RETREAT VENUE CONIL

Conil de la Frontera is situated in Andalusia, Cadiz province of Spain. Like most of the Andalusian small cities, this village breathes different cultural and historical influences from the past, monumentally and gastronomically. It is one of the villages which significant historical and ecological traditions. Historical books said the Phoenicians, Romans and Islam empires influenced it. The Phoenicians looked for places next to the open sea to make castles and had access to fishing, so they occupied the Conil de la Frontera territory. The name Conil was given by the tribe Counions (800-500 BC). Over the Romans, it was part of Vía Hercúlea (from Malaga to Cadiz province), an important route for trade and communication between villages and areas (from 8 to 2 years BC). With the Islamic empire from (711. Years), Conil unified with la Cora del Sidonia. 1256. Years after Christan’s victory, the Conil get a new name, Conil de la Frontera, meaning a border of Muslim territory, like Jerez, Vejer, Chiclana etc.

The beautiful park El Parque de la Atalaya is situated on the highest spot of the Conil de la Frontera and has a sea view; it is famous for wedding ceremonies because of the Pine trees and romantic atmosphere.

The Tuna museum have a historical overview, tuna products and, of course, the degustation as the rest of the area.

Vejer de la Frontera is one of the nicest and best conserved white towns in Cadiz province. This lovely town is situated on top of a peak 200 meters over the sea with a strategic location near the entrance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.

The town was founded by the phenicians 800 years B.C. and was named Besaro. After the empire of the phoenicians the town was taken over by the carthaginians, the ancestries of the phoenicians up to the Roman empire conquest in 300 B.C. The Roman Empire changed the name to Bessipe and governed the town until the 3rd century. After the fall of the Roman Empire the Visigodos and the Bizantinos governed the town up to the 7th century. In the year 711 the Tarique Musulmans Empire conquered the town and named it Bekkeh. In 1264 the Crown of Castile by King Alfonso X «The Saint» conquested the town and thn called Vejer de la Frontera (Vejer on the border) to indicate the border between the christian and muslim territory .

After the christian conquest of Vejer de la Frontera Alfonso Pérez de Guzmán (“Guzman the good one”) governed and protected the area. The dukes known as Dukes of Medina Sidonia was ancestries of Guzmán. They had an important role in area during the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

One of the oldest cities in western Europe which were founded by the phoenicians from Tyre during the greek periode of the area with the greek divine hero Hercules in 1.100 B.C. About 80 years after the Trojan War . The city was then called Gadir. The following centuries the roman impire, the muslims and the catholics invaded the town, even the french empire tried to invade it.

Cadiz was a strategicly situated port due to it´s location by the entrance of the Atlantic and the Mediterrian Ocean, called the Pilars of Hercules. Especially during the period of the spanish conquist of America and the Indian trade. It was transformed into to one of the most important import spots for trade between the two continents. and the entrance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterrian Ocean.

This is where the first spanish constitution was proclamed and signed in 1812 in the church of Oratorio de San Felipe Neri.

The town is fulled with amazing spots like the Cathedral, Santa Catalina Castle, Roman Theatre, Gadir Archaeological site and Genoese Park. Oratory Santa Cueva where we find two paintings of the famouse spanish painter Goya. On La Caleta Beach was one of the scenes of the James Bond movie “Die another day” taken with Halle Berry.