The
municipality of Sedella has the shape of a rectangular prism
whose north side begins at the crest of the Tejeda mountain
range. Here, near the peak of La Maroma in the province
of Granada, it reaches a height of 2,000 metres. The mountains
drop abruptly to the vicinity of the village, but not before
forming deep ravines in which, terrain permitting, there
are small pine groves that soften the geographic harshness
of the surroundings.
Beginning
at the village the landscape becomes gentler and one begins
to see houses scattered about on some of the hills and brushy
areas, fields and pastures alternate with lush, green pinewoods.
Two streams, one of which has its headwaters at El Pardillo
and the other at Fuente Chaparro, join a few kilometres
from those places and form the River Sedella. The place
where these two streams run together, known as Cerillales
de la Fuente, is of great scenic beauty. The Matanzas and
Granados streams also flow through this municipality, and
each has a separate legend attached to its waters that is
based on ancient battles and supernatural acts.
As far as the origin of Sedella is concerned there is the
same uncertainty as with so many other municipalities in
La Axarquía, but there are physical traces that,
while lacking concrete data or precise documentation, shed
light on a certain era and may apply in a general way to
the history of an entire territory. In the case of this
village, the discovery of a number of Roman coins and some
Punic ceramic remains in the vicinity of the village shows
at least that there was human traffic during the period
to which these relics belong, but this does not imply the
existence of a more or less permanent settlement.
There
is also no great certainty about the origin of the village’s
name, although it seems safe enough to say as some researchers
do that the name of Sedella comes from the Latin “sedilla”,
which might be translated as “rural location”. Before the
Muslim domination the village appears under the name “Sedille”,
as is shown on a seventh century map, and at an earlier
date it even appears as Sedilla.
The Arab Al-Razi, when referring in the year 927 to the
territories conquered by Abderramán III, speaks of
the fortress of Comares, of that of Santo Pítar and
that of “S. D. Lía”, about which he specifies that
it was always inhabited by Christians. It is quite clear
that the initials with which the author named the place
where a fortress was located correspond to present-day Sedella.
It was during the Muslim period that Sedella began to grow
and develop as a village, now under the name of Xedalia.
It would surrender to the Catholic Monarchs on 29 April
1487, two days after the fall of Vélez-Málaga.
Juan de Hinestrosa was named commandant of the fortress
of Xedalia, but the village was granted to Martín
Fernández de Córdoba. It would later come
under the jurisdiction of Málaga against the wishes
of Vélez, which claimed it simply because of its
proximity, among other reasons. In 1543, the Lordship of
Sedella was acquired by Gabriel de Coalla, at that time
castle commandant of the village, who took advantage of
the Crown’s need to collect money for war to buy the municipality
of which he was the commandant for 30,000 maravedíes.
The fact that Andrés Xorairán, one of the
ringleaders of the Moorish rebellion, was born in Sedella
was decisive in the locality becoming one of the first flash
points of this uprising, which ended tragically with the
fall of Peñón de Frigiliana to the troops
of Luis de Requesens in 1569. Two years later Felipe II
ordered the expulsion of the Moors and the municipality
was practically depopulated until the arrival of Old Christians,
mainly from La Mancha and Carmona
The earthquake of 1884 caused incalculable damage in the
village but no lives were lost. Sedella was allotted 19,000
pesetas in the distribution of disaster relief.
Outstandings
Visits:
The village exhibits an unmistakably Moorish urban layout:
narrow streets-some excessively so-houses with dazzling
white façades and gable roofs, and some slopes that
make wheeled traffic impossible in certain places. Due to
the quite noticeable altitude at which the village sits,
from places broad views are possible of tremendously scenic
landscapes: the imposing natural decoration of the nearby
Tejada mountains and the Bentomiz mountains, and on very
clear days even the Atlas mountains of Morocco can be seen
clearly.The San Andrés church stands out prominently
in the village. It was built over an earlier church from
the sixteenth century of which the bell tower was preserved.
This tower has a square base and three levels. The top level
or belfry is octagonal and is crowned by a steeple that
is also octagonal. In the church are preserved sculptures
from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and a valuable
monstrance from the eighteenth century.
The
Casa del Torreón (House of the Tower) in the centre
of the village is nothing more than the ruins of the fortress
of the former Lord of Sedella. It was built in the sixteenth
century in the Mudéjar style over a quadrangular
floor plan. The tower has paired arches on Renaissance columns
and has a beam-framed hip roof. This structure has enabled
Sedella to be listed on the Mudéjar Route.
In the eastern part of the village is the hermitage of the
Virgen de la Esperanza (Virgin of Hope), which was built
in the seventeenth century without great aesthetic pretensions
and in harmony with popular architectural patterns. In it
are venerated the images of Nuestra Señora de la
Esperanza and of San Antón, the patron saints of
the village.
How to Get There:
On the Costa del Sol, take the Mediterranean Expressway
(A-7; N-340) to the Vélez Málaga bypass. Here
turn onto the A-335 in the direction of Alhama de Granada.
After travelling about kilometres from the Vélez
Málaga bypass, turn onto the MA-125 and go to Canillas
de Aceituno. In this locality, the MA-126 begins and leads
to Sedella.
Interesting
Facts:
Surface Area: 32 square kilometres
Population: about 500
What the natives are called: Sedellanos. Nickname: Sellanos
Monuments: the San Andrés church, Casa del Torreón
(House of the Tower), and the Virgen de la Esperanza hermitage
Geographical Location: in the north-eastern part of the
La Axarquía region. Its area of greatest altitude
borders the province of Granada. The village is 690 metres
above sea level and is 54 kilometres from Málaga,
23 from Vélez Málaga and 8 from Canillas de
Aceituno, the closest village. The average rainfall in the
area is 670 litres per square metre and the annual average
temperature is 17º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Calle Andalucía,
11 (29715). Telephone: 952 508 839; Fax: 952 508 838
