Monteagudo's name is given by the existence of the mountain that stands majestically overlooking the entire valley and, according to Robert Pocklington, is a name that appears in Arabic sources from the eleventh century under the spellings Munt.qüd or Muntaqüd, and in Castilians texts as Montagut or Montagudo in the late Middle Ages, and in modern times Monteagudo, proceeding through the Mozarabic, of the Latin "Monte acutum" (acute mountain).

Given its strategic location, the hillock of Monteagudo was subjected to occupation from very early times as evidenced by the remains of an argaric necropolis (years 1700 to 1200 BC), as well as utensils from prehistoric Bronze Age (bronze bracelets, flint knives, punches, vessels). Subsequently seems proven the existence of an Iberian city through the remains of ashes, bones, spherical burial urns, stones, buildings and ceramics, listed by González Simancas. The Roman presence is also demonstrated through the coins found in that place, as considered by Bermúdez, Amador de los Rios and Belda Navarro in this mountain there was a Roman villa where an aqueduct was built, being, as Belmonte Marin notes, forced pasing Roman road linking Cartagena with Fortuna. In this sense, Abelardo Merino, boasted that" ...at the foot of this huge rock was an ancient city in the Campillo, perhaps destroyed in battles between Byzantines and Goths."

With the arrival of the Muslims the place acquires great importance with the construction of a set of fortress that formed a defensive line to protect all Murcian meadows and various roads linking Murcia with Orihuela. This line was made up of the castles of Monteagudo, Castellar, Castillar or Castillejo, and the Alharache, Alabrach or Larache. According to Professor Torres Fontes, the first news we have of Monteagudo Castle dates from 1078-1079 in which, being dethroned kinglet of Murcia Abu Abderramen Ibn Tahir by Ammar Ibn, vizier of king al- Mutamid of Seville, was imprisoned in that castle.

 

 

In the twelfth century Muhammad Ibn Sad Ibn Mardanix (1147-1171), known by Christians as the Wolf King, had built the structures we know today. Later, in the early thirteenth century, the Carthaginian poet Abu-l-Hasam Hazim al-Qartayanmi describes this fortress called Montacud, as well as the Hissn-ul- farach ó Hins al-Faray ("house of pleasure and work"), which may be of Larache, although others do derive it from Alarich ("garden of flowers and garden"), and that seems to be the residence of the royal family. With respect to Castellar, Abelardo Merino believes it should be built ... in the last days of Almohad power" and Balban Torres, quoted by Torres Fontes, argues that this construction also dates from the time of King Wolf.

After the conquest of Murcia by Christians, Monteagudo Castle was the residence for short periods of time of King Alfonso X the Wise, as evidenced by documents dated at this place on different days of the month of June 1257. In the third partition of the garden and countryside of Murcia on the year 1268, the fort with its vineyards and dry lands (along with over 600 tahullas) was donated to Queen Violante, although as a result of the rebellion of the queen, Royal Monteagudo was backed to the Crown again, assigning a real warden to its custody. Subsequently, being king Sacho IV, it became the property of Dona Maria de Molina, until Fernando IV cedes it to the Bishop of Cartagena, who takes possession of the fortress in 1321. Shortly thereafter, and given its strategic importance, it will be returned to real power again, becoming, according to Torres Fontes, the stronghold that controlled the oriolanasforays into Murcia's and also being a key instrument in the struggle that took place in the kingdom of Murcia in the years 1448 and 1449, when John I of Navarra occupied the city of Murcia, but had to abandon it when the hosts of the Consdestable Luna and Adelantado Mayor of the Kingdom Don Pedro Fajardo occupied the castle of Monteagudo.

Attached to this military and strategic importance, medieval chronicles give us proof of the existence outside the walls of the castle, on the hillside overlooking noon, of a major city with the same name, but after the conquest of Granada and union of Castile and Aragon with the Catholic Monarchs reach the disappearance of insecurity in this territory, and therefore, the abandonment of the fort, which was the last governor Don Juan Chacon, who died in 1503. Consequence of this is the decline of the city, which was reduced to a small village.

In the eighteenth century Monteagudo is considered a crown dependant place with village mayor. Later, in the so-called Liberal Triennium (1820-1823), will form its own town hall, although this situation did not last long, becoming dependent again of the town of Murcia. Specifically in the R. Decree of 21 April 1834 on the provincial branch courts of first instance, in Murcia is included El Esparragal and County of Monteagudo.

In mid-nineteenth century Pascual Madoz specifies that Monteagudo has 240 households, residing in 380 neighbors (928 souls), a church under the dedication of Our Lady of Antigua which is annexed to the parish of Esparragal, being almost all of their mulberry fields of excellent quality, irrigated by the ditches of Churra la Nueva, Zaraiche, Azarbe del Merancho and the Azarbe de Monteagudo, having in some of the hills plantations with "nopals" that produce large quantities of prickly pears. Besides this latest product there was also cultivation of wheat, corn, vegetables and peppers, with an important silk production.

In this century, there was a continued population growth, going from 1,600 residents in 1900 to 4,758 inhabitants in 1960. This increase was maintained until 1970, which consist only of 3,075 inhabitants being this fall possible to the reorganization of the limits of the district in which the gazetteer of 1960 included a singular entity called Zarandona that does not appear in the 1970. From the latter year population figures are stabilized around 3,600 inhabitants. Specifically in the last renovation in 1996 the Local Census listed 3,658 registered residents, spread between the population centers of Monteagudo, La Cueva, Las Lumbreras and the spread of the Huerta de Monteagudo. The sector that the largest population occupies were retail and hospitality, followed by services, manufacturing, construction and agriculture, highlighting in the latter sector the predominance of lemon and orange plantations, also presenting a specialization in vegetable crops(chard, lettuce, tomato, green beans), denoting a huge setback in traditional corn and alfalfa.

 

31 October 1926
Demolished 11 September 1936

Opened 28 Octubre 1951