Gaucin is the first Serrania de Ronda village encountered
by the traveller on the road which links the Campo
de Gibraltar region with Ronda itself, displays all
the charms of the white villages which from here onwards
can be seen nestling in the mountains through which
the River Genal flows; its streets - of Moorish design
- are perfectly adapted to the hill on which they
are built and its graceful whitewashed houses are
boldly decorated with grilles and balconies expertly
crafted from wrought iron. At the top of the village,
adapted, naturally, to the rock on which it stands
is the centuries-old The Aguila Castle, which is aptly
named, as from it the eagle-eyed can view the African
coast, Gibraltar, the River Genal and the open countryside
which marks the final descent of the Genal as it meets
the River Guadiaro. An obligatory port of call for
any serious traveller, it is no surprise that Gaucin
has stamped its unforgettable image on many a famous
retina: authors such as Richard Ford, Francis Carter
and Gerald Brenan felt the need to try to put their
experiences of Gaucin into words. The affable, open
character of the local people must certainly have
played a part: in the words of the village coat of
arms, they are noble, loyal and hospitable.
History
Though of Roman origin, the village acquired greater
importance during the Moslem era. Gaucin grew under
the protection of a fortress built by the Arabs on
the site of an old Roman castrum. This fortress, today
called Aguila Castle and practically in ruins on its
lofty rural perch, gave the village its name: "Sair
Guazan", meaning “strong rock”. Its
strategic location made it practically impossible
to breach, and it proved to be one of the most difficult
fortresses to conquer in the struggle between the
Christians and the Moslems. According to chronicles,
Alfonso Perez de Guzman, known by the Christians as
Guzman the Good, lost his life in an assault on this
remarkable castle in 1039. Gaucin was captured by
the armies of the Catholic Monarchs in 1485. Shortly
after, the defeated moriscos - Moslem converts to
Christianity - organised a series of revolts which
were ruthlessly crushed by the Marquis of Cadiz and
the Count of Cifuentes; the definitive expulsion of
the moriscos followed, and the village, like so many
others in La Serrania de Ronda area, was left practically
abandoned. At the end of the 16th century, the population
began to rise again with the arrival of families of
Old Christians. Its strategic qualities and the barriers
provided by its natural environment were in evidence
again in the 16th and 17th centuries, protecting the
inhabitants of the village against the attacks of
Berber pirates. Another important episode in the history
of Gaucin occurred during the War of Independence,
when, thanks to the support provided by English troops
from Gibraltar, it became an important focus for resistance
to Napoleon’s troops, whose harsh response in
1810 was to raze the village to the ground. In the
late 19th and 20th centuries, Gaucin enjoyed a period
of prosperity as a natural link between the coastal
strip stretching from Estepona to Algeciras and the
Serrania de Ronda region, benefitting from the commercial
transactions carried out between these two areas.
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