Tolox is a town and municipality in the

province of Málaga The province of Málaga ( ) is located in Andalusia, Spain. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and by the provinces of Cádiz to the west, Seville to the northwest, Córdoba to the north, and Granada to the east. The province ...

in the autonomous community of

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 ...

. The municipality has a population of 2,317 (2006). It is situated in the centre 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 ...

Nature Park at the foot of the Sierra Blanca and the Sierra Parda. In addition to

La Torrecilla La Torrecilla is a mountain with a height of , which lies southeast of Ronda in the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park, of the Sierra de las Nieves range in the province of Málaga, Andalucia, Spain. In the Sierra de las Nieves range, it is the lar ...

peak (1,919 m.), there are ancient woodlands of

Spanish Fir ''Abies pinsapo'', Spanish fir, is a species of tree in the family Pinaceae, native to southern Spain and northern Morocco. Related to other species of Mediterranean firs, it appears at altitudes of in the Sierra de Grazalema in the Province of ...

and gall oak. The municipality covers 94 km², has a mean elevation of 285 m. and mean geographical coordinates of 36° 41' 11" N, 4° 54' 16" E. The channel of the Rio Grande flows through the town from northeast to south.

Village

The village of Tolox has winding streets, with white-washed houses and doors and window boxes overflowing with flowers in season.

History

While the area was inhabited in Paleolithic times, the village of Tolox bears a Phoenician name and a

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 ...

n origin is confirmed by archaeological evidence. It was occupied by

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and considerable rebuilding was done under Roman rule. Later it fell to the Visigoths and then to the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

Arab invaders. Tolox was freed from Córdoba rule in 883 by Umar ibn Hafsun, who developed it to one of his main bases in the Serranía de Ronda. It did not fall until 921 when his son Süleyman surrendered it to

Abd-ar-Rahman III ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn Abd al-Rahman I, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil (; 890–961), or simply ʿAbd al-Raḥmān III, was the Umayyad dyna ...

. After the fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Tolox came under the Kingdom of

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

and it was not turned over to

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

and Isabella, '' Los Reyes Católicos'' ("The Catholic Monarchs") until 1485 by Sancho de Angula. Tolox continued to have a large Moorish population and at Christmas 1539 there was civil strife between the predominantly Moorish peasants and the Christian landholders. Each year during

Carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

Tolox commemorates these events with the '' "Dia de los polvos"'', ("Day of the Powder"). In 1568-1571 Tolox took part in the Moorish rebellion. As a result, Tolox was almost entirely depopulated first by the war, and then any remaining Moors were relocated in small groups to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Philip II then called for Christian settlers from

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, Córdoba, and as far away as Galicia. In the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

Tolox fought under the command of Francisco Javier Abadía (commander of the Campo de Gibraltar) against the invading

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led a series of mi ...

troops. Later soldiers from Cártama and Tolox under the command of General Francisco Ballesteros conducted guerrilla warfare out of the mountains against the French.

Attractions

Aside from the mountain vistas and hiking that Tolox offers, it has a spa, the "Fuente Amargosa", which is visited for respiratory and allergic afflictions.

References

* Wawn, Christopher; Wood, David (1999) ''In Search of Andalucia: A Historical Geographic Observation of the Malaga Seaboard''. Pentland Press: Durham, Edinburgh, Cambridge. * Ruiz, Virgilio (2000) ''Vivencias de Tolox'' Ayuntamiento de Tolox: Tolox. * González, Diego Ceano (1993) ''Tolox : un oasis en la sierra'' Málaga : Mar y Luz. * Jiménez, José Sánchez (1976) '' Vida rural y mundo contemporáneo : análisis sociohistórico de un pueblo del sur'' Barcelona : Planeta.

External links

Tolox statistics from the Multiterritorial Information System of Andalusia

Economic Study of Spain - Tolox

Official homepage of Tolox

{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Málaga

Village

History

Attractions

See also

References

External links