The south slope of the Almijara mountain range takes up a large part of the municipality of Frigiliana and its topography is complex and rich in contrasts, with peaks that, without reaching the heights of that mountain mass, do easily exceed 1,000 metres, such as Sierra de Enmedio (1,164 metres), or that are close to that height as in the case of El Fuerte (976 metres).

The River Chillar marks the boundary of this municipality and that of Nerja, and its tributary the Higuerón provides, with its so-called Hoces del Río Higuerón (Gorges of the River Higuerón), one of the most striking natural sites in the entire area. It, and the cliffs and gorges of the River Chillar itself, form an incomparably scenic landscape. The terraced market gardens that, at the village, begin their descent toward the coast, between the dazzling white of the houses and the blue Mediterranean in the background, are another feature of an area whose image will remain engraved in the traveller’s memory for a very long time.
Travellers coming to Frigiliana for the first time will probably have a preconceived idea about the village, since many different clichés have been used to describe it. In fact, these same clichés could describe any of the typical Andalusian mountain villages that look out over the sea. In this case, however, all the clichés are true. and are even surpassed by an ineffable sensation that is as hard to describe as it is easy to perceive and that perhaps no one can accurately identify unless by resorting to another cliché: bewitchment.

Clichés aside, the historic quarter of Frigiliana, of all those in the entire province, is considered to be one that has best preserved its original Moorish form. Its anarchic street plan-anarchic from the twenty-first century perspective-leads the visitor from one surprise to another: unexpectedly massive architecture, streets, alleys, covered passageways, stairways, plants and flowers in the most unlikely places, a mixture of fragrances from hidden sources, ancient history in new whitewash… And once you leave the intimacy and constriction of its streets, the breadth of a superb landscape above the Eastern Costa del Sol.
Remains found in 1987 in the Cueva de los Murciélagos (The Bat cave) attest to the presence of man in this territory from the late Neolithic period (3,000 B. C.) until the Calcolithic or Copper Age (2.000 B. C.). There is a menhir (standing stone) from the late Algar culture that provides evidence that man was present in this area in that era, and very near the village is the Cerrillo de las Sombras necropolis from the Phoenician epoch (700-600 B. C.).

The Romans occupied this territory in 206 B.C. through treaties with the native population and, Frigiliana was included in the Conventus de Gades. The name of the village comes from the Romans. It derives from Frexinius (a personage about whom nothing is known) and the suffix “ana”, which means source, that is to say the place or villa of Frexinius.
Little is known about the history of Frigiliana from the arrival of the Arabs to the Peninsula in 711 A. D. until the late ninth century, when the fortress was built, except that it was under the leadership of Omar Ben Hafsun. During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, it formed part of the Nazarite Kingdom. The village surrendered to the Christian troops in 1485 without bloodshed.
Bit by bit, however, the Moors were stripped of the few rights that they had (they farmed the worst soil and were forbidden to speak and write their language or wear their traditional dress) until the Moorish rebellion broke out in the Alpujarras mountains and was brutally put down by the Christians. The Moors from La Axarquía and the Málaga mountains, expecting the aid promised by Aben Humeya from the Alpujarras and also aid from North Africa, sought refuge in El Fuerte de Frigiliana (the Fort of Frigiliana), where some 7,000 of them gathered.

On 28 May 1569, the corregidor (magistrate) of Vélez began the first assault with the ominous outcome of 20 dead and 150 wounded among the Christian troops. At that time, 25 galleys of the Italian fleet were sailing in the Mediterranean and the corregidor of Vélez asked for assistance in squashing the Frigiliana insurgents. On this occasion, it was 6,000 men who confronted the Moors, who were defeated despite their resistance on 11 June 1569. There were 2,000 killed and 3,000 captives among the defeated forces (some 2,000 escaped) and 400 dead and 800 wounded among the victors.
The Battle of El Peñón de Frigiliana has been reproduced by Amparo Ruiz de Luna, somewhat in the manner if a “romance de ciego” ballad, on glazed ceramic panels that can be seen at the present time in various places in the village.

