LA AXARQUIA
- BENAOJAN INFORMATION
Between the solid mass of limestone of the Sierra
de Libar and the River Guadiaro stands Benaojan, which still retains
the essence of the Arab-designed cities with their narrow streets
and whitewashed houses. Our Lady’s Church is its most noteworthy
building, and the cured pork sausage industry which has made Benaojan
deservedly famous is clearly in evidence.
Just 7Km. from the village, on the slopes of the Sierra de Libar,
stands La Pileta cave, considered to be the finest example of Andalusian
cave art.
History
In the valley of the River Guadiaro, between the Libar and El Oreganal
sierras, in the foothills of the Serranía de Ronda mountain
range, the municipal region of Benaojan was the scene of prehistoric
man’s intrepid struggle for survival. It's home to Cueva de
La Pileta cave, a veritable cave painting sanctuary discovered in
1911 by the English archaeologist Verner and declared a National Monument
of Cave Art in 1924, which contains magnificent pictorial works from
different periods of prehistory, particularly the Magdalenian times;
Pablo Picasso would surely have attributed the huge fish painted in
one of its chambers to one of the most outstanding painters in the
history of art. Further evidence of the presence of prehistoric settlers
was found at at Hundidero-Gato, though these underground caves have
now been completely stripped of their archaeological relics.
The present-day site of the city is of Arabic origin, as its name
would suggest, deriving from the Arabic Ibn Uyan, meaning "house
of bakers".
Benaojan Fortress was destroyed along with those of Montecorto and
Audita by the Catholic Monarchs in 1487. After the Christian conquest,
the local moriscos (Moorish converts to Christianity) slowly left
the lands of which they felt they had been stripped, until they were
finally expelled in the second half of the 16th century in the wake
of a failed rebellion.
In 1571, the village and its municipal area were repopulated by Old
Christian families from Castile.
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