![]() For centuries it was an ingredient in the famous Málaga sweet wines, which, unlike table wines could withstand long sea voyages in barrels without spoilingĪlthough this period was one of great prosperity in which Muslims, Jews and Christians lived together in relative harmony, it was not without wars and conflict. The second is the muscatel grape, valuable fresh or dried as raisins. The first is the olive, which yields the highly prized “Verdiales” oil, smooth, green and delicious. It enjoyed great economic prosperity for two products that are still harvested and continue to enjoy international fame. During the Muslim period, Cútar was much bigger than it is now. Tahá is an Arabic word meaning “administrative district” of Comares, being overlooked by that village where the army was based. Thus “pueblos blancos” - white villages were createdĪt this time Cútar, with Almáchar, El Borge and Moclinejo, was part of the “Tahá de Comares”. The houses of all of the villages were lime washed by law to prevent disease. It also laid the foundations of the flourishing town of Cútar by building a large farmhouse protected by a fort, which quickly grew into a thriving Muslim community with its own Mosque. They brought all the wisdom of the classical age – its mathematics, architecture, astronomy, medicine and rational philosophy - previously and later suppressed by Christians as “pagan”. Muslim Arabs bought sophisticated agriculture and irrigation, and with it the muscatel grape, orange, lemon and pomegranate. The age of the Berber Arabs who ruled this region from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, was the golden age for Cútar and for the whole of Andalucía, a beacon of light in a Europe benighted by the superstition and cruelty of medieval Christianity. Coins and ceramics from both the Romans and the Christian Goths that succeeded them have also been discovered here. ![]() On the ancient route south through the pass towards the sea, prosperous trading communities grew with enough surplus resources to build a substantial necropolis (a city of the dead). There is evidence of prehistoric settlement here. In the middle distance is the Peña de Hierro, a great rock thrusting into the skyline - in antiquity a massive geological fort. In the distance, that great bite out of the mountain skyline is the Zafaraya pass, the route of migrants and invaders from Neolithic man to Bonaparte’s armies, the route south for invading moors and Christians, the route north for Franco’s fascist rebels. Look across the valley and you can see its history - a cycle of prosperity and destitution etched into the landscape. ![]() ![]() The name Cútar denotes a region as well as a village. ![]()
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