 

From that date until the nineteenth century, misfortune rained down upon Frigiliana. When it was not the plague that decimated the population, it was a storm that destroyed the crops, or an earthquake, or the phylloxera pest that attacked the grapevines or an outbreak of yellow fever that caused havoc. It would not be until the arrival of tourism that Frigiliana, like the rest of the Costa del Sol, entered into a period of prosperity and social and economic peace.

Outstandings Visits:
The village’s historic quarter, as has been said, is an aesthetic gift that no visitor should decline. Perhaps the heavy tourist traffic, especially during the high season (July, August and September), slightly dilutes this village’s many unique characteristics but that is the price that must be paid when large crowds of tourists gather at a particular place. Don’t think, for that reason, that the village is just a display window directed at the tourist trade; it is a living community that happens to share its idiosyncrasies with people from all over the world but that admirably preserves its cultural and historical treasures for whoever goes to the trouble of discovering them.
The iglesia de San Antonio (San Antonio church) is the main religious structure in Frigiliana. It was erected in the seventeenth century and modified in the eighteenth. Its interior has three naves separated by pilasters and covered by a wooden roof. The height of the transept is increased by means of a dome with lantern. The church houses a painted wooden carving of San Antón from the eighteenth century. The exterior displays a simple brick façade with a semicircular arch and a three-level bell tower.

The former silo of the antiguos pósitos (ancient granaries) is an eighteenth century building in the historic quarter. Nowadays, it is occupied by private dwellings and, only the arcades of the main façade remain from the ancient structure. The Palacio de los condes de Frigiliana (Palace of the Counts of Frigiliana) is a large old house from the sixteenth century, that was later converted into a sugar mill. It is in the Renaissance style and covers 2,000 square metres. The building stones of its façade came from the destroyed Arabic castle in the locality.
(On the subject of the sugar mill, it should be remembered that this part of La Axarquía based its economy for many years on sugarcane but that crop has now been partly replaced by tropical fruits. The mill was the place where the sugarcane was converted into a product for immediate consumption).
The ermita del Ecce Homo (Ecce Homo hermitage), also known as the hermitage of El Santo Cristo de la Caña (Holy Christ of the Sugarcane) dates from the eighteenth century. It is a very simple single-nave structure that is entered through an atrium with a semicircular arch. Part of the walls of the ninth century Castillo de Lizar (Lizar castle) still stand in the upper part of the village. The fortress’ entrance ramp can also still be seen. The Palacio del Apero (Apero Palace, from the seventeenth century) was connected to the sugar mill, but its original function was to serve as a granary, horse stables and storehouse for farm tools. It has a rectangular floor plan and its rooms are distributed around an interior courtyard. It houses the Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum), which displays, among other items, a series of Iberian-Phoenician tombs.
The aforementioned menhir or standing stone is the most important of the archaeological sites that have been discovered in Frigiliana. It is from the Algar culture (1,500 B.C.) and is in the Mudéjar neighbourhood. The Phoenician necropolis is at Cerrillo de las Sombras.

 

How to Get There:
Take the Mediterranean Expressway (A-7; N-340) towards Motril and shortly before Nerja turn onto the MA-105, which leads straight to Frigiliana.

Interesting Facts:
Surface Area: 40 square kilometres
Population: about 2,300
What the natives are called: Frigilianenses. Nickname: Aguanosos
Monuments: the San Antonio church, former granary, Palacio de los Condes de Frigiliana (Palace of the Counts of Frigiliana), Ecce Homo hermitage, walls of the Castillo de Lizar (Lizar castle), Palacio del Apero (El Apero palace), Algar culture menhir (standing stone), and the Phoenician necropolis
Geographical Location: in the eastern part La Axarquía, in the foothills of the Almijara mountain range. The village is more than 430 metres above sea level. It is 56 kilometres from the provincial capital and only 6 from Nerja. The area records an average annual rainfall of about 600 litres per square metre and the average temperature is 18º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Calle Real, 80 (29788). Telephone: 952 533 002; Fax: 952 533 434