The history
Games convened
in 1569
In 1569, at the height of the War of the Alpujarras — the uprising of the Moriscos against Philip II — Aben Humeya, proclaimed king of the insurgents, convened games of sport and music in Purchena. The town was then a stronghold of the Almanzora valley, and those days of strength, skill and song were, in the middle of a harsh time, a gesture of cohesion towards his people.
We know this from the chronicle of Ginés Pérez de Hita, who left a written account of those contests: stone lifting, horseback ribbon races, archery, wrestling and chess, alongside contests of music and dance. A singular testimony of the Morisco culture of the kingdom of Granada in its final hour.
Today's festival revives that memory. Purchena Town Council promoted its official recognition and, by a resolution of 3 March 2000 published in BOJA no. 43 of 11 April 2000, the Games were declared a Festival of Tourist Interest of Andalusia.
1569
the games convened by Aben Humeya in Purchena
2000
declared a Festival of Tourist Interest of Andalusia
5
historical contests, from archery to Moorish wrestling
The contests
Five contests,
four centuries of memory
The competitions recorded in Pérez de Hita's chronicle are contested again in today's festival, alongside the contests of music, song and dance.
Stone lifting
The test of strength par excellence: lifting the stone as it was done on the threshing floors and squares of the valley, before the assembled village.
Horseback ribbon races
Rider and mount at full gallop beneath the hanging ribbons: aim, balance and the bearing of old Andalusi horsemanship.
Archery
The bow, weapon and sport at once, measured the steadiness of the hand: it is drawn again before the targets of Purchena.
Moorish wrestling
Hand to hand, with no weapons but craft and balance: the wrestling the chronicle describes among Aben Humeya's men.
Chess
Beside strength, wit: the game of the chequered board, so beloved in al-Andalus, completes the roll of historical contests.
The souk
Music, cuisine
and craftsmanship
Around the contests, Purchena sets up an artisan souk during the Games and unfolds a programme scented with the other shore: Maghreb cuisine, historical re-enactments and contests of music, song and dance that already formed part of the 1569 gathering.
As night falls come the concerts of Andalusi, Arab and world music: ouds, percussion and voices that return to the Almanzora valley the echo of a culture shared for centuries on both sides of the Mediterranean.
The heritage
The Andalusi thread of the province
The Purchena Games are not an island: they are one episode in the long Andalusi thread that runs through the province of Almería, from its citadels and irrigation channels to the names of its villages and its cuisine. To follow that thread, two natural stops await: the Alcazaba of Almería, one of the largest fortresses of al-Andalus, and the thousand-year story told from Alhama.
Practical information
Planning your visit
Photographs: 19Tarrestnom65, Elenaguiadealmeria · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA · Miniature from the Cantigas de Santa María (13th century), public domain