Navas de San Juan, Spain

Navas de San Juan is a Spanish village of the province of province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census (INE), the city has a population of 5,030 inhabitants. It is the biggest village in the region of El Condado. The river called Guadalimar runs for its municipal area.The patron saint of the village is Saint John Baptist whose festival is celebrated between the days 24 and 29 June. The patron Virgin is the Virgen de la Estrella whose pilgrimage is celebrated in her shrine the days 1, 2 and 3 May.HistoryOriginIn the middle of the 2nd millennium BC, the territory that now takes up Navas de San Juan had already human occupation, such as the settlements of Castellón and La Atalaya. But it is not until the Iberian stage, probably due to a colonization promoted by the big Iberian center of Cástulo, in about the 4th century BC, when the village was formed. In Roman times, the village became an important meeting point on the way between Cástulo and Ilugo, as showed by the appearance of the two milestones in the municipal area. In the surrounds of Navas de San Juan, there was a mansion located, Ad Morum that was a stop in the Camino de Aníbal. In its territory, there's a plentiful supply of agricultural villa-type exploitation, from which to the date seven have been recorded, for example, El Acero or El Cerro Prior.Middle AgesIn times of Al Ándalus, Navas de San Juan would be a little village belonging to the administrative district the Sant Astiban. The Muslims built a castle, from which we only have some pictures, and subsequently, it was reformed by the Christians. In its district, there are remains of other fortified structures as the castle of Ero and the tower keep around which the actual shrine Santa María de la Estrella was built.