As it was easily accessible from the most important places of the ancient Mediterranean world, at an early stage the Costa del Sol was visited by Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians. The Roman empire also moved its tentacles towards it and left considerable traces which the traveller can admire in the provincial and municipal museums. But it is the period under Islamic rule which left the deepest mark, not only as regards the oriental atmosphere of many of the villages, but also as regards the most traditional means of earning a living: the orchard crops, an unquestionable legacy of the wise lesson taught by their original Arab owners, and the crafts where the Islamic roots of the techniques and designs are always evident. The popular music and the magnificent Muslim buildings, which the traveller must include on his visit at all costs, occupy a place of prime importance among the characteristics of Andalusian culture and consequently of the Costa del Sol.