Lorca

Lorca lies in the Guadalentín valley of southeastern Iberia, where irrigation made cultivation possible in a dry landscape. After a period under Islamic rule, it came under Castilian control in 1244. For the rest of the Middle Ages, its castle and town stood on the frontier between the Castilian kingdom of Murcia and the emirate of Granada. Raids crossed the border, and the Battle of Los Alporchones was fought near Lorca in 1452. The conquest of Granada in 1492 ended this frontier, allowing urban building and trade to develop in a changed setting. Churches and convents became prominent features of the city, while irrigated agriculture continued to support the surrounding district.