Comares stands on a rock which overlooks the Periana
Corridor and part of the Axarquia mountains to the
North, while the immense Velez Valley and La Sierra
de Tejeda are visible in the south. Of Arabic origin,
its location suggests that it must have been built
as a military vantage point, its layout still conserving
the typical features of fortress villages, its narrow,
winding streets lined with white one or two-storey
houses. Places of architectural interest include the
remains of the fortress, Masmullar Hill, the Arabic
cistern and Our Lady’s Church, built in Mudejar
style.
History
Due to its location atop a mountain overlooking most
of the Axarquia region, the village has a long history
dating back to prehistoric era. It may also have been
the site of Iberian settlements and, later, a Roman
colony. Nazari texts refer to Comares by the name
Hisn Qumarich - the Castle of Comares - . It was one
of the main defensive bastions of the muladí
- Christian convert to Islam - rebellion led by Omar
Ben Hafsun before being recaptured at the start of
the 10th century by Abderraman III. Some authors have
believe the nearby Masmullar or Mazmullar plateau
to have been the site of the fortress town of Bobastro,
though it seems certain that it actually stood on
the Villaverde plateaux, between the present-day villages
of Alora and Ardales. In the 11th century, it was
the administrative headquarters of a group known as
“The Four Villages” - El Borge, Almachar,
Moclinejo and Cutar - , which enjoyed the protection
of Comares Castle. In May 1487, shortly after Vélez
Málaga fell into Christian hands, Mohamed El
Jabis (the last Moslem governor of Comares) paid homage
to the Catholic Monarchs in an attempt to avoid any
reprisals and to conserve some semblance of rights
for the Moslem population. Though the moriscos - Moslem
converts to Christianity - of Comares enjoyed more
advantages than their counterparts in other villages
of the Axarquia region, their lives would not have
easy; proof of this is the gradual abandonment of
the village’s lands which are chronicled as
having been repopulated in 1490 by Old Christians
from Extremadura, other parts of Andalusia, Valencia
and even Portugal. In 1512, the village was incorporated
in to the estate of the Marquis of Comares, Don Diego
Fernandez de Córdoba. Though the inhabitants
of Comares played no part in the morisco uprising
which engulfed practically the whole of the Axarquia
region in 1568 and 1569, the 1570 expulsion which
followed these events affected all of the Mudejars
in the area, who were forced to leave lands which
they had owned for centuries.
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