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Mollina AREA: 74,20 km² ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 478 metres AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 490 l/m² AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 15’5 ºC POPULATION CENSUS 1994: 3.269  
The municipality of Mollina is situated in the Antequera region, and on the whole its lands are hardly rough, with the exception of Sierra Mollina, which doesn’t represent an important uneveness. Outside this sierra, which is mainly covered in scrubland vegetation, the rest of the municipality is occupied by olive groves and cereals, as well as abundant vines, from which the famous recently denominated Mollina wine comes from. The first settlers in these lands appear in neolithic times judging by the archaeological remains in the Sierra de la Camorra, next to the Mollina sierra, with which it is also identified. Ceramics from that era have appeared in the Cueva de las Goteras and the Higuera. Cave paintings representing schematic human figures have been found in another cave, Los Porqueros. There are also neolithic remains in the areas denominated the Cerro de la Fuente and the Cerro de las Viñas. From the Roman era they conserve a mauseleum-temple in the Cortijo de La Capuchina and a fort, the castle of Capiruzón, the only one in Andalucia with these characteristics, in the spot of Santillán. We have no news of what happened here in the Middle Ages, we only know the remains of a watch tower in the Cerro de la Fuente, where you can still see the circular foundation. After the Christian conquest they started to share out the lands between the victors and the Christian repopulation. In the area of Torre Molina, where the town now stands, there was a large piece which wasn’t shared out, and which was handed in to the town council of Antequera. This piece would be called the Cortijo de la Ciudad, and with an extension of approximately 2, 888 acres is shared among the new colonists in 1575, thus founding the present town. Soon after the allotment, the first parish is created and is then extended in 1687, when the town reached 200 inhabitants. In this era, Humilladero depended on the parish of Mollina, and became independent at the end of the century. Mollino became a municipality at the beginning of the 19th century, separating from Antequera by virtue of the disposition of the constitution in 1812 which said that town with more than a 1,000 inhabitants should have their own town council. The first record of the Town Council of Mollina is from the 9th of June 1820.
There are the remains of the Arabic castle, situated at various kilometres from the town centre, at the foot of the Camorra sierra. There is the church of Our Lady of the Olive, from the end of the 17th century and the convent of Ascensión, from the 18th century, with a baroque main entrance, and a courtyard with a steepled chapel. The town has long straight streets, with typical whitewashed houses with railings on the windows. In the municipality there are many archaeological places of interest which have been mentioned in the History section and other which outstand for their picturesque spots, speleologic interest or touristic interest. For speleology are the caves of Almirez, Higuera, Rosa Chica and Organos.
There is no local handicraft, although the various wines of the area are a good excuse to stop by.
The most frequent dishes are the ‘olla’ stew pot, which here is basically a chickpea stew, and the local way of making ‘gazpacho’ and ‘porra’. Other dishes are porridge with grape juice, breadcrumbs fried with garlic, 'pimenton' which is like gazpacho - cold soup. Regarding the desserts they have melon cooked with unfermented grape juice, membrillo quince jelly, and macaroons.
The 2nd of February has a special relevance for Candlemas. In May they celebrate the pilgrimage for the Virgen de la Oliva and between the 13th and 16th of August are the main festivities in honour of the previous Marian dedication. And finally, the wine harvest festivity takes place on the 15th of September.
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History and Landscape
Places to visit
Shopping 
Gastronomy
Festivities and traditions