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Situated close to the northern face of Sierra
de Mijas, looking out over the spectacular Guadalhorce
Valley, its territory is made up of citrus and other
fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Neolithic, Phoenician,
Greek, Roman and Arabic settlers have all left their
mark on the area. Alhaurin el Grande is a prosperous
village whose most interesting monuments are Our Lady’s
Church, the Town Hall and Montellano Palace. Worthy
of mention is Los Corchos Mill, which is still in
excellent condition and works exactly as it did in
Moslem times.
History
The Phoenicians exploited the AREA's silver and lead
mines. The presence of a Roman town of some importance
is evidenced by the abundant remains from the period
to be found here, such as the aqueduct on the road
to Coin, capitals, columns, headstones, sculptures,
coins featuring Dioclecianus and Probus, and Cerrogordo
ruins. Its Roman name appears to have been Lauro Nova,
and it's generally thought that this was the ancient
Lauro were, according to Floro, Gnaeus Pompeius, son
of Pompeius, was killed by supporters of Julius Caesar,
though no proof exists of this. The Arabs gave it
the name Alhaur, meaning "the valley people",
due to its location between the Faala and Arroyo de
la Villa valleys, and built a fortress which dominated
the AREA. This castle was blown up by the French in
1812; the parish church was later built on its foundations.
Remains of other Moslem fortresses also exist in the
municipal AREA, such as those of Jurique, Faala, Mentage
and Rabaquel. In 1487, the village was conquered by
King Ferdinand, following bloody assaults on Coin,
the fire and massacre of Benamaguez - Casapalma -
and the capture of Cartama, its habitants fleeing
to Marbella; its land and castles were shared out
among the Christian settlers, though a further redistribution
was undertaken in 1492. Alhaurin el Grande, which
belonged to the Crown, was dependent on the jurisdiction
of the city of Malaga. In 1634, its inhabitants bought
this jurisdiction along with independent village status
for the sum of 4,459,916 silver maravedíes.
King Ferdinand VI revoked this autonomy and placed
the village under the jurisdiction of 1st Coin, then
the Crown itself, adding the Fleur de Lys of the House
of Borbon to its coat of arms. This coat of arms also
features the Golden Fleece awarded to the village
by Charles V for its loyalty during the Regional Wars.
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