Alozaina is a town and municipality in the province of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, part of the

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

in southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. It is located between Tolox, Casarabonela and Yunquera and in the foothills of the

Sierra de las Nieves Sierra de las Nieves is a mountain range of the Penibaetic System in Málaga Province, Andalusia, Spain with its highest point being La Torrecilla (1,919 m). Sierra de las Nieves is also the name of an administrative area, the '' comarca''. T ...

in its transition to the Hoya de Málaga. The municipality is situated approximately 52 kilometers from

and 41 from the city of

Ronda Ronda () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliffside location and a deep canyon that ca ...

. It has a population of approximately 2,200 residents. Its surface area is 33.85 km² and has a density of 66.23 inhabitants/km². It is one of eight pueblo blancos that "guard the Sierra de las Nieves". In the past ten years a transformation has taken place, from a dusty somewhat shabby rural village to a lively community proud of its traditions and enhanced by many new amenities. Natives of the town are called ''Pecheros''.

History

Prehistory

From the

Upper Palaeolithic The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. Very broadly, it dates to between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago (the beginning of the Holocene), according to some theories ...

(Solutrean period) dates a small spindle-shaped idol, which is preserved in the Provincial Museum of Málaga, which also attests to the presence of man during the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

and later periods. From the Neolithic are the remains of the area called "the flat", where there was a village with a very large cemetery, but was devastated and now only 3 graves in good condition remain. In the "Cave of the Table" a burial and two golden trumpets were found from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, and both can be found in the Archaeological Museum of Málaga. From the time of the

Iberians The Iberians (, from , ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (among others, by Hecataeus of Mil ...

, possibly the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns, tombs have been found with decorated pottery and other objects. Alozaina fields

Ancient period

Roman urban vestiges have been found in the place of a settlement of Ardite families who inhabited the area in a stable but without shaping a city. It was supposed to serve for travelers who used this area as a rest en route to Acinipo (

) or to ''Cartima'' or ''Malacca'', looking for an exit to the sea. These people had a way of life through farming and ranching on a small scale. One can still catch a glimpse of what was a small cemetery in the so-called Hill of Ardite. The Romans also left their mark on the Monte's prospect (Albar area), where they found a column and different types of altar stone. The Valentine area is also rich in Roman and Arabic ruins. Amphorae have appeared in Italy. They were signed by potters of this land who allegedly used them to trade or fill them with oil to feed the empire, although they have not found remains of mills from this period, though they may have existed.

Middle Age

With the arrival of

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, the watchtowers of Ardite and "Aloçaina" were built. Aloçaina would become a small fortress, origin of the town and gave the town its name.

References

External links