20 
Murcia - Monteagudo Castle
If you have a moment and you will not want to roll only by the sea with a drink in your hand, we suggest you go to Murcia.
It is a breathtaking historic city with beautiful historical streets, cafes, beautiful buildings, but also a lot of live parts of the city, where life is not just possible. Everyone finds something for themselves. For us personally we recommend going in the spring months or autumn, the reason is one - in the summer there is a big, but really great warmth, it is not for everyone.
As you approach Murcia, you will definitely be interested in the monumental ruins of Monteagudo Castle with a large statue of Jesus Christ. We definitely recommend visiting this place, it is worth it. The dominant feature of the castle is the famous statue of Jesus Christ, rises to a height of 149 m above sea level and dominates the whole Murcia. We may disappoint you, but the statue is not original. The original statue was built in 1926, designed by Anastasio Martínez Hernández and destroyed by anarchists in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. In 1951, the sculptor Nicolás Martínez proposed this monumental statue, which is compared with Christ the Rio de Janeiro, but on a smaller scale. It has 14 m and enjoys great respect from the population of this area. Officially, the statue is referred to as the Memorial of the Heart of Jesus.
The statue of Jesus is part of the whole Monteagudo Castle. Its ruins through the castle are visible around the perimeter of the mountain. But Monteagudo Castle is much older than the statue of Christ. King Ibn Mardanish (King Lobo), who chose this area for settlement, ruled between 1147 and 1172, and built a strategic defensive and military line formed by castles Monteagudo, Castillejo and Larache. In the surroundings he built irrigation tanks, which are the most important archaeological remains of medieval Islam in Murcia. After the conquest of the island of Christians, the castle came under the control of the Castilian monarchy. Alfons X. Wise even made him his headquarters in Murcia. We may disappoint you again, but access to Christ and the castle is not allowed. However, you will be able to see the area from the prospect that is about halfway through the mountain. From there you can enjoy a wonderful view of the city of Murcia and the surrounding landscape.
The history of the castle and its surroundings is worth knowing, so we recommend that you visit the Monteagudo visitor center. It can be found at the foot of the castle and offers a tour explaining the 5,000 -year -old history of Monteaguda and its surroundings. During the tour you will recognize chalolitic, argaric, Iberian, Roman and Andalusian history, see the excavations, found artifacts, and understand how the area and the population developed.
For us we can recommend the visit, but…. Access to the foot of the statue will disappoint you very much, prepare for it. It is very neglected, it is a place of frequent meeting of local youth and it is evident that it suffers from the lack of interest of local authorities. It's a great pity. All you have to do is hope that it will change. But don't be discouraged….
