Maza Square
Introduction
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
This place combines spaces and historical references representative of the city of Huéscar. Chronologically, this is where the extension of the Muslim city outside the walls began, creating the suburbs and where the new mosque was built to succeed the aljama mosque.
Also in this square is the oldest house that remains and gives its name to the square, the house of the Maza family from the 13th century, as well as the Hospital of San Ildefonso, which no longer exists.
The Cuesta del Tinte, which formerly led directly to the Casas del Tinte, where the textile fibres were watered and dyed, ends in the square.
Maza Square
Mosque of the suburb
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
Another important building in this square was the mosque in the suburb of Santiago when the main mosque was consecrated as the Church of Santa María and later Santiago.
After the Moorish uprising in 1500, the mosque became the Chapel of Peace, becoming one of the first churches consecrated to Christianity. After many years of abandonment, in the 20th century the church decided to sell the building, which became the Cine de la Paz and later a discotheque, until its definitive closure.
Maza Square
House of the Maza family
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
It is the emblazoned house of the Maza family that gives its name to this square. This house, which once belonged to Alonso Sánchez de Maza, scribe and tax collector in the service of the Duke of Alba, is the oldest surviving house in Huéscar, possibly built in 1556 and which today is preserved with the utmost respect and fidelity to what it was in the past.
Its coat of arms shows the importance of its surname, which refers to the ancestors of this family who had managed to conquer the city of Murcia with the blow of Maza.
Maza Square
Hospital of San Ildefonso
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
The Hospital of San Ildefonso, in honour of Toledo's patron saint, occupied a special place in the square. Located next to what was once the mosque and later the chapel of La Paz, this hospital, at the service of the city, the sick, the most needy and abandoned children, lived off the alms and donations made by the population, as well as the collections made by the Hermandad de Ánimas (Brotherhood of Souls) to try to help. That is why, in the seventies of the 20th century, it could no longer withstand its precarious situation and had to be closed and years later demolished.
Maza Square
Cuesta del Tinte
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
Two streets run along the northern flank of the wall, Calle Carril and Cuesta del Tinte, the first of which is a cattle crossing and is therefore considered the Royal Road; the second, the Cuesta del Tinte, is so called because it leads directly to the Casas del Tinte where, over the centuries, people used to go to water and dye textile fibres because that is where the water from the irrigation ditches was to be found.
Maza Square
Moorish society
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
After being forced to convert, the Moriscos did not have an easy life integrating into Christian society. Religious unification was only theoretical and the Moors were considered marginal people who moved to places outside the city, as in the case of the Moors of Huéscar, who were to be found in dwellings outside the city walls, working in agriculture and livestock farming without holding an important position.
Moorish society was depicted in the engravings of travellers from all over Europe. Christoph Weiditz, on his visit to the Iberian Peninsula between 1528 and 1529, made engravings of Moorish dress.
Maza Square
Introduction
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
This place combines spaces and historical references representative of the city of Huéscar. Chronologically, this is where the extension of the Muslim city outside the walls began, creating the suburbs and where the new mosque was built to succeed the aljama mosque.
Also in this square is the oldest house that remains and gives its name to the square, the house of the Maza family from the 13th century, as well as the Hospital of San Ildefonso, which no longer exists.
The Cuesta del Tinte, which formerly led directly to the Casas del Tinte, where the textile fibres were watered and dyed, ends in the square.
Maza Square
Mosque of the suburb
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
Another important building in this square was the mosque in the suburb of Santiago when the main mosque was consecrated as the Church of Santa María and later Santiago.
After the Moorish uprising in 1500, the mosque became the Chapel of Peace, becoming one of the first churches consecrated to Christianity. After many years of abandonment, in the 20th century the church decided to sell the building, which became the Cine de la Paz and later a discotheque, until its definitive closure.
Maza Square
House of the Maza family
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
It is the emblazoned house of the Maza family that gives its name to this square. This house, which once belonged to Alonso Sánchez de Maza, scribe and tax collector in the service of the Duke of Alba, is the oldest surviving house in Huéscar, possibly built in 1556 and which today is preserved with the utmost respect and fidelity to what it was in the past.
Its coat of arms shows the importance of its surname, which refers to the ancestors of this family who had managed to conquer the city of Murcia with the blow of Maza.
Maza Square
Hospital of San Ildefonso
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
The Hospital of San Ildefonso, in honour of Toledo's patron saint, occupied a special place in the square. Located next to what was once the mosque and later the chapel of La Paz, this hospital, at the service of the city, the sick, the most needy and abandoned children, lived off the alms and donations made by the population, as well as the collections made by the Hermandad de Ánimas (Brotherhood of Souls) to try to help. That is why, in the seventies of the 20th century, it could no longer withstand its precarious situation and had to be closed and years later demolished.
Maza Square
Cuesta del Tinte
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
Two streets run along the northern flank of the wall, Calle Carril and Cuesta del Tinte, the first of which is a cattle crossing and is therefore considered the Royal Road; the second, the Cuesta del Tinte, is so called because it leads directly to the Casas del Tinte where, over the centuries, people used to go to water and dye textile fibres because that is where the water from the irrigation ditches was to be found.
Maza Square
Moorish society
Moorish Route, Christian Monuments tour
After being forced to convert, the Moriscos did not have an easy life integrating into Christian society. Religious unification was only theoretical and the Moors were considered marginal people who moved to places outside the city, as in the case of the Moors of Huéscar, who were to be found in dwellings outside the city walls, working in agriculture and livestock farming without holding an important position.
Moorish society was depicted in the engravings of travellers from all over Europe. Christoph Weiditz, on his visit to the Iberian Peninsula between 1528 and 1529, made engravings of Moorish dress.