Antequera or the ancient Antecaria, situated between the heights of the same name and the Guadiaro, contains a greater number of inhabitants than the last town. The Lovers' Mountain (Pena de los Enamorados) rises in the vicinity; it has been celebrated by an act of heroism not unexampled in the history of Spain during the middle ages, or even in modern times.
A Christian knight had been taken prisoner by a Moorish prince; during his captivity he fell in love with the daughter of the infidel; resolved to celebrate their union in a Christian country, and at the foot of the altar, they had proceeded to the frontiers, when they were overtaken by the prince and his troops; they sought a hiding place int he caves of the mountain, but the enraged father ordered soldiers to seize the fugitives. His daughter remonstrated that she was a Christian, that she had married, and threatened to destroy herself if he approached; but the father was inexorable, adn the two lovers rushed headlong from the summit of a precipice. A cross indicates the place, and serves still to commemorate the event.
(this is in 'Universal Geography' by Conrad Malte-Brun (1831) - p115. It's on Google Books. I'm sure there are other and better descriptions of the legend elsewhere. I think there is a Spanish folksong based on it, and Robert Southey (one time Poet Laureate) also wrote a poem based on it. In fact, if you read Spanish, you can read a Spanish description and the poem here: http://www.google.co.uk/books?id=YSohAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA440
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Posted by Rhiannon
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