Torrox

What to See in Torrox

The village of Torrox is spread over a low hill and therefore its urban plan, as capricious as any to be found, is a clear example of adapting to the terrain. The uniform white of its houses is interrupted by splashes of colour from flowerpots, and any corner of the old quarter takes the visitor back to the Moorish epoch with no effort of the imagination being necessary.

Due to its historical importance, the Roman archaeological site of El Faro de Torrox is an obligatory visit. Various historians agree that this site is that of the Mansio Caviclum referred to in the Antonine Itinerary. It is a vast complex whose installations were active at least between the first and fourth centuries. A villa, a dried fish trading post, some bathhouses, a kiln and an extensive necropolis have been found at the site. It was Tomás García Ruiz, the lighthouse keeper of the Faro de Torrox, who found the ruins in the early twentieth century. He unearthed most of the archaeological remains that are being studied by experts at present. Mosaics, sculptures, amphorae, urns and coins have been found. The Villa of the Faro de Torrox is considered to be one of the few sites known as "villa a mare" or maritime village in Spain. From the Roman ruins there rises the Faro de Torrox (lighthouse). It was built in 1864 and olive oil lamps inside it used to glow like bonfires in the dark. In the early twentieth century, the oil lighting system was installed and in 1922 the lighthouse started to be lit by electric power.

Back in the village, the Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación church is noteworthy. Its original construction was in the seventeenth century over a former congregational mosque, and it was rebuilt in 1889. It has a Latin cross floor plan and consists of three naves. The main chapel is covered by a barrel vault, while the side naves are oval. The exterior is remarkable for its square-based tower. It is divided into three levels, and the uppermost is crowned by a pyramidal steeple. .

The Franciscan order of the Minim friars founded the Nuestra Señora de las Nieves convent and chapel in the sixteenth century. The church has a Latin cross floor plan, with side naves and chapels, a presbytery, choir room and belfry. It has an excellent Mudéjar roof frame. The convent attached to the chapel has two floors and consists of a cloister, interior courtyard and stables. The convent living quarters were used in the nineteenth century as a fruit warehouse and later served as a Civil Guard garrison and barracks, which function it continued to perform until the 1970’s.

The San Roque church, not used for worship at the present time, was erected in the neo-Mudéjar style over the original sixteenth century structure. It has a single nave, whose area over the main chapel is covered by a hemispherical vault. The exterior is notable for its graceful belfry and for its face brick that is painted an unsuitable red.

The village contains other interesting historic buildings, such as the Palacio de la Aduana (Customhouse) and the eighteenth-century Casa de la Moneda (Mint) on Calle Baja, a building that has now been converted into a dwelling, an exponent of the old splendour. Torrox was home to many Jews, whose most prestigious man was Luis de Torres, a sailor who travelled with Christopher Columbus to the Americas. During his visit to the municipality in 1885, Alfonso XII stayed in the old palace, built in the mid-nineteenth century, that today houses the Casa de la Cultura (House of Culture, the former Casa de la Hoya).

Torrox

overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and, as a coastal village, one of its main attractions is its beaches, a 9-kilometre strip of sand divided into seven sections: Calaceite, El Cenicero, El Morche, El Peñoncillo, Ferrara, Mazagarrobo, and Vilches. They are dark sand beaches that have been awarded the Blue Flag year in, year out, which means they are the best beaches in Europe thanks to the quality of the sea as well as to the services and accesses.