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Caravaca de la Cruz
.jpg) Caravaca de la Cruz is a town of 22,880 inhabitants and covering an area of 858.3 km2, is the main town of the extensive district in the north-west of the Region of Murcia and a reference point for many municipalities in the neighbouring provinces of Granada, Jaen and Albacete.
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Caravaca de la Cruz (38° north, 2° west) is situated 625 m above sea level and has a dry, not very continental, climate with average temperatures ranging between 30° C in July and 5° C in January. Nourished by the Argos and Quipar rivers, it is an area rich in agricultural resources, which has led to its being settled by numerous  peoples since ancient times. Within the boundaries of today's town, we find the first remains of a settlement in Palaeolithic times. Since then, other cultures came to these lands, as is borne out by the Aeneolithic, Agrarian, Iberian and Roman remains discovered. However, one cannot speak of Caravaca as a town until the Middle Ages, during the period of Muslim control. When this period was over, the Templars and later the Order of Santiago would take over the town.
For dedicated sightseers, every village in the area has its own particular attractions, either scenic or man-made. Moratalla, 14km (9 miles) to the north has a number of ruins, a church, a convent and a variety of wildlife on the doorstep. Calasparra has rice paddies surrounding the sanctuary of Nuestra Senora de la Esperanza, which is hewn out of solid rock and is a well known place of pilgrimage.It is only a short distance from the source of the Rio Segura, an attractive rivulet swollen by both the Argos and the Quipar on its way to Cieza. This is an historic little town conveniently sited on the main road from Albacete to Murcia . Here the main attractions include prehistoric caves, castle ruins and two churches.
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