Estepona

The smallest corners of the village of Estepona, located in a privileged location, captivate visitors. Its renovated old town, one of the most beautiful in Andalusia, offers tourists the opportunity to enjoy a real urban garden, "The Garden of the Costa del Sol".

Its interlacing of whitewashed streets, adorned with colourful flower pots, gives it its essence of an Andalusian coastal village. As for its customs and traditions, they coexist in total harmony with its more modern and touristic facet.

History
Its history is based on the presence of the Phoenician, Roman and Arab peoples.
During the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. The Phoenicians arrived on our shores, established trading posts and cohabited with the native population.
At the end of the third century B.C. During the wars between the Carthaginians and the Romans, the Romans conquered the Iberian Peninsula. The most important location from the Roman era is in the area of the Guadalmansa River where there are remains of baths that may have belonged to the Roman city of Salduba.
The beginning of the eighth century marked the conquest by the Muslims. A fortress was built: the Castle of Nicio and later, in the time of the Caliph Abd Al-Rhamán III, a fortress called Estebbuna, a name that remains a great enigma since no one has yet been able to decipher its meaning.
In 1456 the troops of the Castilian King Henry IV conquered Estepona. After the reconquest of Granada in 1492, the strategic position of Estepona prompted the Catholic Monarchs to take the decision to rebuild the old Muslim castle by strengthening its southern flank and adding an independent fortress called the Castle of St. Louis as well as various crenellated towers along the coast of Estepona.
In the shelter of this castle, 30 families inhabited Estepona. The present town is a direct descendant of this castle; It first extended under the shelter of the walls and later, when these were no longer needed, it left the fortified perimeter and took advantage of the stones to build new houses.
In 1729 a patent from King Philip V granted it the status of a city, thus freeing it from the jurisdiction of Marbella.Read more