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Alpujarras

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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or [[Alpuxarras, The]] (Moorish al Busherat, " the grass-land"), a mountainous district of southern Spain, in the province of Granada, consisting principally of valleys which descend at right angles from the crest of the Sierra Nevada on the north, to the Sierras Almijara, Contraviesa and Gador, which sever it from the Mediterranean Sea, on the south. These valleys are among the most beautiful and fertile in Spain. They contain a rich abundance of fruit trees, especially vines, oranges, lemons and figs, and in some parts present scenes of almost Alpine grandeur. The inhabitants are the descendants of the Moors, who, after the Spanish conquest of Granada in 1492, vainly sought to preserve the last relics of their independence in their mountain fastnesses. Many of the names of places in the Alpujarras are of Moorish origin. The district contains many villages of 1000 to 4000 inhabitants, the four largest being Lanjaron, with its ruined castle and chalybeate baths, Orgiba, Trevelez and Ugijar; all situated at a considerable elevation. Trevelez, the highest, stands 5332 ft. above the sea.