Costa del Sol Towns
The different archaeological analyses carried out in recent
decades suggests that the emergence of the Roman city had to occur around the
mid-first century of our era, which coincides with the period of obvious
decline of the Los Castillejos archaeological site.
This certainly seems to indicate a typical moment on the old
“oppida.” Iberians once lost their former defensive duties and/or were
controlled by the Roman power; people tended to lose the benefit of the new
settlements erected in the vicinity, in places with better skills for the
exploitation of the surrounding territory and the most typical of the Roman
civitas.
Although there is abundant evidence that the deposits of the
Iberian and Castillejos Cerro del Almendro had an important continuity during
the first centuries of the Roman presence, the main events of that time we have
are in the city of Cortijo del Tajo, significant examples of which were
extracted as important are the parts of the head of Tiberius and the Young
Pedestal of eroticism.
Arabic Times
The Islamic world made significant Teba deposits of the
Upper Nina and monuments as significant as the Castillo de la Estrella (hisn
Atiba), the largest in the province of
Malaga, next to Bentomiz, and was
considered by popular vote in South Malaga
newspaper as the “Three Wonders” of the province.
The fortress, of which there is no archaeological
evidence relevant to the period preceding the Almohad Empire, occupies an area
of 25,000 m2 and has two walled enclosures. On the outside is a
barbican facing northeast; it has 18 towers, all except a circular square
situated to the northeast, and another octagonal facing north
Equally as significant are villae out of the box and the
Tesorillo Vallejo (the latter excavated by the University of Malaga
in the early ’80s). These settlements most likely depended on the city of Cortijo del Tajo, and they
showed significant and intensive farming in the fertile river valley
Guadalteba.
The whole castle is very ruined and has been
thoroughly stripped of all its valuable seating and windows. It is now
consolidated in a state of ruin and can be seen in various works of securing
the main building of the fortress. It has three doors, the main oriented west
to Ronda, and the other two, smaller and oriented to the north and northeast.
Its walls are from the Almohad period (seventh through tenth
centuries), the so-called Tower
of Homage, and the
remains of the primitive church are from Christian times. It would not be until
the 17th century that the castle lost its military and strategic value; for a
few years it went back to being occupied by Napoleonic troops, who settled here
as a means of a strong garrison, which caused severe damage to the paintings on
the walls.
