The origins of Quéntar roll back to the times when the Iberian Peninsula was dominated by the Moors. The first written data about the town appeared in the 13th century. Its actual name comes from the Arabic Qaryat Al-Qantar. Its meaning is quite determinant as "Qaryat" means farmhouse, which is a town without defence, while "Al-Qantar" means bridge. So, if we make a free translation, we come up with the meaning of Quéntar: "farmhouse
by the bridge". The town was divided into three settlements:
the Small Alquería , the Big Alquería and the Iqlim de Dur.
The Catholic Kings took this town at almost the same time as they took Granada and then it began to depend on the Crown of Castilla. Afterwards, during the Moorish revolt, some rebels from different parts of the mountains took refuge in Quéntar. This made that Don Juan de Austria came violently in the town causing great damage. The subsequent expulsion of more than three hundred inhabitants left the place almost deserted.
