Benaocaz

Benaocaz is a Spanish municipality in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. It is located northeast of the province of Cádiz, in the westernmost area of the Cordillera Bética, specifically in the Sierra del Endrinal, south of the Tavizna river, its municipal area being within the Sierra de Grazalema natural park, with the exception of the area westernmost located in the natural park of Los Alcornocales. It forms part of the Route of the White Towns: its municipal area limits to the north with Grazalema; to the south with Ubrique; to the east with Villaluenga del Rosario; and to the west with that of El Bosque. According to the INE, in 2016 it had 694 inhabitants. Its surface extension is 69.40 km² and it has a density of 10 inhabitants/km². It is located at an altitude of 793 meters above sea level, approximately equidistant from the urban centers of Seville (130 km), Málaga (140 km) and Cádiz (125 km).

Benaocaz from the Hermitage of Calvary

History

There are vestiges of human presence since prehistoric times, with the Neolithic being present in the (Sima de la Veredilla, 6th century BC) and in different caves in La Manga. The Libyan-Phoenician presence is found in the vegas of the Majaceite River, the Celta in the eastern part of the term and Iberian and Roman presence is attested, being of the Roman the old path of La Manga and Arroyo Seco, where remains of the road that connects Benaocaz with Ubrique, one of the few that remain in the Sierra de Cádiz.

As a village, Benaocaz was founded by the Arabs in the year 715, being under Islamic domination until it was reconquered in favor of the Christians in 1485 by Rodrigo Ponce de León, who also that year conquered: Archite, Castillo de Aznalmara, Castillo from Cardela, Ubrique, Villaluenga del Rosario and Grazalema; known all these villas, including Benaocaz, by "Las Siete Villas".

Coinciding with the end of the War of Granada and the historical process of the Reconquista culminated, the Catholic Monarchs granted Rodrigo Ponce de León (VII Lord of Marchena, III Count of Arcos, II and last Marquis of Cádiz, I Duke de Cádiz (1484)) in December 1490 the Señorío de las Siete Villas and the I Marquesado de Zahara, in payment for reconquering "Las Siete Villas" 1485 and the town of Zahara de la Sierra 1483. Also obtaining the Marchenilla Palace (place where the town of El Bosque is founded and located), as a place of residence for hunting and its surroundings for his participation along with other knights in the war which marked the end of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada under King Boabdil (January 1492), thus integrating all these reconquered towns into the Crown of Castile.

On August 28, 1492, Rodrigo Ponce de León died. The Catholic Monarchs negotiated with their daughter Francisca Ponce de León y Jiménez de la Fuente IV and last Countess of Arcos and her husband (cousin) Luis Ponce de León de la Casa de Villagarcia, the suppression and exchange of the marquisate and duchy of Cádiz for adhere them to the Crown of Castile; thus granting the Queen of Castilla Isabel I la Católica on January 20, 1493 by elevation of the county of Arcos, to her eldest son Rodrigo Ponce de León in compensation to I Duke of Arcos, II Marquis of Zahara, I Señorío de las Siete Villas, I Count of Casares, IX Lord of Marchena and VI Lord of Villagarcia.

Origin of the population

The origin dates back to the repopulation policy of the towns reconquered by Rodrigo Ponce de León, attached to the Crown of Castile in the middle of the century XV, by the heir to the House of Arcos, Rodrigo Ponce de León in 1520. The distribution of the land proclaimed by the I Duke of Arcos marks the origin of the repopulation of the Villa de Benaocaz. The stately situation would last until the XVIII century, although in an attenuated form it is from the XVII, when the residents of Benaocaz achieved a certain degree of independence through the purchase of jurisdictional offices from the Crown of Castile.

The 18th century would represent a stage of general prosperity, cut short at the beginning of the following century by both the plague epidemic and the affected the area, as well as the disastrous consequences of the War of Independence, which led to the looting and destruction of the towns of the Sierra.

In the XX century, during the Civil War, numerous towns were devastated, destroying many of their monuments and documents. In Benaocaz the documents were hidden, thus avoiding their destruction and due to this, the historical archive dating from 1515 to the present day is preserved.

