From the mountains to the sierra, crossing the town, Competa is one of the most spectacular enclaves in the province. For mountain lovers, a course through the forest trail which leads to Venta Panaderos by the Casa de la Mina (mine house), can become an unforgetable excursion with splendid views of the Verde, Tres Cruces, Cisne and many other hills which make the Sierra Almijara into a marvelous natural scenery. At the foot of the town are the Axarquía
mountains, with a humbler relief than the sierra, but no less beautiful. There, man has transformed the surroundings with vines scattered with white houses, many with the typical "paseros" where they lay out the grapes to dry and convert them into the exquisite raisin dessert.
The abundance of springs, its situation as a passway in one of the old paths which crosses the sierra of Granada and Málaga, its good climate and shelter from the mountain against possible invaders must have favoured man’s presence in these lands since old. But the history of Cómpeta begins with the conquest of Vélez-Málaga in 1487.
Soon after the Christian conquest, the Moors of Cómpeta joined the rebellion which their people started in the Axarquía making forts in the Peñon de Frigiliana. They endured various attacks from the Christian troops but on the 12th of June 1569 the fort fell, and although most of the defenders died, the ones that escaped continued harassing the Chrisitians for estates and church posessions, which forced the garrison's reinforcement in order to improve the
control over the possible passage of Moors from Granada.
From 1570, the lands are populated by old Christians from Sevilla, Baena, Estepa and Puente Genil, among other towns.
Places to Visit
As well as walking through the steep streets of the town, in which the houses present the traditional Arabic style construction of one or two storeys and archway entrances, in the main square there is the parish church of the Asunción, built at the end of the 16th century and later restored. It has three naves separated by arches which rest on octagonal pillars. Outside, reformed after the damage of the earthquake in 1884, the front has a lintel archway and belfry
pediment with a vaulted niche. But no doubt the complex gains a showiness with the neo-mudejar tower erected in brick, with four bodies, the second with chamfered angles and the top one surrounded by an iron railing, and shaped like a shrine with a semi-espheric dome. 
There are two chapels in Cómpeta, the one of San Sebastián and the one of San Antón, both from the 18th century.
FESTIVITIES AND TRADITIONS
