Located between the Serrania de Ronda, the Antequera
Basin and the Guadalhorce Valley, doesn't belong,
geographically-speaking, to any of the aforementioned
areas, though the presence in its area of the Guadalhorce-Guadalteba
hydrological complex is probably a enough reason to
situate it in the latter. The village, of Arabic origin,
lies at the foot of the rock which bears its name
and is typically Andalusian, with its narrow streets
and white houses. It contains a number of places of
interest, such as Doña Trinidad Grund Cave,
with its interesting pantings; Turon Castle, La Peña
Castle and La Molina Bridge. Furthermore, the reservoir
area boasts facilities for camping, swimming and spectacular
excursions on foot, such as El Caminito del Rey route
in The Gaitanes Pass.
History
F irst human settlements in the municipal area date
back to prehistoric times. Near the village stands
a cave known as Cueva de Ardales, and Cueva de Doña
Trinidad Grund, which contains animal paintings, goats,
horses and stags, and other illustrations pertaining
to the Upper Paleolithic peroid - Solutrean and Magdalenian
eras, 18,000 – 14,000 years B.C. - . During
the Roman occupation, The Peña fortress was
built, along with La Molina Bridge, which crossed
the River Turon. Ardales and its municipal area enjoyed
its period of greatest glory during Moslem times,
particularly during the muladi (Christian convert
to Islam) uprising of the late 9th-early 10th century,
led by Omar Ben Hafsun, who, with Bobastro as his
headquarters, created a defensive arc made up by the
castles of Ardales, Turon, Teba and Alora, even stretching
as far as Archidona. Many studies establish the location
of the fortress town of Bobastro in the Villaverde
Plateaux, near Ardales. This important Mozarabic settlement
contained a cave basilica, houses, hermitages, and,
on the hill, a caliphal fortress, all of which are
no more than archaeological remains today. Ardales’
strategic position saw it change hands frequently
during the Middle Ages, alternating between Christian
and Moslem control. It was definitively captured by
the Christians in 1389, during the reign of John I.
Its castle was the scene of the “Pact of Ardales”
between King John I y and Yusuf Ben Al Mavi, prince
of the Nazari Kingdom in Granada.
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