Frigiliana's history is a meshing of cultures and an example of the beauty that often results from diversity. What are we talking about? You might say… Well, it's about Phoenicians, Romans, Jews, Arabs and Christians. Make all of them pass by the Malaga region of La Axarquía, give them a good handful of centuries and an almost tropical climate, shake the mixture well and wham, you have a beautiful and charming white village.
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Frigiliana's history is a meshing of cultures and an example of the beauty that often results from diversity. What are we talking about? You might say… Well, it's about Phoenicians, Romans, Jews, Arabs and Christians. Make all of them pass by the Malaga region of La Axarquía, give them a good handful of centuries and an almost tropical climate, shake the mixture well and wham, you have a beautiful and charming white village.
In Frigiliana, there could also be a beautiful Arab castle, but today there are only a few remains. In 1569 it was pulverised to prevent further Moorish uprisings, and so a construction that perhaps dated back from the ninth century disappeared. Other things erected by the Málaga nobles who dominated this place at their pleasure are very well preserved. For example, the Renaissance palace of the Counts of Frigiliana, which was built by the Manrique de Lara family in the early sixteenth century, taking advantage of some of the materials from the Arabic fortress that had not yet been destroyed by Felipe II.
That mansion is better known as El Ingenio, and it houses the only cane honey factory that remains active in all of Europe.
The construction of the Fuente Vieja (Old Fountain) in the old town is also thanks to one of the Manrique de Lara’s. An interesting fact is that when it was built in the seventeenth century, the village renamed it Fuente Nueva (New Fountain). Something that has its logic if you think about it because calling the newest fountain the Old Fountain was something strange for them.
Don't miss the beautiful Church of San Antonio, built a few years after the fountain, and the Ecce-Homo Chapel. Both were already here when Frigiliana had a tough time with Napoleon's soldiers in the War of Independence. They would also have to deal with the bandits who terrorised the region, and even with a phylloxera plague, a parasite insect that attacked the vineyards and ruined many local families.
And we finish this audio guide so that now you can enjoy some streets that almost appear to be Moroccan, like the Inquisitors Street, with balconies full of flowers and the closeness of the Mediterranean Sea.
