Caravaca de la Cruz

Caravaca de la Cruz, often shortened to Caravaca, is a town and municipality of southeastern Spain in the region of Murcia, near the left bank of the River Argos, a tributary of the Segura. It is the capital of the northwest Region of Murcia. It has a population of 26,449 as of 2010 (INE). In 1900, it had 15,846 inhabitants.

It is the fifth Holy City of Catholic Christianity, having been granted the privilege of celebrating the jubilee year in perpetuity in 1998 by Pope John Paul II, along with Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela and Camaleño (Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana). It celebrates its jubilee every seven years, the first being in 2003, when it was visited by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI. In 2010, the second jubilee was celebrated, and it surpassed the one million visits received in 2003. Festivities of International Tourist Interest have occurred since 2004.

Caravaca is dominated by the medieval Santuario de la Vera Cruz (Sanctuary of the True Cross), and contains several convents and a fine parish church, with a miraculous cross celebrated for its healing power, in honor of which a yearly festival is held on 3 May. Caravaca is home to many monuments and museums, many of which are important tourist attractions. The hills which extend to the north are rich in marble and iron. The town has been a considerable industrial centre, with large iron-works, tanneries and paper, chocolate and oil factories.

Besides being known for the Christian relic, it also has a festival in its honor between 1 and 5 May of each year, declared of International Tourist Interest in 2004. Along with processions and parades of Moors and Christians, the celebration of Horses of Wine is especially relevant, which now aspires to be the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

The Neoclassical painter Rafael Tejeo was born in Caravaca.

A gigantic archeological site was found in January 2009. It is composed of 1300 graves from 2400 to 1950 BC.