Niebla's history stretches back roughly 3000 years. Archaeological finds suggest that farming activities were undertaken during the end of the Bronze Age. By the 8^th century B.C., Phoenician traders became interested in the silver that was mined in the hinterland of the province. Residents of Niebla worked in the silver industry since the town was located in a location between the mines and the ocean port.

This trade in silver worked to enrich the residents of Niebla. In fact, between the 8th and the 6th centuries B.C., walls were built around the town from stone. Evidence from artefacts of this period shows that Niebla's residents owned jewellery and other luxury items as well as quality weaponry. The tomb of some important local leader was also uncovered, showing not only the economic but also the political importance of the town.

As the silver began to run out, Niebla still maintained its agrarian background. During the Roman Age Niebla remained a commercial and political centre and was known as Ilipla. It had an important role to play and was the westernmost part of the region known as Betica. Coins have been found that were minted with the town's name. So important was the town that it was linked with the Guadiana River as well as with surrounding towns. Much archaeological evidence remains from the Roman period, including ruins, artwork, mosaics, and aqueducts.

In 711 the Moors invaded Spain and by 713 the town of Ilipla was under Muslim control. The town became part of the Cordoba's emirate in 756 and further fortifications were constructed. Over the next few centuries it prospered under Muslim rule. In the 11^th century, Niebla's army allied itself with the kingdoms of Mértola, Silves, and Badajoz and together they fought the kingdom of Seville. The battle was lost and the town became part of the kingdom of Seville in 1051.

Niebla generally prospered under Islamic rule and Christians were allowed to practise their religion. However, Islamic rule began to weaken after 1212. The town was conquered in 1262 by Alonzo X. The land was redistributed among the Christian settlers. The town remained an important strategic point, being so close to the Algarve region. In 1369 the King made Juan Alonso Pérez de Guzmán the first Earl of Niebla.

What to see

The Alcázar, The Castle, and The Walls

Los Guzmanes Castle.

The 15^th century saw a great deal of construction in Niebla due to work of the 4^th Earl of Niebla. However, this would be the last such effort for a good while. Beginning in the 16^th century the town began to suffer from a decline in fortunes and lose its importance. Niebla suffered damage in 1755 by the Lisbon earthquake with a number of buildings collapsing. Its fortifications and many monuments would continue to decline until well into the 20^th century. Most of what survives today stems from the 13^th and 14^th centuries. The castle constructions date to the latter of the 15^th century.

The construction of the Alcázar started in 1402, when Don Enrique de Guzmán, the second Duke of Medinasidonia and the fourth of Niebla, pulled down the old Alcázar and to build the one we know today. The result was a magnificent royal palace which preserved the most interesting and luxurious parts built by the Arabs, such as the Muslim Tower of Homage, which was rebuilt so magnificently that was compared to the Giralda tower of Seville.

After the works of restoration made in the last few years, the Alcázar is now in good conditions. It has a rectangular structure divided by an inner wall which separates the patio of arms from the luxurious rooms intended as palace. This main structure has ten towers; six of them are square (four are on the corners -including the Tower of Homage - and two of them are at the ends of the inner wall). The other four are semicircular cubes alternated with the square ones. The walls go on from the Tower of Homage and the one located on the north-west angle to form a barbican surrounding the central building on the east, south and west sides. This barbican has six towers and joins the almohade wall near the Puerta de Sevilla and del Socorro. An adarve and a barbican built in the late 15th century completed the building.

The techniques of construction used were diverse and depended on the technical advances of that time, and on the availability of labour and building material of the site where the fortification was to be erected. The "tapias", walls built by means of plank linings either with mud, with or without stones, or with lime and pebbles, were the most common construction system used in medieval walls. In many fortifications of mudejar tradition, these walls had layers of brick and buttresses of the same material in the corners. Works made out of adobe were also profusely used in additional defensive walls in front of the gates against artillery between the late 15th century and the early 16th century.