The visitor should get his camera or video recorder ready and be prepared to shoot film like it it’s going out of style because this village he is coming to, presents one picture postcard scene after another.

He won’t be able to resist the temptation to take home images of one of the villages that best preserves the traditional Andalusian character, without those additions and creations that are sometimes used to try to recreate what never existed.
This municipality’s territory penetrates the Ronda region in the Alcaparaín (1,200 metres) and Prieta (1,521 metres) mountain ranges and approaches the River Turón. The terrain decreases in elevation towards the central part of the territory, where olive groves and grain fields abound, while in the environs of the village the effects of man’s efforts can be seen to contour the land and form terraces that yield fruits and vegetables.Aside from a few Neolithic relics that attest to the presence of prehistoric man within the boundaries of Casarabonela, the most important ancient remains are from the Roman era.

 

Every indication is that the first settlement in this place was founded by the Romans, who called it Castra Vinaria, but this theory, credible though it is, has yet to be proven. Nevertheless, there are remnants of the roads that linked Casarabonela with Málaga and Ronda, and it is a known fact that when Rome built a road the towns that it ran through were important or useful, if not both.
The Arabs, who never wasted an existing defensive structure, extended and reinforced the old Roman fortress, and they must have done it with such skill that it was the very last fortress to fall to the Christian troops during their battles in this region of al-Andalus. It was also the Arabs who, from the original Roman name, derived Csar Bonaira (Palace of Bonaira), which the Christians changed into Casarabonela at the beginning of the sixteenth century. fter the village was conquered and the Moors were expelled after their armed uprising, the territory of Casarabonela was divided between arrivals from Extremadura and other parts of Andalusia. In 1574 Felipe II conferred upon it the status of villa (royal burgh), as is recorded in a document that is preserved in the municipal archives.

Outstandings Visits:
The urban quarter of Casarabonela alone has enough attractions to justify a prolonged visit. The Moorish ambience here is all-pervasive. There are narrow, maze-like alleys, gradients of varying steepness that are sometimes replaced by steps, brilliantly white houses in the old traditional architectural style, and secluded spaces where time seems to shut itself away from modern worries. Not everything is of Arabic origin, however. The Christian tradition is obvious here in the numerous niches that, each with its own particular saint, call attention to the devotion of the people.
The Santiago church is also Christian. It is a former collegiate church that was built over a mosque in the sixteenth century in the late Gothic style and later modified on more than one occasion. It is located in the highest part of the village, behind the ruins of the Arabic castle, of which part of four towers and some sections of the wall remain. The church is divided into three naves separated by semicircular arches that rest on quadrangular pillars.

The most remarkable parts of this church’s interior are the choir room and the tabernacle chapel. The altarpiece by Rafael Ruiz Liébana overlooks the main chapel, where the Virgen del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary, a painted wooden carving from the eighteenth century) is located. The structure’s exterior is notable for the façade with its semicircular arch and the three-level tower, fully whitewashed and crowned by a pyramidal ceramic roof.
The Veracruz hermitage, which was expertly restored in 2000, consists of a single nave with a “camarín”(niche) that is profusely decorated with gesso artwork and houses the Virgen de los Rondales. On its exterior can be seen a three-level façade and a belfry. Farther up is the Molino de los Mizos (Los Mizos mill), a traditional nineteenth century oil mill that still has all its gear and tools. Not far from the urban district you can visit Los Villares, an ancient medieval village archaeological site. The spring in the Fuente Quebrada Cave, the La Yesera cave, the little El Chorredón waterfall and the La Jácara chasm are natural spaces that are worthy of note.

How to Get There:
The more advisable of the two access routes to Casarabonela from the Costa del Sol is by the A-357 from the city of Málaga to Ardales. In that village take the MA-446, and after travelling about 12 kilometres turn onto the MA-445, which leads to Casarabonela. The other route leaves the A-7 (N-340) expressway on the section between the airport and Torremolinos. the A-366, in the direction of Coín, will take you to Alozaina, and there you must take the A-6208 on to Casarabonela.

Interesting Facts:
Surface Area: 114.1 square kilometres
Population: approximately 2,500
What the natives are called: Moriscos
Monuments: the Santiago Church, ruins of the Arabic castle, the Veracruz hermitage, Molino de los Mizos (Los Mizos Mill), and the Los Villares archaeological site.
Geographical Location: in the north-western part of the Guadalhorce valley region, bordering on the regions of Antequera and Ronda. The village is 500 metres above sea level and 48 kilometres from the provincial capital. The area’s rainfall exceeds 710 litres per square metre and the annual average temperature is 17º C.
Tourist Information: Tourist Office, Calle Real, 5 (29566). Telephone: 952 456 067