A bit of history

Phoenicia was an important country located at the oriental Mediterranean Sea at the present location of Lebanon. About three thousands years ago, the Phoenicians, skilful sailors / navigators, travelled through the Mediterranean in order to make comercial exchanges. They used to bring oil, jewellery, ivory, bronze jugs, and all kind of exotic products coming from the rich countries of the East (Babylon, Persia and Egypt), to exchange them for metals, gold, silver and tin from the Tartesos settled in the Western Mediterranean.

Astarté, the goddess of the sea for the phoenicians

In one of their trips, about two thousand and six hundred years ago, the Phoenicians founded a settlement on the hills of La Alcazaba and they named it Malaka; this was the origin of the city of Málaga. The Phoenicians would navigate under the protection of the gods of the sea: the god Melqart and the goddess Astarté. When they would reach land, they would to visit their sanctuary in order to thank them for the successful crossing. Inland, the goddess Astarté was considered the goddess of love and fertility.