Quotes and Descriptions

- Pascual Madoz: neighborhood with town hall in the province of Cádiz (15 leagues away), Grazalema Judicial District (2 away), territorial court and general captaincy of Seville (15 away), diocese of Malaga city. LOCATED. In the center of some mountains to the east of Guadalete; It has 1 Parish Church in the center of the town dedicated to San Pedro Apóstol, of second ascent and royal patronage served by a priest and a perpetual beneficiary, a priest lieutenant and a temporary BENEFIT servant appointed by the diocesan. And on the outskirts 3 hermitages dedicated to Calvary, San Blas and San Antón; a delightful promenade with a boulevard that draws attention because it is in the middle of the mountains, several abundant springs, among which one is notable, which in addition to being mighty, is extremely cool in summer and warm in winter; and lastly, the wool laundry that we will talk about later. The TERM borders with Villaluenga del Rosario, Ubrique and Sierra de Ubrique; and in it are found on the north side the port called Don Fernando in which tradition assures that the Catholic Monarchs stopped when the Moors were expelled: then the fair sex of this VILLA delivered to SS. mm. the jewels of the adornments of him to help the war, and since that time there is in this country the adajio "In Benaocaz the female the most". In our own direction and less than a league away is the great Sierra del Pinar, at whose point is the famous rock of San Cristóbal, which is the first thing seen in Spain coming from America.

To the South, the disappeared Archite in whose spot there is today an orchard that still bears the same name: 1/2 leagues from this, the castle of Aguamara (sic, it refers to Aznalmara) ON a hill of coarse sand, earthy and partly stony, which was rehabilitated in the war of independence as an interesting point and from it good services were made. Today he is ruined, despite the fact that he has been appointed governor, who resides in Malaga 3/4 leagues away. To the west there was another town called Fátima, with a castle that retains the same name, and is destroyed; In different places not far from the VILLA there are caves, so deep and capable, that they seem to have been made on purpose: they irrigate the term Several streams that only carry water in rainy season, except for the call of the Pajaruco that always maintains it, although with little supply, and it passes between the disappeared Archite and Asnamara castle (sic, it refers again to Aznalmara), in whose transit there is a stone bridge called del Moro (now called the Ojo del Moro): the Tavisna river bathes on the north side The skirt of the repeated castle on the south side forms the very abundant spring called Moralejo, in which the wool laundry is located, for the coarse cloth factory of the town, near which are the springs called Fuente Grande and Castril, both of which serve as laundry facilities, and the latter also to irrigate 5 groves and vegetable gardens, whose fruits are abundant and tasty. The TERRAIN is all rough and extremely stony; the PATHS of horseshoes, although those that lead to Cádiz and Ronda are in very good condition, PROD.: much holm oak forest whose acorn fruit consists of the main wealth, and numerous herds of pigs, a factory of coarse and narrow cloths Raja calls. TRADE: the sale of sow cattle, and the introduction of goods and foodstuffs by the muleteers. POPULATION: 861 residents, 3,176 CAP souls. TERR. PROD.: 4,620,200 reais IMP.: 225,512 reales CONTRA.: 67,086 reales 27 m.reales. This neighborhood with those of Grazalema, Ubrique and Villaluenga, exercise a certain community over the village of Benamahoma, whose neighbors are added to the 4 VILLAS IN all branches of the administration (V. BENAMAHOMA).

Demographics

The actual population that according to the tables published by the National Institute of Statistics for 10 in 10 years, there was on November 1, 2011 amounted to 737 inhabitants.

Characteristics of demographic evolution of Benaocaz (municipal) between 1857 and 2011

Population in fact according to population censuses of the INE.

Population by nuclei

Breakdown of the population according to the Continuous Register by INE Population Unit.

Poblado de Tavizna

Economy

Evolution of outstanding municipal debt

Graphic of evolution of living debt of the City of Benaocaz between 2008 and 2019

Living debt of Benaocaz City Council in thousands of Euros according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Ad. Public.

Heritage

Trampilla Bridge

It preserves the remains of the Nasrid neighborhood with its old cobblestones and has been declared a historic complex.

