Day 5: Municipio de Frigiliana

After a good night sleep, Mrs Joe Cool and I walked the street of Nerja in search of breakfast and internet café.

After lunch, we all went to visit Frigiliana, a small town of about 2,000 people. Voted the 'prettiest village in Andalucía' by the Spanish tourism authority, Frigiliana is also important from an historical viewpoint. El Fuerte, the hill that climbs above the village, was the scene of the final bloody defeat of the Moors of La Axarquía in their 1569 rebellion. The hill is topped by scanty remains of a ruined fort from which some of the Moors reputedly threw themselves rather than be killed or captured by the Spanish. It is said that bones and rusted weapons dating from this encounter still lie among the scrub on El Fuerte.

The village is a tangle of narrow cobbled streets lined by whitewashed houses, their wrought-iron balconies filled with planters of brilliant red geraniums. Small plazas provide shady seating while the village bars are popular with visitors who come here to taste the locally produced wine.

In the picture above, you have everything that defines Frigiliana: the noble wooded doors appearing on most houses, the pretty colored ones appearing on the remaining houses, the plants, the immaculate white walls, the wrought-iron protected balconies and notice the walkway, small stones in cement with carefully laid out designs (it's not just that one, it's like that everywhere in town!). Incredible!