Iznalloz is a small town about 35 km north 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 ...

, Spain. The town is the main center of a region known as Los Montes Orientales, which comprises about 17 towns and villages spread over the north of the

province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropi ...

. Encompassed within this area is the

Sierra Arana The Sierra Arana or Sierra de Arana, also known as Sierra Harana, is a mountain range in the center of the province of Granada, southern Spain. Its highest peak is the Peña de la Cruz, at . Description The Sierra Arana is a mostly karstic range ...

mountain range (highest peak just over 2000 m).

History

There are prehistoric paintings and tools in the caves surrounding the village. The

Iberian Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

peoples are thought to have settled here. The village sits on the banks of the

River Cubillas A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it run ...

and what was once on an important

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

road to

Tarraco Tarraco is the ancient name of the current city of Tarragona (Catalonia, Spain). It was the oldest Roman settlement on the Iberian Peninsula. It became the capital of Hispania Tarraconensis following the latter's creation during the Roman Empire ...

(ancient Roman name for

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in Catalonia (Spain). It is the capital and largest town of Tarragonès county, the Camp de Tarragona region and the province of Tarragona. Geographically, it is located on the Costa Daurada ar ...

) traversing via the south eastern coastline of the Iberian peninsula. The people of Iznalloz attribute their origins to the Romans and call themselves Acatuccitanos, after Acatucci, the Roman name for the village. Roman imperial soldiers built a garrison, on the hill in what is now the old quarter of the village, and constructed a bridge over the river which remains in use. The origin of the modern name, Iznalloz, has its roots in the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

''Hisn Allauz'' which means ‘

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

trees’. Only the ruins of the castle remain, but it formed part of the front line of

Muslim 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 ...

defense during the latter days of the reconquest of Spain. The village fell into Christian hands in 1486, after which Iznalloz and its neighbouring villages aided in the siege of

. As payment for their services the people of Iznalloz were exempt from various taxes. Following the Catholic reconquest of Granada, Iznalloz became an important centre for commerce and agriculture. Due to the growing population of workers, and their importance to the local economy, the

Reyes Catolicos The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile () and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the '' de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, ...

(Catholic Monarchs) decreed the construction of a hospital to care for the infirm. The building which is now called ''El Posito'' became a store for the village harvests.

Main sights

*16th century church of ''Ntra. Sra. de los Remedios'' (16th century), designed by

Diego de Siloé Diego Siloe (anglicized) or Diego de Siloé (c. 1495–1563) was a Spanish Renaissance architect and sculptor, progenitor of the Granadan school of sculpture. He developed the majority of his work in Andalusia. Biography Siloe was most likely ...

and the ruins of an ancient

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

castle. *Roma Bridge over the

Cubillas river Cubillas may refer to: * Cubillas de Cerrato, a municipality in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain * Cubillas de los Oteros, a municipality in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain * Cubillas de Rueda, a municipality in th ...

*''Castillo de los almendros'', remains, including two towers, of a Moorish fortress *''Cueva del agua'', a group of Jurassic caves where numerous findings from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

have been found

Economics

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

is and has always been Iznalloz's major source of income and the cultivation of

olives The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

is by far the most common agricultural activity in the municipality. Some of the best

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

in Spain is produced in this region. The local mountain range of Sierra Arana is particularly picturesque and boasts a large number of

caves Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance underground (such as rock ...

. Of these the deepest is La Cueva del Agua (Cave of water).

References

{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Granada

History

Main sights

Economics

See also

References