Description : Andújar is a Spanish municipality of 38,539 people (2005) in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andújar is situated. To the south are agricultural fields and countryside. The city proper located on the right bank of the Guadalquivir and the Madrid-Córdoba railway. In the past, Andújar was widely known for its porous earthenware jars, called alcarrazas or botijos, which keep water cool in the hottest weather, and were manufactured from a whitish clay found in the neighbourhood. During the times of the Roman Empire, the Municipium Isturgi Triumphale was part of the province of Hispania Ulterior and then Hispania Baetica and the area known as the Conventus Cordubensis. It flourished due to its production of Terra sigillata and its location on the Guadalquivir. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it existed as a Visigothic town named Sturgi. But with the invasion of the Moors in the 8th century, the population fled to what are now the actual limits of the town of Andújar, where they may have already existed an Ibero-Roman settlement. Medieval era In 711 AD, after the Battle of Guadalete, the entire region became part of Al-Andalus, and the town of Andújar first became known as Anduyar during the emirate of Muhammad I of Córdoba (853). The city was fortified by the Almohads during the 12th century. In 1225, the Muslim king of Baeza handed over the castles of Jaén, Andújar and Martos, to Ferdinand III of Castile, although some scholars believe the transfer occurred at a different time, especially as the Siege of Jaen in 1225 was unsuccessful and was thus still in Muslim hands in this year. Ferdinand was entrusted with the fortresses, and control was given to Álvaro Pérez de Castro, with the area occupied by troops from the military orders of Santiago and Calatrava. Andújar became a rendezvous point for Christian troops and armies who fought south of the Sierra Morena. The Muslim inhabitants of Andújar, Martos, and Baeza abandoned these towns at the end of 1226. In 1227, the first Christian inhabitants arrived at Baeza, Andújar and Martos, although some sources indicate that the repopulation of Andújar did not occur until 1228. In 1467, the title of City was granted to Andújar by Henry IV of Castile.
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