AREA: 58,50 km².     ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 547 metres

 AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 620 l/m²
AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 16 ºC

History and Landscape

By Periana, the sierra takes a rest in small hills and long smooth slopes, to again deepen in ravines which fall to the Guaro river, before this widens into the Viñuela reservoir. A rural mountain landscape which obligates the road, which ascends to Alfarnate, to wind between the Sierra de Alhama and the Gallo-Vilo (Sierra de Enmedio), in one of the most attractive territories: the Puerto del Sol. From there, among holm-oaks which hang on to the rocks, you can contemplate one of the most spectacular panoramas of the Axarquía. When you descend from the sierra, from the hamlets of Vilo to the Muela, and crossing the Guaro nucleus, the surroundings are of smooth slopes covered with olives, pastures and cereals. And where water is available, fruits (especially peaches) are joined to the panorama and increase as the plots approach the river’s banks. There, there is an abundance of orange and lemon trees which makes this area one of the most productive.

The importance of not excessively abrupt terrains, the abundance of water, and the good climate of its valleys was the cause of these lands being populated since prehistory, as proven by the remains found in the important site of Cerro de Alcolea (at 731 metres above sea level), facing the Mondrón nucleus, in the neolithic site of Cerro de El Fuerte (896 m.) or in the haven of Marchamonas situated in the escarpment of this hamlet to the north of Periana. In this area, by the Viñuela reservoir, important neolithical vestiges have also been found which extended from the beginning of the Bronze Age.

The present location of Periana didn’t have much importance until recent times. During the Arabic rule, where the municipal district is today, there were villages such as Mondrón and places with clear Muslim link, such as the Vilo Baths whose medicinal waters are taken advantage of .

Nevertheless, Periana remained a small farmstead of which there is no data. In 1487 it is quoted as a passageway for troops, which arriving from Archidona, went to conquer Veléz. It is in 1761 when it acquires the category of municipality when the small chapel of San Isidro Labrador is converted into the parish.

 

Places to visit

Its most important monuments are the San Isidro Labrador church, in Mudejar style, whose facade is made in brick and masonry, and the squares of Lomilleja and Fuente where the Town Hall stands.

In the Ambique inn, you can taste the magnificent ‘aguardiente’ liquor which is made in an old distillery following traditional methods.

Baños de Vilo Spa
These baths are now under re-construction, in the hamlet of the same name. Baños de Vilo, at just 2,5 kilometres from Periana, and the sulphuric, medicinal waters attract people to the place. It is not known how far the Baños de Vilo date from, although many people came here for health reasons during the second half of the 18^th century. In 1828 a type of boarding house was built nearby, and a bathing house. Later problems of ownership – the Town Halls of Vélez and Periana claiming ownership - resulted in the buildings being abandoned, but at the end of the 19^th century the then owner, Emilio de San Martín, carried out reforms on the place. A storm in 1907 destroyed what had been done, and it was not until the 1990s that the Town Hall acquired the Baños de Vilo Spa and began to work on the structure once more.

Taberna Casa Esparraguito. Situated in Los Baños de Vilo, at only 200 metres from the Baños de Vilo Spa. Here one can have wines and tapas of the region, with other dishes available on reservation. These might include asparagus soup, rabbit in garlic, rice broth or other local delicacies for which the town has become well known. Baños de Vilo, s/n. Tel: 952 536 257.

 

Olive Oil Museum. Mondrón. Tel: 952 537 915

 

Festivities and traditions

On the 15th of May they celebrate a festive day dedicated to San Isidro. From the 20th to the 23rd of August there are the major festivities where they pay hommage to the emmigrants and at the end of this same month, Periana is the centre of the traditional bullfights or the auctions of the peach harvest.