage of the Virgin of Bethlehem.
Monument
An archaeological site located in the present-day town centre of Librilla, with remains of Roman occupation dated between the 1st and 6th centuries, declared Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection). The settlement occupied a point controlling communications in the Guadalentín valley, which explains its continuity over several centuries.
Nature
A hill in Librilla where archaeological remains of an Iberian settlement have been found, which today functions as a viewpoint over the Guadalentín valley and the town centre of the municipality. From this natural viewpoint the Algeciras reservoir can also be seen, in the surroundings close to the town.
Monument
The house of the Marquis of Camachos, on Luis Melendreras street in Librilla, is a manor house built in 1598. It belonged to Pedro Rosique y Hernández, Marquis of Camachos, owner of numerous farmland and houses in the town, who also gave his name to the Plaza de Camachos in Murcia. Built on two floors, with large wooden beams, high ceilings and wrought-iron grilled windows typical of the 18th century, it preserves its period furniture and family portraits; in its drawing room, once decorated with large mirrors, dances were held. The house continued to be inhabited by descendants of the family, such as Pedro Pagán Ayuso, mayor of Murcia in 1874, who lived and died in it in 1909, and later his son Alejandro Pagán y Morera.
Monument
A group of historic inns and stables in Librilla, declared of cultural interest, evidence of the travel and trade activity of the municipality.
Nature
Range within the district of Librilla with a highest point of 443 metres at the peak of Loma Larga, beside the Algeciras reservoir, dominating the Guadalentín valley and the Rambla de Orón.
Activity
Celebration of the Santa Cruz in Librilla, one of the traditional festivals of the municipality's festive calendar, held every year on 2 and 3 May, a date on which the town honours the exaltation of the cross with popular events.
Historical milestone
In the 15th century, before the town received the status of villa in 1458, the Marquis of Villena sold Librilla to Alonso Yáñez Fajardo, who acquired it by purchase rather than by royal grant as with his later possessions; it was the first town in the seigneurial holdings of a lineage that would come to dominate the Kingdom of Murcia.
Historical milestone
In 1458 the town received the status of villa with a council of its own, although it went on being a lordship of the Fajardos and afterwards of the marquises of los Vélez until the dissolution of the lordships in the nineteenth century.
Food and drink
The pitanza is a small round loaf of about two hundred grams, typical of Librilla, which the parish priest blesses before it is handed out. It is made with wheat flour kneaded with yeast in a fermentation of about three hours; the loaves, of even weight, are marked with two cuts in the shape of a cross before being baked for between 12 and 16 minutes. Tradition traces it back, according to legend, to a year of medieval drought in which the town's rulers gathered all the flour in the village to knead pitanzas and share out the food equally among the residents. Today it is made specially every 22 August to be thrown by the thousand from the balconies of the town hall during the Fiestas de San Bartolomé, in a distribution that gives its name to the Día de las Pitanzas, listed as a Bien de Carácter Inmaterial (an asset of intangible cultural heritage).