7. Camino del Santuario (II)

Within the Sierra de Gracia Periurban Park we can find the walled enclosure of Archidona, declared Cultural Heritage site.

Archidona (the Arabic «Arnusuda») was the place where Abd al-Rahman I was appointed Emir of Al-Andalus in the 8th century. It was also the capital of the Cora de Rayya (territorial delimitation) in the 9th century and a prominent enclave, between the 9th and 10th centuries, in the rebellion of Omar ibn Hafsun against the Emirate of Córdoba. In 1462, the city was taken by Pedro Téllez de Girón, Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava.

The belts of the wall, the Puerta del Sol, the Aljibe (well) and the mosque remain from the old fortress, rebuilt and adapted to Christian worship after the conquest; from the very beginning, the Virgin of Gracia – patron saint of Archidona – was worshiped there. The hermitage was renovated in the 17th-18th century, but the mosque still preserves its structure and it has the privilege of being the only one preserved in the province of Malaga.

The fortress, protected by an insurmountable fosse that defended its position, was impregnable. It is structured in two walled belts. In the highest one, which defends the fortress, we find the main tower, called the keep tower (in Christian times), and the palace or the wali’s residence; the second belt runs along the slope of the hill and it protected the medina or Muslim city.