THE STORY BEHIND A PLACE NAME
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Little is known about the origins of the village of Árchez in the Axarquía, apart from that it probably started life as a farmstead during Spain's Islamic period.
The village is situated 430 metres above sea level in the Sierra Tejeda and the Sierra Almijara mountains about 21 kilometres north of Vélez-Málaga.
The name of the village appears in texts from the time of the Reconquista as Alconche, which comes from the Arabic word 'al-cocer', meaning 'el palazuelo', or small palace.
The name may refer to the village's Torre Alminar, or minaret, which now forms part of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación church. The church was built on the site of the tower in the 16th century, after the Catholic Reconquista.
It has been declared a national monument of historic importance and is considered to be one of the Axarquía's finest examples of Mudéjar architecture.
The minaret is made of red brick and is approximately 15 metres tall and was built in the 13th century. On the bell there is an inscription which translates as: "I was made by D. Ramón Rivas, when D. Ildefonso Tomé y García was the priest and D. Antonio García Azuaga was the mayor, Year 1876", pointing to modifications that have been made to the original tower over the centuries.
There is a legend based on the inscription that tells the story of a lizard that fell in the middle of casting one of the bells destined for the bell tower, leaving its imprint on the bell.
The image of the lizard, immortalised in the bronze bell, gave way to the legend that any young man who cannot find a partner should kiss the imprint of the reptile.
In some cases it is said that once will be enough, but in others the man may have to kiss the image several times before he is lucky in love.
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