History
Although there is no reliable data on the founding of Carataunas, it can be dated to sometime during the Muslim domination of the peninsula, during the Arab-Andalusian period. Its current name comes from the Arabic word Caratamuz, meaning 'place of tranquility' or 'land of launa', due to the quarries that exist here.
The town was part of the Lordship of Órgiva, which was donated by Queen Isabel 'La Católica' to the Great Captain, Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba. The Lordship comprised Órgiva, Cáñar, Soportújar, Carataunas, and other now-disappeared towns, such as Barja. According to tradition, each town in the lordship specialised in a particular trade, with Carataunas responsible for the administration of justice. This explains the existence of orchards known as the 'Inquisition', which housed the prisons.
Silk industries have existed since the Arab period due to the abundance of mulberry trees. There were also wine-making industries and iron mines located in an area called 'La Perica', as well as gypsum quarries that were extracted and processed in a very basic way. Until recently, there were also very basic oil and flour mills.
Thanks to its thriving industry, the town had ample economic resources, which is evident in the opulence of its 16th-century Baroque church. However, it later suffered the consequences of the expulsion of the Arabs, becoming an uninhabited settlement. During the repopulation of the Alpujarra under Felipe II at the end of the 16th century, Carataunas was repopulated with Christians from Galicia, Castile-León and Portugal. Thirteen families were the first to arrive, and they were joined by an equal number of people to repopulate Barjal, which was destroyed by a flood of the Río Chico at the end of the seventeenth century. It was precisely Felipe II who granted Carataunas the title of 'Villa'.
Due to the Alpujarra's geographical isolation, Carataunas, like other towns in the region, has developed its own distinct culture over the course of history. This culture flourished during the Arab era, when the entire Alpujarra was an important agricultural emporium specialising in silk production.