At the heart of Frigiliana is the old town. Somehow or other it has survived the onslaught of developers. Only 5 minutes from the coast its neat streets are best seen in June during the festival of San Anton. Apart from the traditional Romeria there is the running of the bulls through the narrow streets.

Twelve plaques, at various stages, show the towns Moorish past in graphic detail.

Once there was a castle above the town, its ruins are a reminder of the final days of Islam in Andalucia. It was here, in 1569 that Muslims from all over the Axarquia (then known as Betomiz after a famous Caliph) took their last stand against the Christian armies. Rather than be captured, it is said that women threw themselves from the battlements onto the rocks below.

They say that Frigiliana once embraced happily the three great religions of the world. The star of David stands alongside the Cross and the Crescent, testifying to a golden age. If such an age existed it was effectively killed by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 when Jews were banished throughout Spain. For the next hundred years successive Monarchs tried also to wipe out Islam. But 500 years of Christianity have failed to erase its Berber blood.

The Church of St Anthony of Padua still retains its Moorish turret. Water still comes to town along the ancient Arab acequias and in its food and customs the town retains its links with 800 years of Islamic occupation.

Frigliana today is a bustling village, it's main industry being tourism, situated, aprox 20mins north of Nerja by car) it is probably the most famous of all "los pueblos blancos". It is steeped in history, as the few paragraphs above bear testament. But it has also featured prominently  in the more recent past, the civil war and the years following that momentous event.  

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