Casares, Málaga

Historia

Casares is a town and municipality in Spain, located in Málaga province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia.Geography and demographyThe municipality has a population of 4,051, an area of 160 km². It has a density of 25.3. Its geographic coordinates are: latitude: 36° 27' 0N, longitude: 5° 16' 60W, altitude: 246 msl.The municipality borders with the following ones: Estepona, Manilva, and Gaucín.The town of Casares has Moorish cliff-hugging buildings.HistoryIn Roman times the spa of la Hedionda, located on the road to Manilva, was already well known, and this is where Julius Caesar supposedly was cured of a liver complaint, thanks to the sulfuric waters that still pour out of the local spring. For this reason that during the Roman Empire, Casares was allowed by emperors to mint its own coins.The 12th century Castle, around which grew the present town center, was founded by the occupying Moors. In 1361, Peter I of Castile and the dethroned Muhammed V signed the Pact of Casares, by which the Moorish King recuperated his throne, leaving Casares as part of the Nasrid Dynasty. The town surrendered to the Catholic forces after the fall of Ronda in 1485 and was handed over to Rodrigo Ponce de León, Duke of Cádiz. Later during the Rebellion of the Moriscos, Rodrigo's descendent, the Duke of Arcos, accepted the surrender of the rebel Moriscos, the Moors who had "converted" to Christianity. Casares had taken an active part in the Morisco rebellion, put down by Don John of Austria. The town separated from Manilva in 1795, being granted the title of Villa. At a later period, Casares was the only town, apart from Cádiz, that the Napoleonic troops has not been able to take.