• Barrio Nazarí; The oldest part of Benaocaz, of clear medieval origin, and one of the areas of these best preserved characteristics of the region, one of the last areas of Muslim domination that would not fall into Christian hands until the Granada War. At present it is made up of the ruins of old CASAS, some of them manor, and is characterized by the extensive preservation of the Islamic urban plot (concretely Nazarí) in the layout of its streets. There are ceramic signs that point to a foundation in Roman times of this area. Also found abundant ceramics m...

• Aznalmara Castle (Tavizna). Declared well of cultural interest; his primitive name was that of Aznalmara; so it is known in the “Crónica de los Reyes Católicos” of Mosén Diego de Valera, in the “Crónica de Hernado del Pulgar” and in the “History of the Catholic Kings”, by Andrés Bernáldez, the priest of the Palaces. It is located on a steep hill that stands in the middle of a valley, about five hundred meters from the Tavizna River, on the road from Ubrique to El Bosque. The fortress is currently ruined, presenting a huge courtyard of weapons where you can see a jibe, or perhaps a well, as in the hill where you exist it was...

• Calzada Romana, who communicates with Ubrique; it is the main route of the territory in Antiquity, being in Roman times that takes advantage of the natural passage of the sleeve of Villaluenga. It would be the ancient path that united Ocuri and Lacílbula through the sleeve and had to have in ancient times a dominant role in communications that justifies the existence of notable archaeological remains.

• Saint Peter's Parish; Lifted on the remains of an old mosque, it is Renaissance style. The foundations of the current bell tower are primitives of the Arab alminar. In it is the Christ of the Column, known as “the Amarrah”, and the crucified Christ, from the mid 18th century. It is currently under rehabilitation.

• Chapel of San Blás; built in 1,716 thanks to popular donations such as the one of Doña Juana Ahumada, who sent two pesos from America to pay for two walks. It is rectangular, single nave and flat tester apse covered with crossbody vault. Its walls are painted imitating architectural elements, such as altarpieces, and stoves. It was rebuilt in 1924.

• Hermitage of El Calvario; it is a building consisting of the Historical Set, located outside the urban center. It has a popular religious architecture. Although it is of unknown time, its DATA construction date from the beginning of the centuryXVIII. Its characteristic elements are that it constitutes a simple hermitage of a nave with a lateral swordsman body with a campanil, highlighting above all the white construction at the top of a picacho.

• City Council with Charles III coat of arms; (s. XVIII) of baroque style, it consists of two floors, mirrored to the outside in two galleries with vanos of half point, forming streets, being the center rematada by the Royal Borbonic Shield. The roof is made of Arab tile. It has a file with historical documents from S. XVI.

• Allah fountain; Baroque style. It is a monumental set composed of public source and abbreviation of beasts with staircase at two levels, made in sillery. Party front on doric-to-can pilasters, monolithic pool with four crates and pelagic light auction. It's an unknown time.

• Simas de Benaocaz.

• Museum: the eco-museum allows you to make a complete tour of each of the historical stages, showing in every case the most outstanding aspects of that relationship between man and nature. Throughout its rooms you can contemplate from material remains with more than 100,000 years, to objects of Roman and medieval times. The Ecomuseo tour offers the opportunity to know the highlights of our history. Inaugurated in July 1999, it is a compound of five rooms with a historical tour of the mountain range from Prehistory to the present day. It has a communal character and its five exhibition rooms are structured in the areas of Physical Media, Archaeology, Modern History and Ethnography. The first is dedicated to the Prehistory and the main sites of the area can be found. In this first instance you can find out how the hunters, farmers and ranchers of that area lived. The second room is dedicated to antiquity and there are several studies of what was the Roman saw. The Roman city of Ocuri, of which great archaeological remains are preserved. The third instance refers to the period of dominion, with a list of repopulations and the first cartographic images of the centuryXVIII. In the fifth and last room you can see a current study of the region and how the communications and industries of the land, such as marroquinería or agriculture, have evolved.

Gastronomy

In Benaocaz, the meat industry of the livestock sector has achieved artisan quality in the wide range of cold cuts and sausages. In addition to pork, there are others from large and small game, such as deer, partridge and rabbit, as well as kid from the Sierra de Cádiz.

