White villages · Axarquía

Árchez

Árchez is a tiny white village beside the Turvilla river in the Axarquía, smallest municipality in Málaga province, whose 15-metre Almohad minaret was declared a national monument in 1979.

About Árchez

Árchez lies beside the Turvilla river on the lower slopes of the Sierras de Tejeda and Almijara. Its 4.8 km² municipality is the smallest in the province, and the village grew from a Moorish farmstead. After 1487 it passed to Diego Fernández de Córdoba, later Marqués de Comares. Phylloxera ruined its vines in the late 19th century; about 440 people live here today.

The church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación uses as its bell tower the minaret of the village mosque, built in the 13th or early 14th century. Fifteen metres high, it has a stage of brick sebka lozenges with traces of red paint and a band of five interlaced horseshoe arches; the roof is Christian. It was declared a national monument on 20 April 1979. Old mills stand by the river.

Árchez is 52 km east of Málaga, about an hour by car via the A-7 and Algarrobo; one weekday evening Loymer bus arrives from Málaga. Park by the river. The lanes slope and some have steps, so wheelchair users will need help. Allow 45 minutes, or two hours with the 3.4 km riverside path to Canillas de Albaida. It suits lovers of Islamic architecture.

Spring and autumn are best. San Antón is on the last Sunday of January and the village fiestas in mid-July. Try potaje de hinojos con arroz, chivo al ajillo, migas with herring and tortitas de bacalao with miel de caña. The church is usually shut outside services, but the minaret is best seen from the street in late-afternoon light.

Árchez in pictures

Narrow whitewashed lane with iron balconies and pots of flowers in the village of Árchez, Málaga

What you’ll find

Bus connectionPublic transportBuy
Car parkParkingFree
ChurchChurch visitFree
FestivalAnnual festivalFree
Hiking trailHikingFree
Historic centreOld town walkFree
Local foodLocal cuisineBuy
Moorish quarterMoorish heritage walkFree

Nearby places to visit

Upstream, Canillas de Albaida (1 km) is reached by a riverside path and has a 16th-century hermitage with an arcaded porch. Cómpeta (2 km), on the slope above, is the largest village in this part of the sierra, with bodegas and restaurants. Salares (3 km) has the other great Almohad minaret of the Axarquía and a medieval bridge, and a third, plainer minaret stands in Corumbela, part of Sayalonga (5 km). The nearest beach is Playa de Lagos (11 km), and the MVVEL Museum of Vélez-Málaga (12 km) explains the history of the district.