History of Vélez Blanco

HISTORY OF VÉLEZ BLANCO

The oldest vestiges of Iberian culture unearthed in the area date from the sixth and seventh centuries BC. The Roman occupation, lasting from the first to the fifth century AD, was characterized by a proliferation of villas throughout the district. The strategic importance of Vélez Blanco began to develop significantly during the Al-Andalus period, strengthened by the town’s advantageous position. At this time, it was known as Velad al-Abyadh.

The current Vélez Blanco sits in the same place where the Muslim population developed around the thirteenth century, building a citadel on which the Castillo de los Marqueses de los Vélez would later be constructed. The neighbourhood of La Morería constitutes the earliest population nucleus, with its dwellings constructed around the castle. The town was originally surrounded by a double wall: the first wall encompassed the citadel and the mosque, with La Morería sitting between this wall and the second line.

The Nazari period saw the town’s defensive capacity improved to reinforce the borders of the Kingdom of Granada. In the fourteenth century, it appears referenced as a fortress which was impregnable due to its strength and double walls. After the Christian conquest, Isabel “The Catholic Queen” gave the village to Don Pedro Fajardo in 1503. He converted it into the head of his estate. The castle was built between 1505 and 1516, incorporating elements of the mostly destroyed Arab fortress.

After the Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1568-1570), the remaining Moors were distributed outside the Kingdom of Granada. Vélez Blanco remained deserted until repopulation was carried out in 1574 with two hundred settlers, mostly from Levante. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the new settlers consolidated their homes and the village was extended. Their customs and methods of cultivation took root, altering the landscape of the town and its environs. The nineteenth century brought about the decline of landed estates and the extension of the industrial zone with new flour mills and spinning and textile mills.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the castle was dismantled, and much of its interior ornamentation was sold to a French antique dealer. These can still be seen today in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. The demographic decline of the second half of the nineteenth century has recently begun to level out, and the community is once again experiencing population growth and a more dynamic outlook.

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