Iznajar - Province of Cordoba

This municipality belongs to the Sierras Subbéticas, in the south of the province, bordering on the provinces of Granada and Malaga.

Its municipal territory is made up of vast, undulating fields of olive groves and sawmills. It is part of the Sierra Subbética Natural Park, which features a relief of steep limestone slopes and valleys populated by oaks and white poplars on the banks of the rivers.

The village, located on a hill overlooking the large Iznájar reservoir above the Genil, is a nucleus of narrow, winding streets and sloping white houses that seem to hang over the water, creating an impression of great beauty and typicalism.

The Castle, located at the top, is the perfect element to complete the unique ensemble. The population was called Hins Ashar (stone castle) by the Arabs, which may give us a clue to their foundation around the 8th century (Fald ben Salama is considered the founder). During the Middle Ages, given that it was the frontier between the kingdom of Granada and the surrounding Christians, it alternated hands.

In the 12th century, according to Al-Idrisi, it had a large population and a busy market.

The town was last captured by Christian troops in 1431, during the reign of John II.

After the dynastic struggle between Henry IV and the Infante Alfonso in 1466, the villa came under the control of Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Lord of Baena and Count of Cabra, as did the villas of Rute and Zambra.

In the 19th century, Iznájar was the cradle of the most important support base for the insurrection with the albéitar of Loja, Rafael Pérez del Alamo (in other sources Pérez del Llano), thus beginning a great popular uprising, the first of those that Díaz del Moral called ‘indigenous socialism’.