Arena information
Arena is small village located at the heart of the Axarquia
mountains among olives, almond trees and vines. Of Arabic
origin, the village grew around Bentomiz Caslte, remains
of which are still visible, and its architecture is typical,
consisting of steep streets of white, stepped houses, dominated
by the Mudejar church of Saint Catherine.
History
It was formerly known as Arenas del Rey, as, according to
local tradition, King Ferdinand the Catholic set up camp
here to prepare for the siege and conquest of Velez-Malaga.
Village, which still conserves part of its original Arabic
design, is known as El Arenal - The Sands - , as the fine
sands carried by the River Seco were extracted from the
area. Located north of the hill on which Bentomiz Castle
stands, the area’s first human inhabitants must have
settled in this natural watchtower, 709 metres high, which
overlooks a large area of the Axarquia region and, to the
south, the coast. This fortress village was initially an
Iberian settlement. Phoenicians and Greeks left their mark
here. It was subsequently a Carthaginian military site and,
after the Punic Wars, a Roman village. The Arabs rebuilt
and extended the castle, turning it into a magnificent fortress.
The importance of this defensive bastion was evidenced by
a long chain of historic events, the most significant of
which was probably its role in the conquest of Velez by
Christian troops on April 1487, when El Gibs, governor of
Bentomiz Castle, joined the army of the Catholic Monarchs
against the besieged town of Velez, making it impossible
for the reinforcements sent by the Nazari kingdom of Granada
to participate in its defence.. However, after the conquest,
the lives of the moriscos - Moslem converts to Christianity
- who stayed on in the area became ever harder, eventually
inciting them to rebel in 1569, an uprising which soon spread
to the rest of the Axarquia region, where the morisco community
were also discontented. After the rebellion was crushed,
the defeated moriscos suffered a variety of fates: some
were condemned to death, others imprisoned and the rest
expelled from the lands on which they had lived for centuries.
By the end of the 16th century, the area which now lies
within the boundaries of Arenas was semi-abandoned; little
by little, it was resettled by Old Christians. The 19th
century saw another military confrontation which once again
proved the strategic importance of this location. When the
Napoleonic invasion and subsequent discontentment of the
local population triggered the War of Independence, French
troops stationed in Arenas were decimated in March 1812
by a guerrilla unit led by the priest of Riogordo, an attack
which seriously undermined French military power. The village
and its municipal area were affected by the major tremor
known as the Andalusian Earthquake on Christmas Eve 1884;
extensive material damage was suffered.
Malaga province
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