Charles Binns - Landscape Photography, Nature Photography, Travel Photography

Casarabonela

Casarabonela is a town and municipality in the province of Malaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalucia in southern Spain. These photographs were taken during a visit to Malaga in 2007. The municipality is situated approximately 48 km from Malaga capital (bordering on the regions of Antequera and Ronda). It has a population of approximately 2500 residents. The natives are called Moriscos.

Casarabonela has been inhabited since Neolithic times, but the most important remains, for their high degree of conservation, are the Roman ones, these having at one time constituted the basis of what is today the village proper. In Roman days Casarabonela was known as Castra Vinaria, meaning wine castle. The Romans built roads right across the area, the remains of two of them still being visible today: one going south towards Malaga and another going west towards Ronda.

Later, the Arabic settlers refrained from destroying what was left of the Roman village, even going so far as to reinforce the old fortress and keep the same name, which then became corrupted to Csar Bonaira. The quality of the Arabic building work made Casarabonela one of the most difficult villages for the Christian troops to seize during the re-conquest. After the expulsion of the Moors the land was shared out among Christian settlers from Extremadura and other parts of Andalucia. In 1574 King Philip I

I gave the village the title of "villa" or town, recorded in a special charter that is still to be found in the Town Hall archives.

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