Among its most popular dishes, we find the refried, the stew and the pot. Also here, as in almost all of the Sierra de Cádiz, we find gazpachos, hot garlic, soups and wild green asparagus scrambled eggs. The braided donuts and the sighs are the most representative sweets of its confectionery

Ubrique view from Benaocaz.

Parties

Natural source in Benaocaz

02/03 Festivities of the Copatron San Blas

It is celebrated on February 3 with liturgical acts and popular procession. The festivities date back to the 17th century and have their central axis in the procession, in which they sing and dance traditional folkloric pieces, such as "la ferigonza" and "abandolao", offering the Saint the traditional cured meats that are distributed among the attendees. In addition, around the festival, the release of 2 bulls through the streets of the town also takes place.

04/13 Holy Week

On Good Friday the Passion Procession takes place, made up of seven steps with great typicality along its route.

06/01 Pilgrimage in honor of the Patron saint San Esteban

First Sunday in June. In the morning, solemn mass followed by a popular procession, heading to "Agua Nueva", where a contest and musical concerts take place.

08/14 Fair and Major Festivals and Release of the rope bull

From August 14 to 17, the Fair and release of the rope bull is celebrated. The tradition dates back to the 15th century.

Featured Characters

• Fray Domingo de Benaocaz, Capuchin friar born in 1733. He was professor of Theology in Jaén and appointed Bishop through the Duchess of Medinaceli. For 25 years he was Bishop of Ceuta where he died in 1811 and was buried in the Cathedral of that city.

• Fray Buenaventura de Benaocaz, a Capuchin missionary who founded the city of San Fernando de Apure in 1788.

Routes of interest

Among others, the following stand out:

• Cabaret jump; access: by vehicle to Benaocaz by road A-374 Ubrique-Ronda. It has its beginning this route in the north of the population, having as reference the Plaza de San Antón from where the itinerary itself begins. We take a track and cross several plots we reach the Arroyo del Pajarito with its beautiful stone bridge which, although built with Arab and Roman techniques, belongs at the beginning of the century. Concerning this beautiful benaoccan corner, there are numerous fantastic stories about the “Benaocaz scares”, stories we can comment with locals. Since...
• Casa del Dornajo-Casa Fardela; access: by vehicle to Benaocaz on the A-374 Ubrique-Ronda road. When arriving at the HOTEL DE Montaña El Parral, the main street becomes a horseshoe path that first goes back and, after crossing between lapiaces and holm oaks descends (almost in bit) until crossing the Arroyo Pajarito. Right before we do, we will find the pillar of a fountain with the stone-labrated jet in a way that has only been seen in this area. We will follow him, in the northeast, again between old oaks, and we will go back to the area of the Encinalejo.
• Calzada Romana; access: by vehicle to Benaocaz by road A-374 Ubrique-Ronda. The path leads us from Benaocaz to Ubrique through an ancient CALZADA of Roman origin. This road allows us to descend from Benaocaz to Ubrique or ascend if chosen in the opposite direction. It begins with the viewpoint that the Environment Council has in Benaocaz, in which we can report on the highest peaks and heights of the area. At first we walk parallel to the road until we turn left towards Ubrique. In this section the road is very good...
• Routes of the Plazas; take a walk through the squares offered by our municipality. Among them: - Plaza de las Libertades. - Plaza de la Constitución. - Cantillo Square. - Church Square. - C/ Ave Maria (Calle very typical of the village). - Francisca Piñero Square. - Plaza Fuente Nueva. - Plaza San Antón. - Plaza Pepe Ramírez. - Plaza de Vista Hermosa.
• Route of births; go towards the Jump of the Cabrero Continue to "La Fontezuela" Continue to La Utrera (Buitreras) Birth of the Gorito (Garganta del Boyar) Birth of the Hondom Address "La Bodega" Continue on the left bank of the creek "Pajaruco", known as the way caves of the stream. To end from the bridge you can see a beautiful view of Benaocaz

Roman road.

Cabra, Grazalema Natural Park.