HISTORY
The history of Alcudia de Guadix dates back to the indigenous settlements that first appeared in the Zalabí area during the Argaric period. However, the town's most recent origins date back to the 8th century, when the Yunds from Syria settled in the nearby plain under Caliph Walid. A new settlement was established between the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Exfiliana is the Roman Ex-Julia, meaning 'outside Guadix', and was founded by the first Christians to arrive in Acci around 306 AD. It was renamed Tustar or Xustar with the arrival of the Muslims, and in the sixteenth century it reverted to Exfiliana. Following the Morisco rebellion of 1568, the town was depopulated due to the expulsion of its 25 residents, and was later repopulated by some Old Christians.
Exfiliana, an annex to the parish of Z --. Its 25 Morisco residents were also expelled, and the town was repopulated by 10 Old Christians. The illustrious Baroque sculptor Torcuato Ruiz del Peral was born in the town’s Barrio Alto on 16 May 1708.
Exfiliana originates from the Roman Ex-Julia (meaning "outside Guadix"), founded around 306 AD by the area's first Christians. Following the arrival of Muslim rule, it was renamed Tustar (or Xustar), before returning to Yxfilyana in the sixteenth century. After the Morisco revolt in 1568, the town was depopulated when its 25 Morisco households were expelled, later being resettled by 10 "Old Christian" families. On 16 May 1708, the renowned Baroque sculptor Torcuato Ruiz del Peral was born in the town's Barrio Alto. By 1750, the Ensenada Cadastre recorded Exfiliana as a town of 80 houses and five flour mills. Local livelihoods centred on silk production and cultivating orchards, vineyards, poplar groves, and various fruit trees.
In the 1750 Ensenada Cadastre, the town was described as having 80 houses and five flour mills. Its inhabitants lived off cultivating orchards, vineyards, poplar groves, rowan trees, mulberry trees and other fruit trees, as well as producing silk.
The historical origins of Charches are unclear, but the most widely accepted view is that it was established in the sixteenth century as a settlement for shepherds in the municipality of La Calahorra. Twelve families from La Calahorra are said to have settled in Charches and divided the land and property into twelve equal parts, forming the so-called twelve plots. This gave rise to the current system of irrigating the land in turns, whereby each plot receives twenty-four hours of water.
The Madoz Dictionary (1846) states that it formed its own Town Hall together with El Raposo and Rambla del Agua. La Rambla del Agua dates back to around the fifteenth century. Originally a shepherd’s farmstead, it first belonged to the municipality of Aldeire, then to Dólar,. In 1853, it was integrated with Charches and other farmsteads to form its own town hall.
La Rambla del Agua reached a population of almost 500 in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. However, it began to depopulate in the 1950s and suffered massive depopulation in the 1960s, leaving the village completely abandoned.
In 1974, the towns merged to form Valle del Zalabí, with Alcudia de Guadix becoming the municipal capital..