Periana

Periana has a Mediterranean climate with certain features of a mountain climate, due to its position at the end of a valley facing the sea (Rio Vélez-Guaro) and shielded by important reliefs to the north. The Mediterranea sea influences the temperatures, which are not as cold as you'd expect from a town at 500-600 m elevation with nearby mountains and peaks of around 2,000 m.

It is not uncommon to find in this area many different tree species and very divers crops as oaks, olive groves, cereal, pasture, fruit, special mention for peach-, citrus and vegetable gardens wherever water is nearby.

Periana inhabited since ancient times was conquered successively by the Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Moors. But the recorded history began in the late 18th century. There have been found remains of lithic works in the Capellanía, next to La Viñuela, a place that was inhabited until the beginning of the Bronze Age.

These findings are not surprisingly because the entire north of the Axarquia area was occupied by man since prehistoric times, and Periana would not be an exception. But there is nothing that would suggest that there were Roman settlements, despite the discovery of a coin from the late second century AC on the hill of Capellanía.

There are not many things that relate to the Arab period, with the exception of the Baños de Vilo. It is assumed that Periana was not more than just a passage place of the Christian troops who came in 1487 to the conquest Vélez.

It is worth to do a visit to the municipal baths. These Arab baths are rich in hydrogen sulfide, magnesium, calcium and nitrogen. And often it is being prescribed as a cure for skin diseases.


The current village is only achieved in 1761 when the small chapel of San Isidro Labrador becomes a parish, thus leaving the jurisdiction of belonging to Riogordo. The effects of the earthquake of Andalusia (December 25, 1884), which affected a stretch of 200 kilometers long by 70 kilometers wide, is noted with great force in Periana, despite not being the town in the epicenter of the earthquake. Many houses collapsed and killed 58 residents. Faced with this disaster, King Alfonso XII visited the town in January 1885 and allocated a batch of 300,000 pesetas to mitigate the damage, an amount to rebuit the new church and the neighborhood.