Benaocaz

Human presence in the Benaocaz area goes back to the Neolithic, with evidence found in caves and local sinkholes. Libyo-Phoenician traces appear in the Majaceite river valley, Celtic remains in the eastern part of the territory, and both Iberian and Roman evidence across the area. A Roman road still partly survives here — one of the few remaining in the Sierra de Cádiz — linking Benaocaz with Ubrique along the pass known as La Manga.

The settlement as a village was founded by the Arabs in 715. It remained under Islamic rule for nearly eight centuries, until 1485, when the nobleman Rodrigo Ponce de León took it for the Christian crown alongside six neighbouring towns — together known as Las Siete Villas. In recognition of these conquests and his role in the final campaigns of the Reconquista, the Catholic Monarchs granted Ponce de León the lordship of Las Siete Villas and the marquisate of Zahara in December 1490. He died in August 1492, and the following year the titles were restructured, with his heirs receiving the newly elevated Duchy of Arcos.

Benaocaz has been designated a historic ensemble, and its oldest district — the Nasrid quarter — is one of the best-preserved medieval Islamic neighbourhoods in the region. The street plan survives largely intact, along with ruins of old houses, some of them once grand. Ceramic finds suggest the area may have had Roman origins, and abundant medieval pottery has also been uncovered.

Above a valley roughly 500 metres from the Tavizna river stands the ruined Castillo de Aznalmara, a protected cultural monument. Its large courtyard contains what appears to be a cistern or well. The Roman road connecting Benaocaz to Ubrique — the ancient route between Ocuri and Lacílbula — ran through this same territory and explains the concentration of archaeological remains in the area.

The Renaissance church of San Pedro was built over the remains of a mosque, and its bell tower still rests on the original minaret foundations. It houses two notable Christs and is currently being restored. The Ermita de San Blas dates to 1716, built with public donations including funds sent from the Americas, and was reconstructed in 1924. The Ermita del Calvario sits outside the town centre on a prominent rock, its whitewashed walls visible from a distance. The baroque town hall carries a shield of Carlos III and holds a historical archive. A baroque public fountain, the Fuente de Allá, combines a drinking fountain, a stone animal trough, and a monumental staircase. The local Ecomuseum traces the relationship between people and this landscape from objects more than 100,000 years old through to the Roman and medieval periods.