The History of Moclín

The fertile valley of the River Velillos provided an excellent hunting ground for prehistoric man. The valley shelters an abundance of cave paintings from the Neolithic period, including a hunting scene which shows a group of men with spears chasing a horned animal.

There have been significant finds of pottery from the copper and bronze ages, some of which can be seen in the Moclín museum. The museum also has a number of objects from Roman times, reflecting the fact that there were Roman settlements in nearby Tozar and Olivares.

Moclín’s castle and its ring of watchtowers were built by the Moors in the 13th century. The castle was primarily a fortress intended to protect Granada, which by 1273 was the only surviving Muslim kingdom in Spain. The castle dominates the plain of Granada and it can still be seen today from the Alhambra, the palace and gardens of the Sultans. From 1341, Moclín occupied a crucial place on the frontier between Muslim and Christian Spain. It was known as “The shield of Granada”.

In 1485 its soldiers successfully repelled an attack from the army of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. However the following year Ferdinand and Isabella‘s troops successfully

laid siege to the castle. After the fall of Moclín the way lay open for the Christian conquest of Granada. Six years later Sultan Boabdil surrendered the keys of the city and the reconquest of Spain was complete.

The presence of renaissance buildings in Moclín proves that the village continued to be a place of importance even after the defeat of the Moors. Surviving buildings include a 17th century lodging house for soldiers (which is now a beautifully restored hotel) and a granary which now houses a collection of sculptures by local artist and historian, Manolo Caba. At the entrance to the village there is also a fountain which dates from this time.

During the Spanish Civil War, Moclín was once again on a frontier, this time between the Nationalists and the Republicans. The remains of trenches can be found in the almond groves. The short but violent war resulted in the Dictatorship of General Franco. During this period Moclín was a sleepy rural backwater. The writer Penelope Chetwode describes a visit she made to Moclín in the nineteen-sixties in her book “Two Middle Aged ladies in Andalusia”. She was enchanted by the beauty of the village and the welcome she received there. However the living conditions in Moclín were harsh by contemporary standards.

Democracy came to Spain in 1977, when the first elections were held after Franco’s death. Now in more peaceful and prosperous times, Moclín’s Plaza de España is the home of the Town Hall and the Califato Bar, where the people of Moclín meet for a family meal, or a game of cards and a glass of anis