Santa Cruz de Mudela

Santa Cruz de Mudela is a municipality of the Spanish province Ciudad Real located in the southeastern corner of the autonomous community Castile-La Mancha.GeographySanta Cruz de Mudela has a Mediterranean-Continental climate that consists of cold winters, warm summers, and little precipitation.HistoryThe Founding of Santa Cruz de MudelaVarious artifacts and remains dating back to the first half of the second millennium B. C. E. have been found in the northern parts of the Meadow of Medula and the lowlands of Jabalon. Additional archaeological evidence from the Cerro de las Cabezas dig further suggests that the region was an important settlement of the Iberian Oretan tribe between the 7th and 2nd centuries B. C. E.In the following centuries, the region came to lie under the sphere of influence of a Roman, and later Visigothic, town near present-day Valdepeñas. The Roman legacy and influence in Santa Cruz are most evident in the region's wine culture and many vineyards.After the sudden Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century, Santa Cruz's wine and vineyards became less important in the new Arabic culture. The town lost much of its former regional economic clout and came to serve mainly as a grain depository for the region south of Toledo.