Fuente
de Piedra is situated on a practically flat area, surrounded
by the Sierras de Mollina mountain range, whose highest
peaks reach to almost 800 metres.
The highest point within the municipality of Fuente de
Piedra is the Conejas, at 500 metres. The well-known lake
at Fuente de Piedra is in the municipality, one of the
biggest tourist attractions in the area and a place of
very important ecological value. The first settlements
here date back a long way, to the 5th century B.C., although
the first written reference to the place dates from Roman
times. This is written in Latin, its translation being:
"Lucio Postumio Satulio, by the vote that he has
by right, dedicates this altar stone of the divine fountain."
The reference is to the water with its curative powers,
and which gives the name to the town, in that those who
drink it will be cured of their "mal de la piedra",
illness of the stone, meaning gall stones.
After the Moorish domination, the town was abandoned in
1461, reconstructed once more in 1547. Then followed its
period of maximum splendour, with the water being exported
as far as the Kingdom of Naples and America. A series
of epidemics in the 18th and early 19th centuries decimated
the population of the town, and the fountain had to be
lifted and brought to another site. It was believed that
this caused the water to lose its curative properties,
and the fountain was abandoned, to be finally covered
over in 1959. In 1990 it was excavated into existence
again and restored in 1994, where it can now be seen in
the Plaza de la Constitución. The history of the
town itself has always been closely linked with the history
of the salt lake, the Laguna Salada. This was worked for
the extraction of salt from Roman times until 1951. The
lake was named a National Hunting Refuge in 1981, and
at present is a national reserve that has a large colony
of flamingoes that breed there.
Places to be visited:
Laguna de Fuente de Piedra (The Lake).
Flora and Fauna of the lake.
Tourist
information:
Town Hall, C/Ancha, 9. 29520.
Phone: 952 735 016 Fax: 952 735 317
