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History of Alameda

Diputación de Málaga
Termas Romanas de Alameda

History of Alameda

The town takes its name from Los Álamos stream, where the roads and cattle trails that linked Málaga, Seville and Granada converged. It was for this reason that the church of La Purîsima Concepción was built in on its banks in 1663 by the Marquis of Estepa, while its position mid-way between the aforementioned cities saw it become a overnight stopover point for stagecoaches and other travellers. These often fell prey to the highwayman "El Tempranillo", whose grave can be found at Alameda church.

Alongside these routes, the town centre was built and later expanded by private and public development. The archaeological discoveries made in the town bear witness to the fact that Alameda has been home to human settlements since the Late Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. These settlements continued until the arrival of the Romans, who built a town which almost entirely coincides with the present-day centre of Alameda. One historical anecdote worthy of note and which bears witness to the succession of peoples who passed through is that in the year 208 before Christ, the Lameatos, besieged by Lucius Marcius, burned the town to the ground and perished therein in order to preserve their allegiance to Carthage.

Alameda’s Roman period leads us to conclude that the town must have been of strategic importance, since three of the most important roads of the time passed through it. A section of one of these, La Real, runs from the present-day Plaza de Andalucîa to the Plaza de España.

The period following the Roman occupation is one about which little is known as far as the history of Alameda is concerned, only the discovery of a few 6th century treasures confirming the existence of a Visigoth settlement. Not until the 16th century, when it became part of the territories belonging to the Marquis of Estepa, did Alameda resurface, regaining the importance it had enjoyed in Roman times by the late 17th century.

The early 19th century saw the new administration locate Alameda in the province of Málaga and the town as we know it today began to take shape. The Plaza de Andalucîa is considered the centre of the town, and it is here that a tablet dated 1994 reads "The first republican town council, constituted on the 27th of June, 1931, ordered a clock bell on which the names of its councillors would be engraved, said engraving taking place during the tragic events of 1936. As these names are now illegible, this plaque is placed in their memory”.