Select Language: FINCA ESLAVA HOTEL     Antequera is located at the geographical centre of Andalusia and is on the natural corridor that has historically linked communications between Upper and Lower Andalusia, between Granada and Seville. This fact has contributed to major movements of peoples and cultures in the area. Since man decided to settle on this land in the Bronze Age, leaving his mark in Menga, Viera and El Romeral with important funeral constructions, Antequera has been continuously inhabited. In the ancient world, there was a major Roman presence and the city’s name comes from the Roman name for Antequera (Antikaria, which translates as the old). Around this city, others were built such as Aratepi and Singlia Barba, which were among the most important towns in Roman Malaga. In the 7th Century, after the city was conquered by Abdelaziz-BenMuza, its name changed to MedinaAntikaria, later shortened to Antikaria. The Arabs built the walls of the Medina and the Alcazaba (castle), which has the outstanding “Torre del Homenaje”. Despite the construction of all of these defences, in 1410 the city fell to the troops of the prince Don Fernando. The town became a frontier city and faced hard times, but once the Arab threat ended, the city underwent a period of urban expansion and population growth, which ware a consequence of its location and a series of royal privileges that were awarded to the city. The 16th Century, especially the second half, saw the greatest moment of cultural growth in the city’s history. Churches and palaces were built, and around them grew up what we now know as the old town, which achieved its final structure in the 18th Century. A major contribution to the local economy in the 19th Century was the creation or, in some cases, boosting of Antequera’s textile industry. Likewise, during this century the wool industry as well as other sectors such as tanning and iron and steel were promoted. However, these attempts at industrialisation could not compete with the structure and tradition of the region’s agriculture, which eventually gained dominance. Antequera currently combines the agriculture of the area with an upsurge in industrial activity based mainly on the Polígono Industrial Comarcal (Regional Industrial Estate). Diseño de NEOmedia S.C.A. Finca Eslava Hotel Restaurant - Telephone: 952 84 49 34 - Fax: 952 84 53 82