We often seek out exceptional places in faraway locations, which of course exist, but we don't stop to consider that perhaps not far from home we have a destination that leaves a lasting impression. This is the case, they say, of this spot not far from Seville , which is the Andalusian Petra. The definition isn't ours, but rather that of the writer Mario Vargas Llosa who , during a visit in 2008, declared himself overwhelmed by so much beauty and affirmed that he felt "in the heart of Petra."
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This isn't Jordan , though; it's much closer to home. We're talking about the Coto de las Canteras quarry , near the town of Osuna in Seville. A few weeks ago, we discussed the marvelous Lithica quarry in the Balearic Islands, and today we travel to this other quarry, which also boasts a long history and a truly striking landscape: fierce lions carved in stone , scenes over ten meters high… all kinds of motifs sculpted with chisels and a great deal of patience…
More than two thousand years ago, the Turdetani , one of the pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, were already using this quarry. With the arrival of the Romans, extraction was perfected with more efficient systems. Their stones, for example, were used in the construction of ancient Urso, present-day Osuna, and can be seen in its walls and theaters. The quarry continued to be used for many years, but from the 1960s onwards, its exploitation declined. New, easier-to-work building materials than stone emerged, and the site was gradually abandoned.
For years, even decades, this landscape lay abandoned until a couple, Jesús Ramos and Francisca Lobos , acquired the property in 1999 with the intention of transforming it into a cultural space. And so, an old quarry was transformed into a unique space, considered the largest natural auditorium in the country .
Monumental sculptures
Interestingly, when its restoration began, the remains of a necropolis over 5,000 years old and an ancient 17th-century hermitage on the Via Sacra were unearthed. But it wasn't just the space that was restored; with the intention of transforming it into a vibrant place, sculptures were created that continue to amaze visitors today.
Local sculptor Francisco Valdivia played a key role in shaping the landscape we see today. Between 2004 and 2006, he created a series of sculptures and reliefs modeled after Iberian works. Notable examples include scenes such as the grape harvest, nearly 13 meters tall, and the impressive guardian of the hunting reserve, a lion 3.5 meters wide and 2.5 meters high that would put the statues in Congress to shame.
The quarry also boasts over 4,000 square meters of gardens . In short, it's an essential place to visit if you're in the area, and together with nearby Osuna, a town declared a Historic-Artistic Site in 1967, it makes an ideal destination for a long weekend.
