Cortes de la Frontera - Málaga
The town of Cortes de la Frontera rises up on the last foothill of the mountain range of Ronda, specifically at the foot of Sierra de los Pinos and under the narrow surveillance of Sierra Blanquilla, 633 meters over the level of the sea, dominating the bed of the river Guadiaro on which one finds the . Belonging to the province of Malaga and the judicial district of .
Its municipal term goes deep into the southeast of the province of Cadiz , and its cork oaks take up 11.000 hectares of Mediterranean forest with a fauna richness where the roe deer and the deer predominate, being a national hunting .
Its origin goes back to the XIIth and XIth centuries B.C., with the stay of the Phoenicians who settled themselves in its term after defeating the Tartesos. Later on this zone was occupied by the Phocense Greeks, in constant rivalry with the Punic ones; but its first great settlers were the Romans who baptized it with the name of Cortex (cuirasse, defense), name respected afterwards by the Arabs.
The Roman civilization left two important focus which gave evidence of their glorious stay, one in the ruins of the city of Saeponia or Seponta, of which it´s believed all kind of vestiges have been preserved, and that still remains non excavated, and the other one, the remains of the city known as " Cortés el Viejo", really close to the village.
Under Arabic dominion, Cortex depended on Seville, afterwards on Granada and finally on Ronda. Lastly it was conquered by San Fernando in 1248 but soon after and till 1485 it went back to Arabic hands, leaving important remains of their culture, such as the "Torre del Paso".
The present enclave of the villa dates back to the end of the 17th century, reason why its town-planning and main buildings respond to other criteria different from the prevailing rules in the villages of the region, of deeply-rooted Arabic layout.
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Monuments
Town Hall
Stone House
Bullring
Torre de Paso (tower)
Gastronomy
The culinary tradition in this municipality is as varied as tasty, and, as in the in the majority of the mountain villages, there are winter and summer dishes, though nowadays these distinction is made more in the calendar than in the kitchen. The venison stew, the lamb of the saw, the scrambled eggs with asparagus, the courtesan veal, the codfish omelettes, refried stew (fried bread, tomato, garlic pepper and onion), the swish chard soup, the breadcrumbs with garlic and the Guadiar rabbit are only a sample of the tasty traditional recipes of this territory. The pastrymaking is not less extensive: millefueille, meringue, roscones (Twelfth Night Bread), suspiros (“sighs”), quince compote, homemade fairy cakes, French toasts or the grapes in liquor can give an idea of the bulky dessert list of Cortes de la Frontera.
How to get to Cortes de la Frontera
By road: The main reference is to get to Villamartín and go on till Ubrique, right afterwards take the crossroad towards Cortes de la Frontera. Other choice is to take as reference Ronda and continue through the C-341 towards Benadalid and take the crossroad towards Cortes de la Frontera.
From the Costa del Sol, through the highway AP-7 (N-340) reaching Manilva, we link to the A-377 up to Gaucín. It is necessary to continue through the A-369, and at approximately seven kilometres, take the detour that leads to Cortes through the A-373. If we start from the city of Ronda, it is necessary to go down to the south through the A-369, and after leaving behind Algatocín, enter the A-373.
By bus: The buses that get to Cortes de la Frontera depart mainly from Ronda.
By train: The train station of Cortes de la Frontera receives the route coming from the Ronda-Algeciras line. It also receives the route of the line between Bobadilla and Algeciras.
Distances
To Ubrique 25 km
To Gaucín 21 km
To Ronda 33 km
To Málaga 147 km
To Cádiz 140 km
To Estepona 61 km |
