History of Vilches
Nearly a hundred archaeological sites have been inventoried in the municipality of Vilches. Many of these date from the Bronze Age of the 2nd millennium BC; the metallurgical activity made possible by the mines of the Sierra Morena, and the fertile lands in its surroundings, lead to the appearance of small towns, some fortified, in strategic locations such as Cañada de Malabrigo, Giribaile or the Cerro del Salto.
During the Iberian period, between the seventh and sixth centuries BC, one of the Bronze Age settlements, Giribaile, became increasingly colonised by settlers from Cástulo, the capital of Oretania, with the aim of controlling the metallurgical centres. The urban layout of Giribaile was defined by streets and houses with quadrangular and rectangular floor plans, and public areas, delimited by a powerful wall with an irregular layout. In its surroundings there were three necropolises, one of them turriform, interpreted by researchers as an aristocratic tomb from the sixth to fourth centuries BC. On one of its slopes are the Espeluca caves, which, according to tradition, were an Iberian sanctuary. A large number of settlements and small fortifications have been inventoried from this period, both in the surroundings of Giribaile and in other parts of the term, among them the first occupation of the hill of the Castillo de la Virgen and the Iberian-Roman enclosure of San Julián.
During the Roman era, Vilches was identified as Baesucci. According to a tombstone located in the Cerro del Castillo, in 76 AD it was granted the title of municipality by Emperor Vespasian. In later imperial times, the town was populated with a large number of villas.
In the Visigothic period, Baesucci was the episcopal seat. Some researchers point to the reuse of the Cuevas de Espeluca (Giribaile) as a Visigothic or Mozarabic oratory. It was during the Islamic period that the current urban nucleus of Vilches was consolidated, marked by the construction of a castle-fortress on the hill of the Ermita de la Virgen. On top of the Ibero-Roman enclosure of Giribaile another castle-fortress was built, similar in style to the first.
In 1170, the Almoravids controlled the Castillo de Vilches, from which they harassed the Almohads who controlled Giribaile. In 1209, the Master of Calatrava, Don Ruy Díaz de Yanguas, won the Castillo de Vilches, but lost it shortly after, falling into Christian hands again three days after the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Castile reinforced the plaza, while the Almohads did the same with Giribaile. In 1213, King Alfonso VIII granted the town the Fuero de Cuenca, as well as full ownership of its mountains and terms so that the Castillo de Vilches would be well populated. In 1217, by Bull of Pope Honorius III, the churches of Vilches were granted to the Mitra of Toledo. Finally, Fernando III gave the town to Baeza on April 6, 1253.
During the reign of Felipe II, the town was affected by the mass sale of uncultivated land, and the Council of Vilches had to defend its property rights in 1575. Felipe IV freed the town from the jurisdiction of Baeza on July 3, 1627 and granted it the title of Villa.