Iznate a Villas & Apartments Book Direct With Owners

Iznate is to be found some 46 kilometres from Malaga and eleven from Velez-Malaga. At a height of 311 metres, the village is surrounded by small hills and is irrigated by the River Iznate. The traditional agricultural pro­ducts of the region dominate here, along with the cultivation of sub­tropical fruits. Once more, the layout of steep, narrow streets takes us back to the original Moorish layout of the village. The town hall and the Parish Church of San Gregorio VII are in Plaza de la Virgen. The church was built in the 16th cen­tury and contains several paintings of outstanding worth. The name of the village comes from the Arab word "Hisnat", meaning castles,in what seems to be a reference to a second defensive line inland from the coast. It is said that the rebel Omar Ben Hafsun was born in Iznate. After the Re-conquest in 1487, the Morisco population stayed on in the village, but after taking part in the uprisings of 1 569 were expelled and replaced by elderly Christians from Castile. An ancient tradition is followed in Iz­nate between Good Friday and Resur­rection Sunday: this consists of the local people burying a statue of Christ in the cemetery which, when unearth­ed again, is announced with a rifle salute.

Iznate holds its Summer Fair on 1 3 June, Saint Anthony. A final journey on this Route entails returning to the N-340 at Castillo del Marques, in Valle-Niza. This short 10-kilometre excursion takes us through Cajiz, which forms part of the municipality of Velez-Malaga.

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