Arriate

Arriate is a town and municipality in the Province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) from Malaga capital. It has a population of approximately 3600 residents. The natives are called Arriateños.

History

Long before even Ronda had a name, the Iberians were here, and before them cave dwellers in the hills beside the Rio Guadalcobacin. For about four hundred years, beginning around the 8th Century BC, a complex and lively Iberian settlement existed, comprising at least three related hill forts. Cerro del Coto was particularly suited for the siting of a defensive fort, and archeological finds have confirmed that all of the interacting communities traded with the passing Phoenicians.

On the 14th of February 1630, the villagers paid 352,739 maravedíes in order to buy their independence from Ronda. It was then that it adopted its actual name of Arriate, probably taking the name from an estate which had existed since the Arab times. The name Arriate is derived from the Arab term Arriadh, which means "the gardens".