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Arab origin of Benissa

Benissa, La Marina Alta, Alicante

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Arab origin of Benissa

Curiosity · Benissa, La Marina Alta, Alicante

Image of Benissa, not of the place itself.

The place name Benissa comes from the Arabic Beni Isa, 'sons of Isa', the name of a tribe, and numerous rural hamlets still retain Arabic names such as La Alfama, la Rápita or el Rafalet. When the forces of James I of Aragon arrived in 1248, they found an important centre of Arab population and annexed the place to the Kingdom of Valencia; the village then became part of a lordship along with Altea, Calpe and Teulada, whose holders included Roger de Lauria. The Muslim population, a majority and spread across the countryside, lived alongside the Christians of the town centre until the expulsion of the Moriscos in 1609, after which it was repopulated with people from the Pyrenees, Catalonia and Aragon, who walled the village.

Photo: Joanbanjo (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What to see and do in Benissa