Mount el Ope

The Ope, located to the north of the municipal area, is the highest (276 meters) and the most representative and emblematic of the hills that surround Archena. Its graceful peak, crowned by the Cross, is perfectly identifiable from any point in the area. The white limestone of which it is formed does not exactly facilitate vegetation, although the elderly remember perfectly humid times in which its slopes housed a sparse eucalyptus and pine tree. Back then, rabbit hunting was very abundant and numerous foxes were also seen. The Cruz del Ope has existed, at least, since the end of the 17th century, since its presence has been documented since that date thanks to the first documents preserved in the Municipal Archive of Archena: accounting books that were called small expenses books. These books reflected the expenditure that, as indicated in his "History of Archena" by Manuel Medina Tornero, was made to celebrate Easter and place a wooden cross wrapped in a canvas. The crosses at the entrance to cities were built in order to protect the population from external evils: epidemics, diseases or even demonic presence. They are a protective Christian symbol of tremendous austerity. Without any decorative aspect, they respond to an old canon of popular art. The legend of the Ope may help explain the need for protection. The Legend of Ope They say that one rainy winter afternoon a shepherd went to Mount Ope to collect snails and found a small lamb. He put it on his shoulders, but its weight was gradually increasing and, consequently, tiring him more and more. The lamb had transformed into a sheep and suddenly uttered a deep voice, like something from beyond the grave, that said to the shepherd: »The further you take me, the more I will weigh you» Horrified, the shepherd released the enormous black-haired sheep, which turned out to be the figure of the demon in the form of a faun. He galloped up the slope, leaving behind him a smelly, sulfurous trail while emitting eerie laughter. Following the legend, after this event the hill was purified with exorcisms and crowned with a cross at its highest point, to get rid of the demonic presence. The Ope cross continues to remain at the top of the hill, although now it is no longer made of wood, but of iron. The replacement of the Cross and its change of material took place after the war, between 1940 and 1941. Since then and thanks to the durability of iron, there is no need to replace the cross.