HISTORY OF NERJA

The Arabs called it Narixa or Narija (abundant fountain), and this location is settled on a natural spot on the spurs of the Almijara mountain range.

Its tropical landscape marked out by plantations of sugar cane, offers on the other hand its nearby mountains a great deal of small and big game. 51 kms. away from Malaga and only 25 from the capital of the Axarquia, Velez-Malaga, in a place where simplicity is the protagonist when its more than 13000 inhabitants deal with the visitors. Nerja was inhabited by man. The excavations that have taken place and the different remains found, date the city some 30000 years back. Its urban area was a Roman settlement as its proximity to Detunda(Maro) shows. Its charming popular architecture, with the white walls dotted with flowers, oozes Andalusian flavour and it is in harmony with the marvellous view we can admire from the Balcon de Europa (Balcony of Europe), situated on a cliff where there used to stand a castle. Nerja also boasts a lively nightlife based upon typical restaurants, discos, music cafes, flamenco clubs, as well as shops with articles for all tastes.

As always, past and present come together and all this activities take place under the watchfull look of the remains of the ancient Roman road "Castulo-Malaga" the Hermitage of Ntra. Sra. de la Angustias,dating from the XVII century, and the Baroque Parish-Church of El Salvador, built in the XVII century. Out of its three naves, the central one still keeps its old wooden framework. Maro, the second urban nucleus of Nerja, with its Moorish savouriness, and more than 800 inhabitants, most of them fishermen and peasants, has played a star role in the history of Nerja. This is shown by monuments like el ingenio, trapiche or mill, the XVII century Church of Ntra. Sra. de las Maravillas, the Sugar Factory and the Nature Reserve of  Los Acantilados, not forgetting its Acueducto del Aguila, and the world famous " Cave of Nerja" Maro also has a magnificent beach which is part of the more than 16 km. belonging to Nerja, together with those of Burriana, Calahonda, Playazo, Carabeo, La Torrecilla, El Salon, La Caleta de Maro, Rio de la Miel, or El Cañuelo, all of them with clear waters, and offering the opportunity of practising, among other sports, underwater fishing.

During the year, the traveller can enjoy the Cavalcade of the Three Wise Men, The Feasts of San Anton in Maro, the Carnivals in February, an interesting Holy Week, the Romeria of San Isidro on May the 15, the typical feasts of San Juan in June the Maritime Procession of the Virgen del Carmen in July, the Festivals of Music and Dance of the Cave of Nerja in July-August, the Feasts of the Maravillas in Maro from the 8 to the 10 of September and the Patronal Feasts from the 9 to the 12 of October.