Ojen History

Back in the Middle Paleolithic era, the area was inhabitedby Neanderthals, who lived in nomadic groups, as seen in the Cueva de PechoRedondo.

During the Roman Empire,it was well populated around the coast, and there is speculation that the areahad a population operating the agriculture and livestock.

The first time Ojen was noted was is in the “Chronicle of the deeds of the emirs Cordoban.” According to the Chronicle, Abderraman III began a battle to bring the rebellion of the Mozarabic (Christians living inMuslim lands) and muladi to Malaga.

It is known that one of the battles between the rebels andthe army was in front of the walls of the castle Ojen. The uprising resulted inthe existence of a kingdom with its capital in Bobastro. In the year 921Abderraman Ojen was released, and his church was converted into a mosque.

In 1485 Muslims capitulated to King Ferdinand the Catholicand firmly into the Modern Age. At that time Ojen sent for export to Africa for raisins, dried figs, almonds, silk, wax, andhoney from their hives. Muslims became vassals of Castile,and in 1492 the Catholic Monarchs took over the Kingdom of Granada,ending the Reconquest.

Ojen represents council and is the boundary of the term. Ojen depends on Marbella,who appoints a regent with civil and criminal jurisdiction. The Kings did notallow the presence of Muslims from the coast, and many people were sent toOjen.

In 1906 the Marques de Larios Palace built as a Refuge forJuanar, where he invited on one occasion the King Alfonso XIII. The Palace of John was entitled as a parador in 1965and, since 1984, operates as a cooperative for workers of Ojen.

The measure was taken to avoid collaborationwith the Muslim Turkish and Berber pirates. Ojen then had 114 residents, fourof them Christians. In 1505, by order of the archbishop of Seville, Diego de Deza, was the canonicalestablishment of the current parish of Our Lady of the Incarnation.

In 1568, during the reign of Philip II, was the rebellion ofthe Moors of Istan, and in 1569 they were joined by the Moors of Ojen, fleeingwith their families and belongings to the mountains nearby after killing theChristians and burning down the old church, houses, and crops.

Philip II appointed the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Dukeof Arcos to pacify the Serrania de Ronda and end the rebellion. The war endedin 1570, and Ojen was repopulated by Old Christians. The problem continued inMoorish Spain until in 1609, when King Felipe III expelled the Moors.

In 1772 the British chronicler Francis Carter describes Ojenas “a village of friendly people, easy to know the tea and coffee, but enjoygoat’s milk in their cups of mud.” In 1807 Charles IV granted Ojen jurisdictionof Marbella. In1905 Pedro Fernandez built jets for a fountain, which was restored in 2006 byEnrique Salvo Rabasco and his team of restorers.