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Its own very small side road reaches the pueblo heading from the San Pedro highway. Just before the junction it is worth stopping and contemplating the landscape and how it mapped man’s approach. The modern lane does not follow the old medieval trackway and below the road by Pilar de la Higuera, the old mule track can be seen. This spot is the site of a spring where livestock were watered when going to market. A Roman hot water spring is supposed to be located in this area and it can only be presumed that this is the correct location. The water flows out of the limestone mass and is channelled into 18th century water channels and pools.
Take the side turn into the village and park as soon as you can. This part of the pueblo was meant to have been the site of the Castillo (castle). Certainly, troops were stationed in the pueblo after the uprisings of 1568, but nothing remains today.
Head up to the Church, Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), which occupies the highest point in the village and, due to the lack of modern building, still dominates the pueblo. The16th century building is very simple with a rectangular nave and a tower to the right. It was thought that the original plan was to have three naves, though only one survives. A flight of stairs leads up to a Baroque doorway. The interior was restored in 1941 after it was burned during the Civil War. The ceiling is of plain unpainted wood with perforated tie beams in the artesanado tradition. A large, macabre painting by Miguel Martín, the celebrated Ronda painter-photographer, disrupts its simplicity. The picture is dedicated to the village in honour of his birth in the pueblo in 1947. Two statues from the 17th and 18th century, one dedicated to Jesus and the other to Our Lady of the Rosary set in a central niche.
Heading south towards Juzcar, a number of interesting points are worthy of mention. El Risco is situated on the boundary with Juzcar in the limestone landscape on the right. Here the weather has carved the limestone outcrop into natural sculptures. Not as impressive as El Torcal, which is situated 40 kilometres north of Málaga, but is still worth a visit. This limestone mountain is also the home to Cueva de Diego and Carrión. Many a treasure bandit in the search of the hidden Moorish booty has probably visited both caves. On maps they are situated to the east of the municipal, well inside the limestone mountain.
From the border with Juzcar, the Río Genal valley is the sight of Molino Real. Its name implies royal patronage and was one of many sites of the cannon factory. Two other nearby mills are the only evidence today of the once-flourishing iron ore industry. This is also the site of the deserted village of Benahayon. Located very near the road on the Juzcar border, the only evidence today is a few ruined fincas. The other deserted village of Benajeriz was located near the border with Igualeja and is marked by an existing finca of a similar name.
Cartajima today may be approaching the state of a ghost town, but despite the decline of agriculture and industry it still celebrates a lively feria in mid-August, when local specialities such as rabbit and a unique local mushroom soup. The real treat comes after the chestnut crop, particularly the uses to which the dwindling population put the early fruits of their castaños or chestnut trees.
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