This large rural complex is located in the countryside of
Nijar about five kilometers east of Los Albaricoques, md became famous because
of the events that occurred there in July 1928 which inspired the tragedy
"Bodos de sange" (Blood Wedding) by Federico Garcia Lorca. It was
used as a set to represent the base of the Indio gang at Agua Caliente in “For
a Few Dollars More” (1965) in the sequence in which Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef)
offers his talent in the field of Indio (Gian Maria Volonte) for opening safes
and later sequences that are happen in the large inner courtyard with arches
and arcades. The low and long façade (characterized by the presence of a small church
that rises in the corner of the complex) and the eastern side of the main
building of the cortijo Ed Fraile appears in two sequences of “The Good, the
Bad and the Ugly” (1966): as the mission of San Antonio run by the Franciscan
friars in which Tuco (Eli Wallach) brings Clint Eastwood, who is severely burned
after crossing the desert. The cortijo was then used as a film set in) “A
Bullet for the General” (1966): “Last of the Badmen” (1967) (in this film it
appears as a convent of Franciscan friars): “Ace High” (1968); “Death Sentence”
(1968); “A Long Ride from Hell” (1968): “Blood and Guns” (1969); “Silver Saddle”
(1978) (still as a convent of Franciscan friars). In February 2003 the cortijo
de Fraile was used as a set to represent Palestine in the “Gospel of St. John”,
a Canadian production, also realized in the Almeria alter location: the area of
Tabernas (Tecisa and the oasis in the Rambla Viciana) and El Chorillo / Llano
de Campello. For many years, however, this great complexity is no longer used
for agricultural purposes, and practically abandoned to itself. A committee was
organized and fought to have the authorities intervene and helped promote a
restoration capable of safeguarding such a remarkable structure for many
reasons: architectural, environmental, literary and cinematographic. At the
present time it is still undergoing the restoration and is not open to the
public.
Films shot at Cortijo del Fraile
“For a Few Dollars More” (1965)
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966)
“A Bullet for the General” (1966)
“Last of the Badmen” (1967)
“Ace High” (1968)
“Silver Saddle” (1978)
Such a great history in cinematography.
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