La Huerta de la Infantas - Priego de Cordoba - Andalusia

The so-called Recreo de Castilla is a garden on the edge of the Adarve Walls, just below the Castle of Priego, whose existence has been documented since at least the mid-16th century.

The first written mention of this place dates back precisely to 1550 and is found in a deed of sale under the name of Horta de las Infantas, located under the wall of the old city gate.

Around 1857 this orchard was bought by D. Antonio Castilla who built a house there. In the following decades , this man and his heirs (the Castilla Abril and Castilla Bermúdez Cañete families) transformed the area into a romantic garden with vegetation and water features. The garden and pond, fed by the waters of the Font del Rei , which used to feed the area's five mills , served as a recreational area for many family members, and on summer evenings they organized parties and private celebrations. .

In 1948 , during the Granada Music Festival , a group from Priego gave concerts modeled on those in the gardens of the Alhambra . In search of a worthy place for this celebration, they asked the then Mr. Álvaro Castilla Abril to let them use the garden. The first concert took place on the evening of September 1, 1948 and was the origin of what is now the International Festival of Music, Theater and Dance . The festival was held there until 1957 and in the posters and programs of the festival in those years the place called Huerto de las Infantas appeared.

For fifty years it has been called Recreo de Castilla , after the surnames of the owners, although the original name of Huerto or Huerta de las Infantas has also been preserved.

From 1970 it fell into a process of neglect until it became a real ruin .

In 2003 an international ideas competition was held to restore the site and convert it into a public garden or park .

Willem Vandenameele