Loja is a town in southern Spain, situated at the western limit of the province of Granada. It is surrounded by the so-called Sierras de Loja, of which the highest peak, Sierra Gorda, stands 1,671 metres above sea-level.Formerly the Moorish town of Medina Lawsa, Loja was captured by the Christians in 1486, during the Reconquista. Isabella I of Castile called it the "flower among thorns".