The exact date of origin for the town is unknown, however records state it was won from the Moors by Don Pelay Pérez Correa and that another Master of Santiago, Don Lorenzo Alvarez de Figueroa, gave it to the privilege of villazgo at the beginning of the fourteenth century, later confirmed by Felipe II.
The origin of Torres de Albánchez is in one of the numerous castle-fortresses that in Islamic times populated the Sierra de Segura de la Yedra, around which the villages scattered throughout its area gathered in times of danger. The lands that the town currently occupies belonged to the Iqlim of Saqura, initially dependent on the Cora of Yayyan (Jaén), and which since the eleventh century was an independent manor, although closely linked to the Cora of Tudmir (Murcia).
The first vestiges of settlements in the town date back to the Bronze Age and are found in the place known as Piedras de la Ermita. Later in the Iron Age, human presence was located in the Atalayon area. Continuing with this chronology, remains of Celtiberian culture appeared in the nearby area of Bayonas. There the sculptural group known as “The Lion of Bienservida” was found and taken to a museum in Albacete, a sample of Greek funerary influence and dated to the end of the fourth century BC.
Its first human settlements took place in the Lower Paleolithic period, in the area surrounding the Guadalimar River, where small populations lived in the open air, taking refuge in small caves and supplying themselves with the natural resources offered by the land.
We do not know when the first settlement in what is now the town of Benatae existed although it must not be ruled out that there was already a settlement from going all the way back to the Stone Age. The Cueva del Águila, in the Cortijo de los Lagartos, could be this initial type of occupation since some microliths such as small pieces of flint that are frequent in the Mesolithic stage have been documented in the area.
Génave’s location at a natural crossroads explains why it has always been a connecting corridor between upper Andalusia and the eastern peninsula. Among other remains of road infrastructure, a section of Roman road from the first and second centuries has been preserved, with an approximate length of about 100m and a width of 3m in which the construction technique shows their workmanship.
The strategic position of this town, formerly called “Lugar Puerta”, at the natural entrance to the Sierra de Segura, led to the erection of defensive constructions going back to the Islamic period. It has been populated since prehistoric times. The first settlers in the Middle Paleolithic (Musterian) settled on the banks of the Guadalimar River, dedicating themselves to hunting and gathering.
The site that Hornos occupies today was populated in the third millennium BC, in the period corresponding to the Copper Age, and remained occupied during the Bronze Age, second millennium BC. A cemetery excavated in an artificial cave was found in Hornos, dated to around 4800 years BC.
The word “ojanco” refers to a person with only one eye, resembling something similar to the description of a Cyclops (the most famous of them was Polyphemus) and jáncano or ojáncano, of which these mythological beings are known in northern Spain, specifically in the Cantabrian mountains. Also in embryology, a science dedicated to studying human embryos and foetuses, it is known as a foetal monster with atrophy of the nasal septum and one eye. Professor Reverté Coma, a world authority in forensic medicine, had one in his laboratory, born in a town in Castilla in the 1930s of the last century, it died a few hours after being born.
Sorvilán originally dates to the tenth or eleventh century when it existed as a farmhouse. At this time, the characteristic irrigation system of the region was established with water springs that fill pools from where they are led to the croplands through ditches. Vineyard cultivation was also introduced, although it was intended for the production of table grapes and raisins.
The origin of the word “Rubite” is the Mozarabism word for “blackberry”. The village’s foundation preceded the Islamic invasion but there is nothing written on the settlement until the eleventh century when it was then known as Rubayt, which means “Little Rábita”. Under Nasrid rule, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, the territory constituted by Sierra Lújar-Contraviesa corresponded to the Alpujarran Tahas of Sahuk, later called Suhayl by the Castilians (Great and Little Cehel).
In the Sierra de Quesada, there are numerous shelters with cave paintings, including the Encarejo cave, the Cerro Vitar shelter, the Hiedra cave and the Cabrera cave, in which in addition to the paintings, materials were found including ceramics and lithics that have allowed us to date the first human occupation of these lands to the III millennium BC. During the Bronze Age (II millennium BC), with the arrival of the first Argaric populations, the same shelters and caves of the previous phase were reoccupied, and others, such as the town and necropolis of “Corral de Quiñones”.
In the Sierra de Quesada, there are numerous shelters with cave paintings, including the Encarejo cave, the Cerro Vitar shelter, the Hiedra cave and the Cabrera cave, in which in addition to the paintings, materials were found including ceramics and lithics that have allowed us to date the first human occupation of these lands to the III millennium BC. During the Bronze Age (II millennium BC), with the arrival of the first Argaric populations, the same shelters and caves of the previous phase were reoccupied, and others, such as the town and necropolis of “Corral de Quiñones”.
Since the Bronze Age (II millennium BC) several settlements have been documented in the municipality of Peal, such as Cueva del Águila, Villares de la Bolera or Castellones de la Bolera, which, according to material evidence, must have been walled enclosures. In the third century BC, Ptolemy made a list of cities belonging to Oretania among which he mentions Tugia, in Toya, near Peal de Becerro. At this point one of the best-known Iberian ensembles was found, the Toya Sepulchral Chamber. The excellent and complex construction of this tomb shows the development that the oligarchy reached in the Iberian era.
La Iruela is a small and pretty town situated at the foot of a rock, with an impressive panoramic view of the countryside and the surrounding lands. The hamlet (town) extends along the slope of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y las Villas, under the rock crowned by the remains of the castle and the Monasterio de los Templarios (Monastery of the Templars). It has approximately 2,000 inhabitants.
Hinojares is the smallest town in the Jaén province, acquiring its name during Muslim rule, due to the abundance of fennel (hinojo) growing in its municipal district. Part of its charm lies in it being within the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park.
Around 2000 BC, in the oldest terraces of the Cerezuelo de Cazorla River, the first stable towns were established. Near there, on a hill known as Loma del Bellotón, was a small town from the Bronze Age (1500 BC). The Iberian culture developed significantly in these lands.
The name of Chiclana derives from Caeciliana, which alludes to a Roman-era villa or farmhouse owned by Caecilius. Conquered by the Crown of Castile in 1226, the territory belonged to the Order of Santiago, who repopulated it. It was integrated into the priory of Villanueva de Los Infantes.
The first occupation of Castellar is thought to date somewhere between the Final Copper and Bronze Ages. An important archaeological site which has illuminated this history is the Iberian Sanctuary of Cueva de la Lobera and the surrounding Altos del Sotillo, where figurines known as “mingos” have been found, bronze votive offerings deposited in the two sanctuaries. These vary in form, from male and female devotees and priests to abstractions that are only subtly recognisable as human figures.